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Post by lauren skelhorn on Mar 11, 2015 4:38:47 GMT -8
I currently have a bonded pair of male gerbils and one female, I want to breed one of the males which requires splitting up the bonded pair and keeping him alone as he will not accept any other male gerbil. Will i ever be able to put the bonded former pair back together after the babies have been sold, if so how could i do this, if i took them both out of their separate cages and let them see each other for 15 minutes a day would they stay bonded and accept each other again?
Also after handling the male and putting him back in with the female will she remember and accept him or try to attack him?
Thankyou x
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Post by crittercrazy on Mar 11, 2015 13:59:31 GMT -8
Do you know for sure that he won't accept another male? Just because he won't accept one doesn't mean he won't accept another.
Letting them see each other would not work I should think. . . would be too risky anyway. It is possible to reintroduce the males, but from what I understand, not likely. (something about the male that was bred now being dominant? Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that) You could permanently split them if nothing else.
The best option would be to keep a pup for dad and for the male he is currently with. (and of course, a female pup for mom)
I'm a bit confused by your last question. . . do you mean that if you did the 15-minutes together a day thing, would the female still recognize the male when you put him back? If that's what you're asking, yes, probably, but the smell of the other male could stress her. And I really don't think that's a good idea anyway.
Please don't take this wrong, but are you sure you should be considering breeding? It doesn't sound like you're really set up for it and trust me, breeding gerbils is a very big responsibility, and rehoming the pups will probably not be as easy as you may think. Have you done some research on the whole process?
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Post by MoonstoneGerbils on Mar 12, 2015 5:39:05 GMT -8
When you decide to breed, you are also deciding to permanently break up an existing pair. If you have a pair of males and a pair of females, you will now have 4 single gerbils that will all need to be repartnered. For two of these gerbils, the parents to be, this will be very easy. They just get to keep living with their children, dad gets 1-2 sons. Mom gets 1-2 daughters. The other two gerbils will have to be introduced to the pups from your litter.
Often this means that you take two males and female from the first litter and pair them to the single adults you left behind, and one son goes with the dad.
No you can't put them back together, or at least you shouldn't. It may not work, and introducing a pup to an adult is always easier than introducing two adults together.
Putting them back in a cage together for 15 minutes a day will probably end in a blood bath.
Managing a kennel of gerbils and breeding pairs is not about how you want gerbils to be partnered, you have to accept that gerbils behave certain ways. You have to put their needs first. if you break them up, they're no longer going to be cage mates, and its not worth trying to reestablish that pairing, when other pairings would be easier and less stressful on the gerbils.
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Post by Lauren skelhorn on Mar 12, 2015 5:40:17 GMT -8
Yeah we're not breeding yet we're gathering information first and we have homes because im breeding a patched and there is high request for them near me but thankyou for your help will see how putting the male with another goes but so far he hasnt took to three different baby males after spilt caging
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Post by betty on Mar 14, 2015 0:56:25 GMT -8
Sorry I'm a bit confused on your set up. If you have a bonded pair of males, how have you tried to split the non breeding one with pups you mention? Or was that before he met you current other male?
A split with a pup can take several days at least if not weeks, so if 3 of those have failed, this so called grumpy male must have been on its own for at least a month, likely more than that. How is it now bonded with yours?
Also what colour are the male and female, as this can affect homing the pups too? What colour pups are you expecting. And sometimes the spotted gene doesn't play fair, I had a litter of 4 from a spotted parent, and no spotted pups. And sometimes the spotted pups are all the same sex, so if all your pups are the same colour with no spots, they can be harder to home.
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Post by vexorg on Mar 14, 2015 7:10:12 GMT -8
My take on the OP is that he has a cage with 2 males, and a cage with 1 female. He wants to get one of the males to bond with the female, then afterward go back to the original set up of having the 2 males in the same cage. And for every day the 2 males are apart they will get 15 minutes back together to keep them friends.
Cant comment on the outcome.
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Post by betty on Mar 15, 2015 2:04:00 GMT -8
Yes Vexorg, that part makes sense, but I was interested in how you can split cage one of those males to 3 different pups yet still have these 2 males bonded?
If it wasn't in a split tank (and it was a quick meeting in the bath tub or somewhere neutral) then that would be why he didn't take to them, which means that if the breeding male WAS taken out, then the remaining male might be able to have a friend after all.
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