First gerbil litter!

[Ima Newbie]

Hi all! My son has a pair of gerbils. He went to check on them today and to his surprise....there were 7 babies! We had no idea that she was even pregnant! Now, I need to know what to do. This is the first litter and I have no idea how to care for them. Do I just let the parents do all the work? When can we handle them? And how long before they are weened? Also, how long before mom can become pregnant again?
I'd love to hear your advice!
Thanks
Ima Newbie

 

[Fuzzy]

heres one lttle bit of advice seperate them when they get older because if u dont they may chew on each other.

 

[SailfinGirl]

I don't know much about gerbils, but anyway, with other small rodents, the mother will wean them herself. For the first few days only go near them to feed and water, do not disturb the nest! She might kill them if you do that! When you notice the babies eating a lot of normal gerbil food and the mother perhaps chasing them away from her and lookin as though she wants nothing to do with them, they can probably be taken away form her. Gerbils normally live in colonies so they shouldn't kill each other but they might mate with each other and its possible the males will fight. Also, your lps should be able to give you more advice. I would start thinking about new homes for them now, unless you are planning to keep them all.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Ima Newbie

Do you have any pictures yet?

 

[The-Wolf]

gerbils can be canabalistic to their young, so don't be supprised to not find the babies one morning. that said i would seperate the male now and once the babies are 10 weeks old seperate the males from the females. gerbils can mate every 4th week, so when she gave birth there will be a cooling off period of 3 weeks then they will start mating again.

My brother used to breed gerbils and ended up with hundreds that he coldn't sell, all local pet shops were full of his ones