Abandoned gerbil pups?

Question
Hi Shawntia,

I am panicking here. Here is what just happened: I just returned home from grocery shopping to find my 7-day old gerbil pups strewn about their cage; some in the wheel being tossed around while Dad ran, one in the nest, and one sprawled outside the wheel. I quickly scooped them up and put them all back in the nest, but a few looked like they may have been injured. In the 45 minutes or so since this happened, the Mom has hardly even looked at them and the Dad is just running around the cage. Sometimes it looks like they may be eating them (but that may just be my paranoia). I tied up the wheel so it can no longer turn to prevent further accidents, left the babies piled in the nest, and put a towel over the cage to calm everyone down (there was a bit of screaming on my part when I discovered the situation). I am just not sure what to do: Take the Dad out? (or will this further stress them?), Is there any way to help the Mom reacquaint with her young? Is this a lost cause? What should I do?? Thank you for any advice - this is my first time having pups and I'm so scared this may be it for them..
Thanks again, Becky

Answer
It's possible that several may die due to the injuries. The mother could have rejected them and decided that something was wrong with the babies. The only thing that you can really do is wait. This is a part of the process unfourtunately. Sometimes you have a healthy set of pups and sometimes you get unlucky and witness this.
To be honest since you left the father in there with the mother after she gave birth, the mother may be pregnant again already. If you want another litter of pups you could leave the father in there, but if you don't want another litter then I would remove the dad asap.
The way things are going with your pups it's a 50/50 for some of them and generally not all of the pups live from the same litter, especially if it's their first. That's why they are able to reproduce so many and so fast.
My advice for you is to try to relax and not be worried because right now all you can do is wait and see how the pups are doing.