Should split be done in permanent home?

[Thelodar]

I'm considering getting Logan a friend. Since he's been split from his brothers he doesn't seem depressed but he spends an enormous amount of time on his wheel and has begun over grooming his tail a bit (thinning hair). I'm still not 100% sure I want to do it (I'm very concerned that he might just be antisocial and will fight again) but I'm considering it and have some questions.


I've never introduced gerbils before, my previous pairs were bought already together so I've never done a split. It seems like a hassle to put a mesh split in an aquarium. I'd need to affix metal channels to the glass walls for the mesh screen to sit in, correct? I'm assuming these will be difficult to remove after the split and I don't really want permanent metal channels in their tank. I was thinking it might be easier to buy a cage and make a split in there where it's easy to attach the mesh to the cage bars. Or I could use one of my spare 10 gallon tanks and just leave it as a permanent split for any future needs and I won't be ruining the 20 gallon I want to use for their home by sticking metal channels to the glass. Then after they've been introduced I could move them to their permanent tank. However I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have them do their split in one tank and then move them to another early on in their "face to face" relationship. Is it safer to do the split in the home they will be staying in long term?


Or is there some way to do a split that doesn't involve permanently attaching things to the tank?

[blanknote]

Here are couple ways to do the split cage without having to attach things permanently: gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/10922/split-cages

Unfortunately I don't have experience is introducing gerbils myself, so do not know would it matter if you split caged them in 10 gallon one and then moved them to a 20 gallon one. (But I am pretty sure people often use 10 gallon tanks for split caging, and after a successful introduction they do move them to a bigger tank. As a smaller tank is better for split caging as they are more likely to interact more as there is less space.)

[betty]

Yeah. I just made a small wooden frame that was a fraction smaller than the cross section of the tank, tacked mesh to it and I wedge it into the tank whenever I need a split. As they are a nice solid frame, I just slide them out on introduction leaving no trace or permanent fixings.

They have worked a treat so far.

[PurpleSheep]

It's file to move them to a bigger tank after the introduction, as long as you move their bedding over at the same time. It's a good idea to leave them in the intro tank for a few weeks and start adding a few handfuls woodshavings every day after the first week, to build up their bedding. You should then have enough bedding to move them over to the new tank and it will still smell familiar to them. I'd then wait another few weeks before giving them a full clean out.

Good luck with the introduction.