MATING

Kids, if you see your gerbils doing this, yes, you are going to have some gerbil

babies in about a month (25 days, to be precise). Congratulations, and get ready!

BIRTH

Here is actual footage of my female Pink Eyed White gerbil, Snowie, giving birth,

as her Burmese mate, Thaddeus, looks on.

Early Labour: After a lethargic last day of pregnancy, Snowie's belly bulges and ripples with contractions and she has a hard time getting into a comfortable position. She moves, circles and stretches a lot to help her pups move easily down the uterine horns and through her pelvis. You may observe the male mounting more often and getting excited as he smells the birth approaching.

Crowning: although these pictures make it seem that the gerbil mom stays in one place, actually she will run around the tank between contractions and even while crowning takes place. She curls right upside down to lick her pup as it comes out, either head or tail first. I've even seen a mom do a full summersault as the pup emerges!

After the birth of each pup the mom will take a small rest and then lick the pup and herself clean of birth fluids. Soon she has more contractions as the afterbirth is expelled, which she cleans up by eating. Eating the placenta also helps the birth by providing a surge of hormones which also help stimulate her milk to flow. As the birth progresses some of the earliest born pups can be seen trying to nurse!

This process repeats itself until all the pups have been born. Snowie had 8 pups! The dad will make a nest of his own for a couple days until things settle down.

Newborn gerbil pups are pink and squirmy when they are healthy. Occasionally you will see a pale stillborn which you can remove from the nest. Gerbil mothers are usually very relaxed about having humans pick up their babies, but be gentle. Here you see a newborn take its first breath, pink up, and start looking to nurse from mom:

Within the next few hours it is important to check the pups to see if they have milk in their bellies, which means mom will be able to feed them. If you do not see the milk and the pups begin to look pale and still, it may mean the mom is unable to feed them or has rejected them. In that case if you can, foster the newborn pups to another gerbil mother with pups under 2 weeks of age, or, if you can't find a gerbil mom, any small rodent will do.

REPRODUCTION FAQS:

How old does a gerbil have to be to mate?

In my experience a female that is seven weeks old or over is old enough to get pregnant, so if she is still with her dad or with brothers its time to move out! A male will usually be old enough to mate somewhere between 2 and 3 months old.

How often does the female go into heat? How long does mating last?

A female comes into heat every 3 to 5 days or so. Mating takes place for several hours at a time, usually in the evening from about 4 PM to midnight, with the male mounting every minute or so in bouts interrupted by short rest periods.

Can a female get pregnant while she is nursing pups?

Yes! Mating WILL occur around the time when a female has pups, typically within the next 24 hours, so if you don't want more pups from your pair you MUST split cage them BEFORE the birth.

My gerbil pair are going to have pups. How should I prepare their tank?

I usually make sure to take out all the toys, water dish, food dish and make sure there is nothing that a tiny pup can get lost behind. I make sure the bedding is not too deep, because sometimes a mom will lose her pup and not be able to find it if it is too deep. I supply some toilet paper for the mom to make into a soft nest. Cardboard tubes are ok because the parents will chew them to make nesting material. Finally, the water bottle is adjusted lower so that small weaning pups of 3 weeks can reach it.

What should I feed my pregnant gerbil?

I supplement the usual top-quality seed mix with some dry cat food and make sure she has some sunflower seeds also. This increases the fat and protein content of her food. As she is nursing I may provide dried milk or yoghurt drops as well.

How many pups can a gerbil pair produce?

A pair will typically produce a litter of pups every 5 to six weeks for as long as the female is fertile, or for about 15 months. That works out to a LOT of pups!

If you want to keep the pair together, but don't want so many pups, keep them split caged and allow them to mate only when you are ready to find homes for another litter. Gerbil litters number anywhere from 1 to 10 pups, but usually around 6 pups are born per litter.

Please be aware that if you seperate your male and female you must allow them a week or two introduction period in a split cage (a tank with a strong, perforated partition in the middle so the gerbils can smell each other but not fight) or they may try to kill each other when you attempt to reintroduce them. I find that as the female ages this behavioural pattern intensifies.

What if I want to stop breeding, I've had enough?

When the female is almost ready to have her next litter (usually when the last litter is 5 weeks old) remove the dad together with the pups and leave a male pup with him while you rehome the rest in same sex pairs or trios. Mom will be ok for a couple of days until she births her next litter, which she should be able to raise on her own (experienced moms have no problem with this, I have found). When the new litter is about 5 weeks old, pick a female you would like to keep to stay with the mom and rehome the rest, again, in same sex pairs or trios.

How do I tell male pups from female pups?

Here is a photo to help you out. From about 8 to 12 days old, look at the undersides of your pups, and you can see these features:

Still got questions? Then email me, Sandy Van Eysinga: