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Post by nutmeg01 on May 5, 2015 7:25:13 GMT -8
When my gerbils declanned, I removed the aggressor and the other two got on fine without him, he only didn't get on with one of the gerbils in that cage so I introduced him to a female he now happily lives with his two sons at four years old
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Post by betty on May 5, 2015 8:26:34 GMT -8
Thanks nutmeg01 - interesting that the other 2 just settled back to how they were before this menace started a fight!
Nice story about your male - and 4 years old now - that is quite an age.. How old was he when he started the declan? And was he related to the other 2? If not - how old were they when he started trouble?
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Post by betty on May 5, 2015 8:32:25 GMT -8
When I had my trio and they squabbled (we had a few 'wrestles' and 'chases' but never any blood). Usually it was Bournville (B) (originally a single gerbil at the pet shop) and Marshmallow (M) (the more forward of the sisters I got as her friends). I don't suppose you know the ages of them all do you - and how old they were when the squabbles started. Interesting that it all settled down with no bloodshed? And how old were they when M died - perhaps they were old enough not to bother with squabbling - just 2 old ladies that lunch... I assume you now only have Fudge - funny that the quiet one has lived the longest in your clan.
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Post by nutmeg01 on May 7, 2015 8:50:39 GMT -8
They were brothers and were about two years old I think it happened when the dominant one got very poorly so joey decided to try and take advantage of that. I had Joel on his own for a while but he became depressed so that was when I decided to try him with a female
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redsky
Member
Bournville, Marshmallow and Fudge
Posts: 543
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Post by redsky on May 10, 2015 2:43:09 GMT -8
betty when I got Bournville the pet shop said she was 14 weeks +, but they weren't sure, one of them said 20 weeks... They also said she was male. Marshmallow and Fudge were from pets at home, the guy there said they were about 8 weeks old if not younger and also told they were males. They took a week or so in the split and then were fine for quite a long time and turned out to all be females. Marshmallow and Bournville were always doing the typical dominance routines with each other, I could never quite decide who was actually in charge but most often it seemed that Bournville was or at least she was more forceful with it. They were all together from early October 2012 and I think it was in the new year that I started noticing little falling outs, usually during playtime on the floor. The point that I nearly separated them was in June 2013. I had brought home 3 young dwarf hamsters, I guess it must have been the scent of something new in the room that set them off. I realised and moved the hamsters to a different room but it took quite a while for them to settle back down and a couple of times I did sort of a force bonding thing where I emptied most of the substrate out of the cage. Can quickly go wrong but I was hovering over the box the entire time, even getting my OH to watch them while I nipped to the loo or sent him to get me something to eat or drink. This was also the first time that Bournville had turned her 'attention' to Fudge. She was chasing Marshmallow and Fudge got in the way and got bitten on the leg (it did bleed but only a tiny bit). After that she wouldn't allow Fudge up into the topper and would be 50:50 about allowing Marshmallow up but Marsh would stand her ground. In their 'tub' (so basically their tunnels) they got along fine, groomed and slept together which is the only reason I still had hope. Strangely once we moved house I was terrified that all the new scents, sounds, settings would cause them to fall out again but if anything they were even closer.
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Post by betty on May 18, 2015 9:18:25 GMT -8
Strangely once we moved house I was terrified that all the new scents, sounds, settings would cause them to fall out again but if anything they were even closer. Weird eh? The funniest things set them off - and sometimes not the things we THINK will set them off? Thanks for setting the scene though - it makes a lot more sense when you get a bit of background.
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Post by betty on May 18, 2015 9:23:05 GMT -8
The dominant one got very poorly so joey decided to try and take advantage of that. This is something that is quite common - once the dominant one gets ill - the other one spots it in a flash and starts to try and be the boss instead - which I suppose would happen 'in the wild'. No point the fitter younger ones waiting in the wings while an old decrepit one stays top dog. And when together as a couple, noone needs to be the boss, so there is usually no fighting. Nice.
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