Good size tank for 6 gerbils?

[Ruby Inferno]

Recently I adopted 6 female gerbils from a rescue, all in the same tank. They get along very well. As I did not have a tank, the rescue kindly donated theirs to me. However, the tank isn't really big enough for when they get older and larger (they are fairly young). The tank's measurements are 75 cm long (30 inches), 30 cm wide (12 inches), 38 cm tall (around 15 inches I think?).

What size tank do you recommend I get? Is a 4 ft long, 1.5 ft deep, 1 ft tall tank okay? I'm not very good with gallons, it would be helpful if you could say the actual dimensions if possible. Thanks!

P.S. I live in the UK if that makes any difference.

[johanne]

Trying to keep 6 female gerbils together long term probably isn't a good idea. You don't want to see dead bodies or bloody gerbils in there one day. You'd be wise to split them into two groups of three. Then get another tank similar to or slightly larger than the one you have.

[betty]

Yes, I had 5 young females in the same 3ft tank (12" deep, 15" high - 3 with shelves), and they all seemed fine together up until about 5 months - then it was all over.

I wasn't expecting to keep them together for ever as I know females don't always get on, it was just a temporary measure until I had decided who I was keeping. I was watching them closely for any untoward signs so I could split them up into a 3 and a 2. I thought I had sussed out the dominance of them all and I was on top of things.

However, one morning it was all over. There was chasing, blood and injuries. And I was looking out for behavioural signs the whole time - just didn't see any?

And as I didn't imagine, it had gone wrong with the calmest of the gerbils and the shy one was the ring leader and it started a second fight even while I was splitting them up. Basically the toppled leader was out of the picture so the others got all upset and started reshuffling their pecking order.

So I then ended up with 3 tanks - 2 twos and a single. Poop. I certainly won't make that mistake again.

I know it all depends on individual gerbils, but I have set up a few 'female clan' rules now that I just won't break due to experiences like this over the past few years.

I don't want to put a dampner on your new large clan of pups - as I am sure they are adorable right now - but you would be very lucky if they didn't declan at some point - so I would certainly have at least a second tank standing by for when it happens. Could be 6 months, could be 2 years.

How old are they just out of interest - and if they are very young did you check the sexes yourself to be sure or is your rescue a small animal specialist rescue?

[Ruby Inferno]

Thank you for helpful replies! I did not know large clans of gerbils had such a high chance of causing fallouts. I'm not entirely sure how old they are, they are only a few months old though. Will ask my mum, she knows. I don't think anyone knows their precise birthdates due to their background. Poor things came into the rescue half starved

It's not actually a small animal specialist rescue, but they are very knowledgable. I will be sure to double check, but it's a little difficult because they're still a bit skittish.

[Shooting Star]

Definitely double check the sexes before you make any permanent decisions. In my experience, only certain group dynamics work for long term large clans. Usually you need one gerbil that is clearly "the boss", and no others that would challenge that. Basically, a dad and sons or a mom and daughters. And even then you're likely to run into trouble when the patriarch/matriarch gets old and infirm. I have a group right now made up of mom and six daughters, they've been together since the daughters were born (though at that point dad and brothers were also present), and the daughters are now seven to ten months old. Their enclosure is home made, roughly 3.5' long, 1.5' wide, 1.25' tall. I'll be splitting them some later this year for breeding, so we'll see what happens.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using proboards

[twinkietwixoreo]

I got three sisters a few years back and they got along so well for about two years. And then, two sisters started fighting so bad that they drew blood. I had to split them.
I will never keep more than two females in the same cage from now on.

[Ruby Inferno]

I will try to double check their sexes, and look into splitting them up into trios/pairs, thanks!