Question about dominance

[GerbilUK]

This may be a daft question, but if I introduce an adult to a baby, will the adult always be the dominant gerbil?

I have a male who is very submissive and I was wondering if he would be happy taking orders from the baby? If the submissive adult is in charge to start with simply because of his size and maturity, what will happen when the baby grows up? Will there be a change in dominance, or fighting over dominance?

Just trying to understand more about these fascinating creatures. Thanks

[johanne]

When one of the gerbils in a pair is submissive it's unlikely you'll ever see fighting regardless of who ends up being dominant. I wouldn't worry in your situation.

[GerbilUK]

Thanks Johanne. What about the situation where I introduce a baby to a dominant type adult? Is it possible that as the baby matures he could become a dominant type too and they will have to fight to establish who is in charge?

Mind you I suppose this could be true for a pair of pups too as they grow? That both want to be boss?

I presume that as they live in clans with a dominant pair that there are more submissive type gerbils around than dominant?

[johanne]

As long as they have enough space, food, water etc it's really very, very rare for gerbils to declan. It can be slightly harder to introduce a pup to a dominant adult but gerbils really prefer to have company. Attacking their best buddy just isn't in their best interest. I think if there's a dominance issue there's almost always a lack of something or a fear of something that triggers it, even if it's not immediately obvious to the owner. Give them a good home and they'll live out their lives happily and peaceably.

[GerbilUK]

Thanks again. I had a pair of males I had to separate due to fighting, I had introduced the older one to the younger as a pup myself with no difficulty.

The older one has a history of 'being bullied' (according to the pet shop that he was adopted from) but I didn't want him to be alone based on that and I had the young pup ready at the time anyway. They were totally fine for about 6 months. The older one was very agressive to my other male gerbils though and would go potty if the toppers were put too close. Then he suddenly fought with his cage mate and was quite badly injured. They both had front injuries but not back.

After the fight I separated them and the older one lives with my friend and is doted on and seems to have made friends with their dog of all things- they touch noses and everything. I didn't trust him with another pup to be honest with his history and the aggression.

I have been trying to pair up the younger warrior with a lone adult male but had to abandon it after a week as the agression levels from the younger warrior were getting worse and it was getting difficult to swap them safely. In the end I couldn't get the tank lid back on fast enough and he got over and attacked the other. I broke it up but the other was bitten as he tried to run off and the agressive one bit right through my leather glove.

Anyway I was thinking of trying the young warrior (shall i call him) with an eight week old pup. I guess I am worried that they will be fine to start with and six months down the line the young warrior will fight with the now mature pup, as happened before really.

I have upgraded all my homes to 2 or 3 ft tanks now so presumeably that's going to be enough space for just a pair.

Sorry for the long and convoluted story! I really do appreciate your words of wisdom. If I have made mistakes in the past please tell me and I will try to do things differently in future.

[johanne]

Sounds like you've been trying to deal with gerbils who have not learned proper social skills or had bad experiences that affected their approach to life. This is a whole different thing from gerbils with normal lives. You might have to let your young warrior live out his life by himself. Many gerbils, especially males, can be very happy living alone. Once their early lives have gone wrong it's pretty hard for them to learn how to be normal gerbils. It can happen, of course. Just can't count on it.

[GerbilUK]

Thank you Johanne. What you've said is very interesting and food for thought. I appreciate it.