Do
you have room enough to have a breeding paire?
Having a tank with a pair is
good, but when they have babies, you CAN'T leave them with the
parents all their life. There must be at least 3 tanks. One for
parents, on for young boys, and one for young girls. If you don't,
brothers and sisters will mate together at age of 3 months. And if you
keep them all with the parents, they will all breed together and you
will loose control!
What
are you going to do with the babies?
Do you want to keep them all? Think about the
fact that a breeding pair can give you 6 ot 8
babies each month. Do you have families ready to take them?
Do you know if in your city or town, you have chance to be able to sell
or give them. You are responsible for the life you create. You cannot
throw them in the woods if you got too much of them! Finding good homes
for gerbils can be a hard task. You'll need to make advertisement here
and there which demand time and patience. In addition, once the babies
are 1 month old, another litter of 6 to 8 will arrive, and the month
later again and again. Will you be able to take the responsibility of it?
If
yes...
Carefully
choose the parents.
Take the prettiest, the more
docile, the easiest to catch in the tank and the more sociable with
other gerbils. Never breed gerbils with birth defects. Choose the
healthiest and nicest to keep the gerbil species strong.
Avoid
consanguinity
Even if many believe that it
won't change a thing in gerbils, believe me it changes something. This
weakens gerbil genetics. This also creates more birth defects going
from curved paws to missing nose to twisted tail. If you take your
gerbils in a petshop. (never trust petshop clerks) take one there and
another one elsewhere.
Health
Always
be sure that the mother is healty and fully grown (3 to 4 months at
least) If they are not healty or fat enough, the pregnency could
weaken her and she could get sick and even the babies could get sick
because of her bad health.
