Roma and PupsRoma was bred with Dakota and allowed to produce two litters, with Dakota being removed before the second litter was born. Dakota was then left with two sons, a DEH and Nutmeg - these two have now been rehomed with a lovely family and they are flourishing :) So Dakota is now currently awaiting the second litter to become a little older and then I will split-tank them for a short period and introduce them he will then live with two Nutmegs and one DEH. Leaving Roma with either one or two DEH daughters and one Nutmeg.
Here are some updated photos of the two sons, now called Gingerbread and Flapjack - I hope their new owners don't mind :)
Their new home.
Gingerbread
And a couple of photos from their second update on 2nd July. Gingerbread is getting nice and dark now!
And now for updates on Roma and the second litter June 2005:
The second litter are coming up to 4 weeks old on the 20th, I think Roma is beginning to wean them as she's not nursing them all the time, I'll see them all sleeping in a nest together, but she is not nursing at the time. The two daughters from the first litter are really beginning to flourish and have begun their first moult - ticking is coming through on their back but they still have little 'caps' on their heads where the ticking is yet to come. We are, unfortunately down to four pups, one little DEH male died *sobs* Basically we're not sure what's up with Roma but inadvertantly we've managed to solve the problem by moving the her and the pups into a much smaller, jumbo hagen, with basically nothing in there. Since the move we have had no more problems with her and everyone seems to be doing fine and growing well and eating solids now. All we can think is that as the tank is smaller and there is no nest box in order for the pups to come out of, this means they are ineffect always out of the nest and as the area is small she can clearly see any boundries... Guess we'll never know. But we couldn't understand her behaviour as her mum, Siena never stressed or got upset over pups clambering around and Roma helped raise the second litter. Siena did not have a nest box as such, but she did have a fiddlesticks bridge, which she would use as a nest area but she would keep alternating between the bridge and a corner of the tank. I figured that if Roma didn't want the nest box she wouldn't use it and occasionally the pups were in a corner instead, obviously I was thinking too much for the gerbil, as after all they are not humans.
So anyway, here are some photos taken on 15th/16th June
So, it's been a while since I took those photos, so I had best update...
The three male pups have been seperated from Roma and have been introduced to Dakota, I did this on the 30th June, so they have been together a little over a week now.
I think Dakota is grateful for the company now, new little pups he can boss around... How great!
As the males were all pretty small, I had to keep them in with Roma for an extra week, because I just couldn't sex them yet and I wanted to be sure I had them right. I knew the much larger pup was female, but again... I needed to be sure of that. I am now thinking perhaps the female is abnormally large and developed for her age, because she's already moulting and it's almost complete and as you can see from the update photos at the top of the page... The male nutmeg from the first litter is still going through his moult! This female pup is a little behind that pup in terms of moulting, but still he is three weeks older than her.
Maybe it's a combination of the both, the female is abnormally large and the three male pups are a little below average on the size they should be.
Anyway, onto photographs of Dakota and the three boys - oh all need to be named, currently looking for some
23rd July 2005
An update on Roma and the pups... (you can find out how Dakota and his sons are doing here)
Roma's daughters have all now been named, they are all living happily and will soon be moved into a large tank, as their gabber they were in for Roma to raise pups in is obviously too small for 4 gerbils. So over the next couple of days we will do that - we were waiting until the larger tanks need cleaning and we will then move out the Gerbils in there and swap Roma and Dakota into the larger tanks as there are more gerbs in there than currently residing.
So, we have:
Roma - Nutemg, mother of the group.
Atlanta - Dark Eyed Honey, daughter of first litter.
Nara - Dark Eyed Honey, daughter of first litter.
Kaori - Nutmeg, daughter of second litter.
Here are some photos from July-October, I've realised I haven't updated photos at all.
Roma is groomed by a daughter.
Kaori.
Atlant and Nara... No idea who is who *blushes*
Roma decides she wants to come out to play.
Roma grooming herself.
Kaori in a wind tunnel...
Roma attacking the hanging tube.
