Gerbils-Age for pregnancy

Question
Ok, so I got the baby a female. We were suggested to put them together right on, cuz they were so young. They nipped at each other and first. The female kept squeaking when the male can near and sometimes made a clicking noise. Does she have a respirtory infection or it is normal? They are now resting peacefully next to each other. Should I just wait to see if she does it again? My other females click after they chew on something. (especially my clothes) Is it possible they have a breathing problem. The "informed" people at Petco (i kno u should get them from a breeder) said when we got Wingstor my older female, to not use Cedar bedding, but Pine is ok. What I am seeing now, is that pine can give gerbils respitory problems from the pine dust. I'm trying to get some corn cob now. ~Open to ANY suggestions.

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Followup To
Question -
Hello,
  I was wondering if it is ok for you to have like a pair of female gerbils. Oh, about 10-11 months old and then seperate them, and put a younger male in with one of them for breeding? I know you can do it with experienced breeding females, but what about first time breeders?
Thank you so much,
Kaylie
(My gerbils-Kaylie, Burmese color, breed unknown} Wingstor, Spotted Gray Agoutti, Mongolian Gerbil)
Answer -
Hi Kaylie,

If you were to separate your gerbils, and then put in a male, your two females would become stressed.  The thing is, when you breed gerbils, the male needs to stay to help take care of the babies.  That means that the two females would be separated for quite a while, which they're not used to.  A stressed-out gerbil definitely does not make a good mother.  Also, the other female would be alone, which is not advised for gerbils, as they need companionship.

If you truly want to breed gerbils, then you would need to get a female and male pair, and let them stay together.  However, they would have babies frequently.  That's why breeding gerbils is such a large undertaking.  You couldn't rely on pet stores to buy your babies, since pet stores have regular breeders.  Unless you yourself want to keep all of them (which would be quite costly), I would honestly advise against beginning breeding gerbils.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kelly

Answer
Hi Kaylie,

The clicking noise is probably a reaction to a new companion - it doesn't sound as if it's an illness.  However, a respiratory infection may soon develop, since you have Pine bedding, which contains strong aromatic oils.  The best two choices for bedding are Aspen and Carefresh.  (Both should be at Petco, or any other pet store - Walmart even sells them.)  Corncob isn't as bad as Pine and Cedar, but Aspen and Carefresh are much better, and they're pretty cheap (around $3 for a medium-sized bag).

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kelly