Seeking advice for introducing two pups to a 6 month old

[mcats]

Hello,


I have a 6 month old male gerbil who needs companions.  I have the option of adopting two 2 month old boys from an individual(craigslist) or adopting two (estimated) 3 month old boys from a shelter.  My 6 month old is currently in a 15 gallon(high) and I plan on using a 10 gallon as a split tank for their introduction.  After they're getting along, I plan on putting them all in a 29 gallon(where I kept my original trio).

Does this plan sound good?  Any tips?

I originally adopted my now 6 month old gerbil as a companion for my elderly gerbil after his second brother passed away.  I introduced them using a bird cage placed inside of the 29 gallon.  They seemed to be behaving aggressively through the bars of the cage.  (I switched their places several times throughout the day for scent exchange.)  Unfortunately, the 6 month old went over the side of the bird cage during one of these switches and he attacked my oldest gerbil.  There was some blood but neither gerbils were seriously injured.  I continued to do the scent exchanges but eventually decided I needed to try a new method and removed the 6 month old.  At some point, my elderly gerbil passed away.  We weren't shocked but had hoped he would live longer than his siblings. 

So now I have the lone 6 month old and I'd love to have a happy little trio again.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.  I'm worried they might "declan" when I move them from the 10 to the 29, for example.  I will also eventually add a 10 gallon topper to the 29 gallon(I think).  I have a large amount of bridges, toys, etc but am planning on keeping the 10 gallon pretty bare with a small amount of bedding for the introduction, based on what I've read.  Again, any help is appreciated.  Please tell me if I'm making a mistake!  Thank you.

[erin]

Since boys in general are the more calm of the sexes, it should be fine to go with the shelter gerbs. One of my babies is from a shelter and I wouldn't trade him for the world. Plus, you're doing a great deed in adopting. If the shelter gerbs seem aggressive when you meet them, then I'd go for the craigslist gerbs as long as they seem healthy. Instead of using the 10gal for the split cage, I'd use the 29 gal and just remove the divider when they're ready to live permanently together. I actually just introduced two boys a couple of weeks ago and they're getting along great. After they bonded through the split cage, I introduced them in the bath tub (neutral ground) and so I had easy access in case a fight broke out. After watching them for 5 hours and felt confident that they were bonded, I put them straight into a 20 gallon and they've been great ever since. Again, because they're males, you shouldn't have to worry about declanning just because of extra space. I've read that in many cases of declanning it's because of the hamster type houses that have clearly marked rooms which leads to fighting if one steps in another's "territory". If you do decide to go with the 29gal as I suggested, keep the bedding to a minimum as you know. Hope I helped and if you have any more questions this forum is extremely nice and helpful good luck with the split and congrats in advance on your new babies!

Edit: I forgot to add make sure the 29gal is thoroughly cleaned since you previously had other gerbs in it. I've heard of gerbs declanning because they smelled the previous gerbs

[crittercrazy]

I would actually go for the gerbils from craigslist- as they are younger the introduction will be easier. The other pair would probably work too though and adopting is great, so on second thought, either way is good.

As far as the split goes, I just want to mention that males can declan just as females can! I've heard/read that males are easy to introduce and don't declan ever since I got my first gerbil, and yet from my experience that's not true in many cases. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't take any shortcuts just because they're males.
Anyways, after they've been in the split for awhile and you think they're ready to go together, I would suggest removing the divider but leaving them in the 10 gallon. If they fight, you can just put the divider back in. If they get along fine, I would wait a few days to make sure and then move them to the 29 gallon.
Going along with that, I think the 10 gallon would be better for introductions. Not to say you're wrong 3rin, but from my own experience and everything I've read the smaller space will increase the effectiveness of the split cage.

Good luck!

[erin]

Feb 1, 2015 9:17:37 GMT -8 crittercrazy said:

I've read that too, I just thought that as long as you keep bedding to a minimum it will be an easier introduction and that way they won't get stressed out when you move all 3 together right away. Please correct me if I'm wrong

[crittercrazy]

No problem- I think its just that the smaller space "forces" them to interact with each other more. But I suppose it could stress them out as well, so what do I know.

[mcats]

Thanks for the replies.

I'd prefer to use a 10 gallon if I'm doing a split-cage as I don't want to "ruin" my 29 gallon with silicone residue. I do, however, have a small bird cage that I could place within the 29 gallon. This didn't go well when I tried to introduce the 6 month old to my elderly gerbil as they seemed to fight through the bars. I'd prefer to go that route again if it's unlikely they'll fight, given their ages. We haven't bought the hardware cloth for dividing the tanks yet, as it's only sold by the roll here and my SO isn't thrilled about the idea of blowing $10 just for a temporary measure. I will buy it, however, if a split cage is the safest option for introducing these guys. I don't want to risk another bad introduction.

I've heard mention of vanilla(which I've used for cat introductions), is this effective?

Thanks again for the advice!

[crittercrazy]

I don't think using the bird cage will work well, as there really needs to be no way for them to fight and as you said, the bars will allow it. Though I understand reluctance to buy the hardware cloth, I'm afraid a split cage is indeed the safest option.

Do you mean using vanilla to "mask" their scents? I've heard of that, or of using chinchilla sand for the same purpose. If you were doing a "neutral territory" introduction, which is not a good idea, then I suppose it would make sense. But the whole point of a split is for them to get used to each other's scent, so covering it up seems counter-productive to me.

[mcats]

You know, that makes complete sense(in regards to the vanilla).

We'll be picking up hardware cloth tomorrow. Thank you for the advice. I haven't heard back from the craigslist people, unfortunately as they're a bit closer to us and the boys are younger. They had four males to choose from: two black, an agouti, and a red/saffron/argente/I'm not that good at gerbil colors/they described him as "cream." I was going to go with the two black boys. The shelter has a black and a lilac(my guess), whom I would love to have, only it's 3.5 hours away. I haven't been able to find any babies locally and refuse to buy from a pet store so.. a long drive is our only option.

[mcats]

Now(after posting in a different part of the forum/reading more articles), I'm afraid neither pairs of babies will work. I don't have the option of pairing him with younger babies; I've looked everywhere. I need to decide soon and I don't know what to do..

[keldamouse]

mcats, do you have space to keep 1 single gerbil and a pair if the intro doesn't work out?
I say if you are willing to have two sets of gerbils then try for a trio of boys. I think a 10 gallon and lots of time and lots of mesh so they can't get to each other you may be successful on bonding.

I had older girls (the hardest to pair, and I got lots of people worried it wouldn't work or would be hard) that I bonded and it took almost 2 months of 3 switches a day and 3 failed intros (no blood though on the failed intros).

Don't worry it will all work out. You may just have three of gerbil boys in two tanks and then you can keep your eye out for a single boy to try to pair again with your original boy.

Also don't feel like you will be ruining your 10 gallon. I used hot glue and it came off with acetone very well after removing the barrier. Also have you thought about making a removable split with a metal chamber on it? That way you would only be spending $10 once since you would be able to reuse the mesh barrier. That's what I will do next time.

Good luck!

[keldamouse]

here is the link on how to build a split with an aluminum channel

www.twinsqueaks.com/split-tank.html

I think aquarium sealant is able to be removed with no issues. So then you would have a reusable split insert.