|
|
Gestation
Gestation can last from 23
to 26 days, but if she is nursing a previous litter, it can go up to 40 days.
During the gestation, you don't have to remove dad. He will help her in all the
steps of parenthood. It's even advised to keep him with her.
Handling
Some females can be
aggressive and won't let you touch them or get near the nest. In this case, you
must respect that and leave her alone. But usually, they stay tamed and docile.
It is then possible to take her out for a little walk. But be careful to her
belly. As the time goes, her belly will get bigger and bigger. Leave her alone
when you begin to see a belly. If you hold her to tight, you could hurt her or
the babies or even cause an abortion. It's better to leave her.
Recommendations
Leave
at the disposal of the future parents, some tissue, house and hiding place for
them to build a nest. Place a piece of paper or cloth on one side of the tank to
provide then a littel privacy.
Give
them quality food (18% protein and +) and don't forget to change the
water everyday.
How
to do to know if a gerbil is pregnant
In most cases, if you don't see your gerbils mating, it means that
the fertilisation occurred and that the female don't have any heat. There is
some ways to determine if a gerbil is pregnant. Because of her small size, it's
hard to say only after one week if your female is pregnant. After 2 or 3 weeks,
it's going to show a little more. You can try to make her stand on her hind legs
by holing a sunflower seed above her. This way you can see if there is a shape
on her belly.
| Weighing: |
Weigh your gerbil
everyday from the 10th day of pregnancy and you'll see that she take weigh. |
| Abdominal
palpation: |
Done in the last
third of the gestation period. Done only by Ça
se
fait
à
partir
du
dernier
tiers
de
la
gestation,
mais
par
des
mains expérimentées,
car
une
pression
trop
intense
peut
causer
un
avortement. |
| Echography: |
You don't really
need that...but it's a method! |
| Size of the belly |
After 2 weeks, you
can see the belly shape have changed. One more week and you'll see the babies
move in her belly! |
| Increase in the size of
mammal glands |
Only some days
before giving birth, they will be a littel bigger and more visible. |
©Manon
Tremblay
-
Livre
"La
gerbille"
Édition
Le
jour
When
the gestation is near its end, it's possible to see the babies move in the belly.
Here's
a video.
Pictures
of pregnant gerbils :
Note the "little bird
on the electrical wire at freezing temperature" effect! On the centre
picture, she puffs her fur to keep the heat. They will often do this behaviour
when pregnant.
False pregnancy
It
is possible for a female who mated with a infertil male to make a false
pregnancy. It will last 14 to 16, she will gain some weigh but after 2 weeks,
she will become normal as she were before. Then, she will get her heat again
after some days.
|
