Gerbils and what did I get myself into..

Question
Okay, so we adopted 2 gerbils from the science teacher in the Spring, Now, however, school is out, our expert in unaccessable, and we now have 8 babies about a week old...I can see the bottom of the cage and am worried we don't have enough shavings inside..Can and will they fall out? Is there a gauge for the shavings of some sorts?(?)We will need to seperate them eventually...When and how is best when we have a cage? The cage is a good 4 ft long.. Why do they squeek. (That's my daughter's question) Can we give them any other cardboard than tp and paper towel rolls? Is there a healthy minimmum for such? Any info or informative websites would be helpful..Thanx   P.S. Do you really need to breed the lil boogers, they're kinda like rabbits, aren't they? (Tee,hee) Caren  

Answer
What kind of cage do you have them in? If its anything other than an aquarium then I suggest you put them in an aquarium. Wire cages are drafty and the wires can be extremely dangerous. Habitrail type cages aren't ventilated enough so it begins to smell.

Bedding for gerbils with pups shouldn't be shavings preferrably. I use corn cob which you can find in the bird section of any pet shop or even wal-mart. Please whatever you do don't use pine or cedar. They've been proven to cause upper respiratory infections and that results in death of rodents.

They squeak because they're talking to their parents. They'll fight over who gets to nurse like puppies or kittens and shove one another out of the way causing squeaking.

Tp and PT rolls are safe for the parents to chew on and when the pups are bigger they will too. I don't know how old your pups are but if they're still very small around 5-7 days old you can pick them up and look at their bellies. If you see little nipples on the tummy then they're girls. Mark on a calendar who's who so when they're older and you recheck you'll be certain. When the pups are 5 weeks old you'll need to either wean them out or if possible take the dad out with the boy pups and leave the girl pups with the mom. Mom is already pregnant with her next litter so her daughters will help her raise them.

I breed for genetics and to have very friendly tame pets. Pet shop gerbils are skittish and often inbred so I like to breed my own. They are extremely fast breeders which means you only need one pair to get overwhelmed with. LOL

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

Ashley