Development
The following section is to provide information on:
1. Development of Gerbil pups. Day by day guide to the development of your gerbil pups. Including photos of pregnant females.
2. Movie clips of Gerbil Pups Clips so you are able to see what a Gerbil pup looks like and how it moves.
Day 1 - Newborns
Today the pups are born, we did not witness the birth, but it is likely that it was quick and between each pup there is anything upto around 15 minutes. The mother may take breaks inbetween and have some food. The male, if left in the tank will likely be kicked out of the nest, the parents will likely mate too. The first time, Siena didn't allow Dakota until the day after, this time round she made him wait a few hours.
Here are the newborns:
They are born completely dependant and look quite unattractive to some, I think they're cute :) To make sure the mother is tending to the babies, try picking them up and seeing if they have milk in their tummy - a white dot can be see through the skin!
Day 2
Not a great deal of change, pigment is slowly coming through, whiskers can be seen, check out the second photo! You should be able to make out the whiskers...
If the female hasn't already, she may very well have allowed the male back in the nest... I think Siena let him in after a day or so. He still choses not to spend all his time in the nest though (Atleast Dakota doesn't)
Day 3
Again, just slight changes to the pups. Nothing too apparent at the moment...
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Day 4
Slowly but very surely getting larger, it's a good idea to have something to measure them by because you don't realise just how much they are actually growing otherwise!
The whiskers are getting larger, and pigment in the skin is getting darker with some light fuzz appearing, the dark eyed pups are getting a darker back and shading to them. The ears are also much more prominant than before, they are now sticking up almost totally. The pups will also look more chubby, they will now have a layer of fat and not look so skinny.
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Day 5
The hair is really showing now, and it is possible to tell colours apart (assuming you know what you're expecting and they are defined colours). The ears and eyes are becoming more and more developed, with eyelids becoming apparent.
Day 6
The same as day 5, execpt more developed... On the photos of my pups, you can clearly see the colours starting to show, the Nutmegs clearly have a tangy orange to them!
Day 7
As you can see, the colours really are showing now, and I can take a guess at the colours quite easily. The ears are coming along quickly, I am not sure if they can actually hear of out them yet as there doesn't seem to be an opening.
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Day 8
Now, you should definately be able to tell the colours of your pups. The fur on the tummy is also coming through, and so if like me, you're not sure between DEH and Nutmeg, then no you should be able to tell quite easily. The pups should be getting more active and you might see them stumbling around the tank. They are mobile, just don't often stray from the nest yet (unless I just have very well behaved pups!).
The pups will fall asleep in your hand when you hold them, I try to hold them with a semi closed hand a) to keep them warm and b) to make sure they can't jump or walk off the edge and fall.
You should be able to sex the pups fairly easily by now, and in a couple of days when stomach fur comes in more, it is much easier to use the nipple method to sex. Around the nipples of the female, there will be little circles of no fur. Of course if there are none of these little dots... then it must be a male.
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Day 9
Stomach fur is coming through more and is quite easily seen now, unbilical scabs are coming off and scent glands can be seen on those who have lost the scab. The pups love to sleep on your fingers, so keep them warm.
I had my first two escapees today, I was sat watching the tank and a little Nutmeg escaped... I took some quick photos and then gave him back to Siena, as soon as she'd put him back the little DEH came racing out so I gave her back to Siena too. Amazing how quickly they ran actually for such a little thing, but I think the DEH fell asleep mid run because she suddenly stopped. Awww, poor things are probably tired of mum cleaning them, pushing them around, digging over them etc no wonder they want to get away ;)
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Day 10
The pups are about the same... Again... A little bigger and their fur is a little longer. The stomach fur is coming through more and it is now getting easier to tell the sexes apart unlike before. The whiskers keep on growing and now seem quite long. We have also noticed teeth coming through, and if you hold the pup close to your ear you can hear them trying to suck! They will also attempt to suckle your hand and your clothes if they get the chance :)
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Day 11
The pups are quite easily walking around now, when they move their tummies aren't dragging along the ground anymore, they appear to be walking fully on their legs now. The velvety fur is still getting longer, and colours are deepening slightly (especially our REH's) The pups will dig and claw at your hands, not hard but they do appear to be getting their digging instinct now.
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Day 12
As you can see, the pups are getting a lot bigger and they are becoming a lot more mobile. Today we saw one of our pups attempting to put something in its mouth, not entirely sure what it was attempting but it sure was. I thought it wasn't until well into the second week that they begin putting things in their mouths, I guess we must have an early developer.
The body of the pups is becoming much more adult like now, with the tail getting quite long, and the back legs have suddenly started growing very long, whereas before the back legs were the same as the front.
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Day 13
Today the pups are venturing around quite a bit, and when being held they can easily jump off your hand. So make sure they are close to something soft, like the bed, pillows or a towel.
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As you can see the teeth have come through quite far now, I expect the female is beginning to feel the pain of sucking now... Imagine having 4/5/6 pairs of those biting at you!
Day 14
We have had a lot of escapees today, the pups keep on running around and it is very much obvious that they are quite aware of where they are and what directions to go in order to find mum etc. We think, they can obviously smell now and often follow the trail to where Siena is, I am still unsure whether or not they can hear. I suppose they can though.
The pups seem very much like small adults, they are even scratching and attempting to groom themselves and eachother now.
The pups are becoming more and more difficult to handle or take photos of now. They are constantly on the move and prooving difficult to get any good photos of. Where before I would be able to get photos of them quite easily by putting my hand over them to keep they warm, they would quickly fall asleep, allowing for photos... Now that just isn't possible, I have to get 'on the run' photos.
Day 15
Today we noticed that the pups were actually attempting to eat some food, I tried to get some photos and they didn't come out too well, but it is a big step. I read that they aren't supposed to start eating solids until 2 and a half weeks old, well they're only two weeks old now. I have seen a couple cleaning eachother over the last few days, at first I wasn't sure whether they were trying to suckle but today I can definately tell that they are trying to groom. The ears are also fully furred now around the lobe too and you can also see that the soles of the pups' feet also have a lot of fur on them.
Day 16
The pups are really bombing it around the tank now. It's amazing how quickly they can get around. They are also almost managing to get up onto the table type thing that we put in the tank in order for Siena to escape and have a quick sleep without the pups finding her. I would expect their eyes to be opening very soon, they are getting that fluffiness about them that you see in photos of pups that have just opened their eyes, too cute. The teeth are coming through more and more each day, and can quite easily be seen now. I feel sorry for Siena! The pups are losing the roundness to their faces too, and the faces are becoming more elongated like that of the adults.
Day 17
Today one of the Nutmeg's had one of its eyes pop open, I am expecting the rest of the pups to have their eyes open by tomorrow morning... We'll have to wait and see what happens! I managed to get a couple of photos, but not many came out... For some strange reason my camera has difficulty trying to focus at night when there's less light even though we turn on all the main lights to try make things lighter :S The pup doesn't seem too scared of me yet, but I heard that to start off with their sight is really blurred so I guess I am just a big blurr right now. So cute though, this little pup squinting at us and bumbling around.
Day 18
By the time we got up in the morning, there were three with both of their eyes open and the other three still had them all closed... Very odd :D After a few hours, once I had got back from going into town 4 had both eyes open, one was a winker and the last still had both eyes closed. I decided to let them out in the adventure playground that I normally put Siena and Dakota in and by the time I put them back the last one had both eyes open and we only had one winker left! Must've been all the pushing and climbing they were doing.
I can't believe how cute the pups are now their eyes are open, I thought they were cute before but now they're even more so. Plus they're easier to handle now because they don't just jump off your hand as they can see it! I am surprised that they are not scared of my hands, most places say that they will be... But these aren't, they're scared by noises though. I'm thinking it must be because I have bred with two well tempered gerbils, so they are not skittish and scared, they are more layed back and friendly.
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Day 19
The pups are doing well, we cleaned out their tank today and added things in like tubes and put in Siena and Dakotas old wooden house too. Hopefully they will have more fun digging in the now plentyful bedding and also won't develop any stereotypical digging in corners as they now have a tube running from their nest area.
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Day 20 +
The pups will feed from mum less and less until they are fully weaned and eventually ready to leave. They should be removed from the parents at around 6 weeks old and seperated into male and female groups by 8 weeks old.
