Gerbil Litter One

This is a page following the development of the first litter to be born here, the mother was Siena, our lovely friendly female Red Eyed Honey.

Siena was an excellent mother, she did everything we expected and couldn't have hoped for a better mother... She did however also love to have her time away from the pups! Once they reached a couple of weeks old I would have to let them out to play in their 'play box', so she could have a rest from them and also to play by herself. This behaviour was seriously reduced with her second litter, as she was obviously more used to being 'the milk bar'.

The litter was born sometime in the morning on August 2nd 2004, I was on holiday at the time, leaving Pete behind to check on them and make sure everything was going well. He did pick up any of the litter before I arrived back, he did however take some photos and touch them in order to remove bedding and count them.

On the day of my return, Siena left them in the open in a corner, layed down on them and gave me full view of them nursing on her!

All pups grew up beautifully and are now massive and in the case of the males most are pretty porky! Most have gone on to win various awards at the Bradford Championship show of 2005.

And onto the photos: