Mother and Babie Gerbils

Question
My gerbil mother has now had 4 litters (around 3 a time) and unfortunately the babies do not last anymore than 24 hours the longest was for 48 hours.  I am not sure what i am doing wrong.  When the litters are born i do not touch anything in the tank and have started to cover one corner of the tank for security (its a 4ft aquarium tank) would you be able to give me some idea as to why they are not surviving.  They are on good gerbil food and water is supplied at all time and the father is also in the tank all the time.  The babies when they are born are around normal size and do look healthy so i am not sure what is going on. thanks for our help, PS i think she is pregant again (hopefully this lot will survive)

Answer
Hello,

Are you leaving the male in the cage permanently? If so is your female have litter after litter without much of a break? if so this will be why they are dying. The mother is likely to be very exhausted and her milk will not be good enough quality to keep the babies alive. You need to remove the male to stop him impregnating her immedately after she has given birth. You can allow him into the cage for a bit each day so that he can interact with the babies and the female, but the point of this is to allow the female a break from having litter after litter.
I would give her extra protein to boost the quality of her milk. The best things for this are dried mealworms and egg/rearing food. Both of these are found in the bird sections of the pet shops, and are perfectly safe. The other really good thing to offer is human baby food. Cow and Gate is best. They seem to enjoy the Sunshine Bananna mix, (it is powder, mix it with water to make a paste). Just be careful about leaving it in the cage with the babies, incase they fall in.
Also, other things that can stop the mother caring for her babies are cage distractions. You need her to be in a plain one-level cage, with no toys or ladders etc.

I hope this helps, and i hope they begin to survive. If this next litter do not survive either then don't allow the male in the cage long enough to mate with her. Give her a month to recover, and then try again making sure you are giving her the extra protein!!

Let me know how you get on, and do just say if you want any more help!

Charlie
xx