When do the baby gerbils start to leave their nest?
Baby General
evecoats asked:
We have 8 twelve day old baby gerbils and we were wondering at what age the mom and dad gerbils allow the babies to leave the nest? When should I put the water bottle down low for them to reach and should I block off the tubes in the cage? Please answer quickly!
Lee
We have 8 twelve day old baby gerbils and we were wondering at what age the mom and dad gerbils allow the babies to leave the nest? When should I put the water bottle down low for them to reach and should I block off the tubes in the cage? Please answer quickly!
Lee
November 14th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Greg
first the bottles should already be low, and there should be no toys in the cage while breeding.
your gerbils should leave the nest soon. gerbils generally leave the nest soon after birth between a few days and weeks depending on the gerbils. they will be blind when they first leave the nest.(eyes closed), so they must be supervised if ever out of the cage.
keep in mind that even though the gerbils will be good with handling and be comfortable with you, once their eyes are open, you will be a strange giant, not a comfortable place to nap. so it will take a little while for the lightbulb to go on that you are that thing they have been sleeping on for the past weeks of their lives. LOL
good luck!
November 15th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Audrey
WHEN THE HAVE GONE
November 18th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Eric
The gerbils will leave when ever, but when they do the mom will carry the gerbils back to the nest. At four weeks of age the gerbils will eat and drink by themselves but just in case put the water bottle low for right now just so if they want to drink water. And yes block of ALL tubes in the cage, the baby gerbils dont have the sufficient strength to climb up the tubes, if they attempt it they will fall and it might be fatal.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Shawn
My baby gerbils started going out when they first opened their eyes. When they couldn’t see, the only reason they were out of the nest was because the dad had taken them out. I’m not sure when they started drinking the water, I just now saw them use it a couple of days ago. Just make sure it’s low enough, just in case. I took the tubes out once they opened their eyes, the only reason I left them in there was that the mom was getting defensive of the pups and kicked the dad out. He needed a place to go but I still wanted him to help take care of them pups. The pups will be able to climb up in the tubes at about 3-4 weeks. My pups went up in the tubes and to the top then were too scared to go back down. That’s why I took them out and moved the father. Well. Good luck.