Accidental gerbil breeding

Question
Yesterday one of my three gerbils had babies. It was unexpectad but i had always wanted to breed gerbils. I had read alot obout breeding gerbils but i still dont know much about it. I was just wondering if you could give me some tips on how to take care of them and how to look out for respitory problems.

Answer
Hi Stryker..

This is so way off topic but I want to ask:  Do you play Warmachine?  (The name.)

Okay, and now back to our regularly scheduled answer..

Breeding gerbils and doing it right is pretty time consuming.  That's why a lot of people consider it a hobby; it will take up as much of your time and money as collecting and playing Magic The Gathering, baseball cards, or fixing up old cars.

The first thing you should know is that the safest way to breed gerbils is not in a colony but in pairs.  If you have two males and a female, the males are likely to fight over territory and the female, and the male whose babies those AREN'T may try to steal and kill them so the female can't raise them.  If you have two females, the same could very well happen.  (Females are more likely to fight than males when kept in groups, but the males will also fight.)

And gerbils, unlike the dwarf hamsters, once they draw blood, will never "kiss and make up".  Once blood has been drawn, one of the fighting pair is going to be killed, unless there is human intervention.

You are going to have to spend money right off the bat (or very soon, at any rate) in order to buy two more cages to separate your new litter into male and female groups when they are weaned to prevent inbreeding.  Depending on where you bought your gerbils, this litter might be inbred itself, which probably wouldn't be a huge problem, you just wouldn't want to continue it for very many generations.  (If you bought all three from the same store at the same time, they are more than likely littermates, two brothers and a sister or two sisters and a brother.)

So there's more money you might have to spend; in order to widen your gene pool and make sure you aren't inbreeding, to buy new stock to breed with your existing gerbils.

Here are some great articles on breeding gerbils:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9792/how2breed.html

I strongly urge you to get active in a club such as The American Gerbil Society (if you are in the US):

http://www.geocities.com/amergerbsoc/

Or the National Gerbil Society (in England, if you are in the UK):
http://www.rodent.demon.co.uk/index.htm

I'm sorry I do not at this time have a link to the Canadian Gerbil Society.

These would also be great links to browse through, there is a LOT of information in them!  Most of these clubs host shows (which are fun), meets, "swaps" (where people go to trade animals to introduce new genes into their stock), and other interesting, informative and fun things.  They also do mentoring to people such as yourself who are interested in getting started in the hobby, but not exactly sure what to do.  Plus, most of them also have e-mail lists or Yahoo! type groups that you can join.

As for your current litter, I would remove both of the other gerbils from the tank to be safe.  Trying to raise a litter without the male around is stressful for the female, but if there are two males likely both have fathered some of the offspring (a litter can have more than one father, which is another reason why you shouldn't keep more than one male with a female).  Buy another cage and remove the other two gerbils to it, leaving the female in the current cage with her babies.  Cover the cage, and put it in a quiet room that doesn't have a lot going on in it.  Do not touch the babies for at least fourteen days (this includes cage cleaning).  Mom will take care of the rest, as long as you provide her with all the food she wants to eat and fresh water.

Respiratory problems are easy to check for:  If you hear a clicking noise when they breathe, or if it sounds like wheezing or chattering, that's bad.  Also, a reddish discharge or stain around the nostrils and nose.

Here is a health check list from the National Gerbil Society, to help you look for signs of disease and illness in your gerbils:

http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gerbils/breeding.htm

Since your female was in the tank with at least one male when she gave birth (unless you bought her already pregnant from the store), she is pregnant again already.  Male gerbils mate with the female as she is giving birth or within minutes of it.  This "bred-back" litter will probably not be as big as the original, since she is trying to nurse and grow babies at the same time (the allocation of resources her body will make will go to the litter she is currently trying to nurse, instead of the litter she is going to have).

By removing the male(s) from the cage, you can give her a break after the second litter (which is desirable) and also plan the third litter depending on what traits or characteristics you might like to have (which is something you didn't get to do with the first two).

I hope that helps, please do check out those links, and don't hesistate to contact me again if you have any more questions!  :)