Is there any reason an expectant mongolian gerbil would suddenly chase her daughter around nipping her bum? It looked quite fierce !!! I've separated them !!! Poppy is nearly six weeks old and all of a sudden her mother starts biting her? I don't understand. There's no blood but she was chasing Poppy around for a good couple of minutes nipping and it was awful to witness.

Could it be that she's ready to drop litter 2 tonight and wanted Poppy out the way?

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could be a possibility gemma an old gerbil of mine used to get quite aggressive to her daughters if she was due a litter, n would try to keep them away from the litter when they arrived. only happened for her first two litters, after that they helped out n she seemed to tolerate it. Had another female spirit tho who wouldn't tolerate any females in the tank if she was due to drop, so we ended up with a spare tank on standby. sorry i can't be of more help

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No that's great thank you katiexx I've asked on some gerbil forums too but everyone must be out clubbing !!! lol

They're separate for now anyway so I think that I'll introduce a female baby from the litter yet to arrive when they're old enough to leave mum. There'll only be around 6/7 weeks difference in age. I have a split cage ready anyway, just thought it was odd for mum to turn on a daughter but I suppose that if she doesn't want any help there's nothing I can do about it That's the reason I kept Poppy, to help mum with the next litter ... typical !!! haha

Thanks again

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there might be other reasons people could mention.. not kept gerbils for several years now tho.

hope it all works out for mum n the little uns

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Hi,

I've not had this with mine. I have father, son, mother and daughter in the tank along with two litters that are about 3 weeks apart.

Years ago I had some that wouldn't have another female in the tank at all when she was due a litter. I had to keep her with a male as she would try and kill anyother females.
I think they can have quite different personalities.

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Sax

Got too many to mention!!!!!!

I have nearly all my information on my site now.
There are rat and hamster litters and pics of the ones I have.
http://nimbusstud.weebly.com/our-hamsters.html

Yes seperate them. My cousin had a pair of gerbils, mother and daughter, and found daugter eaten in the cage one day. They had been living together for some months and the baby was fully grown before the mother decided to cannabalize her.

Thanks, are yours pets or feeders?

Thanks,

They're already separated

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