Introducing 1 young male to 3 older males

[ralliart12]

Hi fellows. May I know if it is probable for me to safely introduce a single young male (4 & a half months old) to an existing clan of 3 older males (1 of them around 10 mths old, & the other 2 around 6 months old)?

Are male-to-male introduction generally easy? Or does the number-to-number ratio of the intro matter? Or regardless, must I do a split cage?

In addition, how do I "reduce" the scent from both sides of the party before any introduction? Do I give both a separate sand bath and/or ensure the bedding of the final enclosure is significantly fresh (not "marked" by any party yet)?

[jgl]

It usually isn't a good idea to introduce one gerbil to an already established group, I don't know your situation though so you should be the one to say weather in this situation it would be the best option. Males are generally easier to introduce than females. If you are going to introduce them the method I use is split cage, you will need to build a cage with 2 sides and rotate the gerbils through it. Here is more information:


hhgerbilry.com/splitcage.html

I don't know how this would be with one to a group though, maybe some one with some more information about this can help you.

[theia]

It's generally a bad idea to introduce a single gerbil to an established clan as jgl says. Even by putting them in a split the scent of the new gerbil runs the risk of causing the other three to declan.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

[ralliart12]

Thanks for highlighting your concerns.

Anyway, the reason I wish to do so is because it turns out 1 of the 4 females from 1 of my litters, is actually a male!:
gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/31495/confirmation-on-gender-youngs

& I do not want him to breed with his sisters (or mother, who's also in the enclosure). I've heard that breeding amongst within the family leads to poor physical attributes.

[ralliart12]

Feb 13, 2016 11:12:16 GMT -8 jgl said:

It usually isn't a good idea to introduce one gerbil to an already established group, I don't know your situation though so you should be the one to say weather in this situation it would be the best option...

1. I definitely do not wish for this male to breed with his 3 sisters & his mother; so I have already isolated him from the females-colony.
2. I have only 1 other colony, which consists of that 3 males which I'd mentioned.
3. I do not intend to let go of this youngest male.

So, I feel it is my best option. In terms of split cage, I have to execute the split cage until the gerbils from both sides sleep next to each other & groom each other, right?

Just curious: during the initial split cage, wouldn't the gerbils try to bite each other through the mesh? What if 1 party bite on a tail or limb of another through the mesh & refuse to let go?

[PurpleSheep]

As you have been told above, it is a very bad idea to introduce a single new gerbil to an established group and you are risking serious injury to your gerbils if you attempt this. Unfortunately, gerbils don't care how good your reasons are for trying to introduce them, they will react with their instincts and your existing trio may declan as well if there is an 'intruder' in their group.

Other solutions could be to either split one male from your trio and introduce him to your lone guy, so you end up with two pairs, or get another male gerbil from a shop or breeder as a companion for him (obviously make sure you check the new gerbil is definitely a male if you do this).

[GerbilUK]

Hello, just something to consider, but if I were you I would be loathe to split up your established group of three males. I have a personal "rule" that I don't split up bonded gerbils for any reason apart from death, declanning, illness etc. I would just feel awful if the intro didn't work and there was a lone one which didn't need to be if you see what I mean.

I would look for another male for your lone boy, a young pup would be easy to introduce but a single rescue gerbil or one alone in the pet shop would be good too.

Just something to think about. It's probably worth waiting for a month or so and see if you do have a litter from the female and if so you can put one or two little boys back with the 'daddy' quite easily.

[GerbilUK]

Also it's possible that more than one of the females he was in with may be pregnant, so you may well have plenty of choice for a companion for him! Really hoping it doesn't turn out like that for you but it's probably worth considering how/where you might sell the pups or whether you have room for them all yourself and so on. Good luck!

[GerbilUK]

One more thing:-) to answer your question- yes the gerbils can bite each other in the split cage, especially the first day or so. I use two layers of mesh (10x10mm) holes with some blocks between the layers to separate iif they are looking really vicious. Then when I think it's safe I take it down to one layer do they can sniff/groom each other. I have had noses,ears bitten through the mesh though when I have not been cautious enough.

[betty]

ralliart12 - what did you decide to do in the end with this lone male? And how has it all worked out?

[ralliart12]

Feb 28, 2016 5:18:01 GMT -8 betty said:

ralliart12 - what did you decide to do in the end with this lone male? And how has it all worked out?

Hi Betty, unfortunately till now I'm still keeping Atlantis (the lone young male) in his isolated enclosure. A few weeks ago, he was in physical proximity to 1 male from the other established clan (that colony of 3), & he gave Bob a nasty chew on Bob's snout (yea my bad, I know. Rookie handling mistake, i.e. handling multiple colony simultaneously)...

Status quo I guess?

[betty]

Ah, well I hope this didn't affect the stability of the existing clan!

So are you considering getting Atlantis a new friend rather than leave such a young one on his own? Is he in a suitable tank that you could easily divide into a split tank to make it ready for a new addition?

I have 2 tanks here just for splitting these days as I have to do it so often. I have a large aging clan and so as I lose a little one I immediately split the remaining one with a suitable friend (or stupidly, buy in a suitable gerbil and keep increasing my numbers!).

Gerbils really are addictive...