Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Decide what your purpose is for breeding the gerbils. Do you want them for pets or do you want to breed them to be placed in other homes?
Step2
Know the mating pairs medical history. You never want to breed gerbils that have a history of heart or respiratory problems. Any gerbils with obvious deformity should not be bred, either. Your breeding pair should be a good size and mild mannered. Pups often inherit the parents behavioral traits.
Step3
Introduce the mating pair by using a split cage. After getting used to each other, put them together and they will do the rest. The father should stay with the mother through the birth of the first litter. Once the pups are born, he should be removed.
Step4
Put plenty of wood shavings, paper, and nesting materials in the cage, and the gerbils will build a nest. Don't use pine shavings. These can harm the gerbils and their offspring.
Step5
Ensure that the mother gets extra protein in her diet while she's pregnant and nursing. This protein can be delivered through meal worms or nuts. The pups will nurse for the first 4 weeks.
Step6
Determine the sex of the pups by the nipple method. Within 7 to 10 days, you can determine sex by looking at the belly side of the pups. Only the female pups will have developing nipples.
Step7
Start weaning the pups away from the mother at 4 weeks. Take them away a few hours at a time during this period. At the end of 4 weeks, remove them overnight for a week, and then remove them for an entire day. Don't separate the male and female until a new home is found for them.
Step8
Find the pups a new home if you do not intend to keep them. This process can take place when the pups are 6 to 8 weeks old.
