Gerbil keeps on having babies....

Question
Hi,
Sarah again. My gerbil is on her 5th litter and I was wondering what the average number of litters is for a gerbil. I don't know how to stop her from getting pregnant again because someone told they mate while she is giving birth. Is this true? How long do you think she will live if she has had 5 litters?
Sarah

Answer
If you have her in there with another male she continue to have babies. You should seperate her from the males so she won't get pregnant anymore. When the male pups are around 5 weeks old I'd also seperate them from the mom so they won't try to mate with her. As far as how long she will live it really depends on how much rest she had between litters and whether or not she was able to heal mentally and physically after each birth. having babies back to back can put a lot of stress on the mom because she hasn't had time to heal after each birth.