I woke up this morning to...

[charlyc]

I woke up this morning to find poor Coco had crossed the rainbow bridge

A bit of background…I've never owned Gerbils before and didn't have any intention of doing so until visiting a friend and seeing a poor little gerbil (Coco) on her own in a tiny cage (meant for hamsters!), she was a birthday present for my friends daughter who played with her once…Anyway, soon rescued by me and a big new tank purchased! I brought another female from P@H (Loco) they got on wonderfully and I was able to take the divider out after just over a week. They lived happily ever since until I woke up this morning to find poor Coco dead. I was playing with her at around 1am last night and she seemed fine, I am hoping it was old age and peaceful. I am not sure how old Coco was but she was definitely over 3. Now I have poor Loco on her own, Loco is around one years old.

My question is…would it be cruel to keep loco on her own? Should I get her another friend? I don’t want to always be introducing gerbils because one is older than the other. Could I get two and see how they get on with her? P@H sometimes have Gerbils for adoption but it would be a case of just looking out for a lone female. Is there anywhere else I could adopt one? I still have the separator I made and obviously if introducing another is unsuccessful…I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it!

Any suggestions?

Thank you x

[Jazzable]

It wouldn't be cruel to keep her on her own. You'd just need to give her lots of human interaction and play time, and keep an eye out for sign of depression or loneliness. Some gerbils do better alone than others, and there's no real way of knowing.

If you want to avoid gerbil 'leapfrog', you could try introducing her to two young gerbils (who are already bonded to each other). That way when Loco dies of old age, the younger gerbs will still have each other.

Although I've heard that it's harder to keep females in anything more than a pair, so someone else will have to comment about that.

[sparky]

I'm sorry that Coco left you. If Loco is happy being on her own then it wouldn't be mean. I adopted a pair of male gerbils who were 3 years old. Homer died 3 months later and Bart very happily lived on his own for another 9 months. I had him out to play for 1 to 2 hours a day and he was always very busy digging and chewing in his tank. He actually seemed happier on his own. Bart was the dominant gerbil and would always be bossing Homer about and he seemed more relaxed on his own. Not all gerbils are happy on their own though so I would let Loco tell you if she needs a friend. If she is still happy and playful then I think she should be fine on her own. Some gerbils to get quite depressed and withdrawn on their own though so if that happens she might like to have a friend or friends.

[charlyc]

Thank you for your advice. Loco has always been a bit of a nervous, shy gerbil. Whereas Coco would like running around the room/garden outside of the tank, and would like human interaction, Loco is far, far more subdued. She doesn’t usually come and greet you (as Coco did), and when they’re allowed to run around the room or in their run, she doesn’t seem to enjoy it and seems frightened. So I’m actually going to have trouble seeing if there is any difference in her and whether she’s depressed. She would also follow Coco’s lead. The only thing I did notice is that there’s been no digging etc over night, the sawdust and tunnels are exactly intact as they were when I went to bed which is unsual

I’m thinking I could possibly rescue another 1-2 year old gerbil and hope they get along… Coco was 1.5 years old and had always lived alone when we introduced her to Loco who was a pup.

[sparky]

I only just realised that Loco is still only 1 year old. I missed that when I read your original post. I thought she was the same age as Coco. If she was mine I probably would try to find her a friend. I didn't with Bart as he was already over 3 and I wasn't sure how much longer we would have him, but Loco is still a youngster. I know people who have introduced a pair of female pups to an older female and they have got on well. Or you could try a female of the same age. Even if they don't get along well enough to live together, they could live in a permanent split tank, if it is big enough. It would still be company for them both.

[chakotay]

I'm sorry to hear about Coco. I've kept gerbils as singles for many years. My first pair were brothers who declanned. I kept them as next door neighbors and they both lived long happy lives. Since then, I've had singletons in neighboring tanks/toppers. So far they have all done well. They are between my dining room and living room, so I'm always passing by and talking to them. They will sit on their balconies and watch me when I'm in the kitchen.

[snowballandnugget]

I'm so sorry for Coco's passing. It's so sad when it's sudden like that.