omg. OMG.
Male gerbils. Two MALE gerbils. THE DAMN PETSTORE PROMISED THEY WERE MALE GERBILS.
We have such an oversupply of pets in this country, you guys. NOT TO MENTION MY HOUSE. This is just BEYOND unethical. Also a total genetic disaster.
(And super cute.)
SHUT UP.
Guess when a newly delivered gerbil conceives again.
NOPE. Your guess is NOT EARLY ENOUGH.
The same day. A female gerbil delivers her babies and the male gets her pregnant THAT DAY.
Oh sure. He tries to make up for it by being the examplary father of the rodent kingdom, but does that MATTER?
NO. It does NOT matter. Because having managed unwittingly to violate every rule and requirement of successful gerbil breeding, I now have four or five gerbil babies and ANOTHER LITTER ON THE WAY.
THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN.
(Do not even START with me on how these pups got to 11-13 days and I didn't know. We have three rodent cages to clean, and I was a little neglectful. I let it go one extra week. Alright, FINE. TWO. WHATEVER.)
One issue that came up after the two male mice my sister had as a kids had babies and then more babies: stress and crowding induced cannibalism. You'll want to make sure the colony doesn't get too dense and stressful.
Posted by: stefan | February 27, 2012 at 11:43 PM
Oh this is how I started a gerbil business when I was 10..."two male gerbils." I can't believe they're still doing that one. I guess congratulations are not in order. :) They do hide them pretty effectively, those babies.
At some point my mother claimed all the babies were eaten and from then one every gerbil lived separately, but I suspect it was a bit more complicated than that.
Posted by: Shandra | February 28, 2012 at 06:36 AM
OOPS.
(OMG, they're SO CUTE!)
Posted by: Linda | February 28, 2012 at 07:45 AM
I literally laughed out loud when I saw your title on my blog today. HAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHA! That's how we ended up with 30 gerbils when I was a kid.
I seriously cannot stop laughing. We had those gerbils FOR YEARS! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!
Posted by: Michele S | February 28, 2012 at 08:22 AM
Oops.
My siblings had the same thing happen. I was older and away at college and I still remember the letters I got from my mother about the damned gerbils, especially the one where they escaped and were ALL OVER THE HOUSE.
Posted by: magpie | February 28, 2012 at 10:15 AM
OMG. THIS just seals the deal, my kids are SO. NOT. GETTING. GERBILS.
Good luck to you...may you find happy homes elsewhere for your little bundles of joy.
Posted by: chichimama | February 28, 2012 at 10:32 AM
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Ahem. Not to demean your distress, but that is pretty hilarious.
Posted by: electriclady | February 28, 2012 at 12:13 PM
This has strengthened my resolve to never.have.gerbils. But goodness, are those babies adorable!
Posted by: susan | February 28, 2012 at 01:43 PM
Same thing happened to us when I was a kid - only with our pet rats. (Yes rats). We didn't figure it out until "Mickey" started looking like Foghorn Leghorn.
We were able to find homes for most of the babies and my Mom smuggled the rest back to the pet store.
Good luck on Gerbil Mommyhood.
Posted by: Sarah | February 28, 2012 at 02:40 PM
Ha, I think I never posted my imaginary previous comment (the one in which I shudder just thinking about rodents). Well... this summary will suffice for now. ;)
Posted by: Lilian | March 01, 2012 at 09:06 AM