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Post by peppermintthegerbil on Mar 13, 2016 14:51:20 GMT -8
I have a sweet 10 month old gerbil named Peppermint. I have had her for about 4 months. Peppermint does not have a cagemate because the person that gave her to me as a gift was not very informed about gerbils. Shortly after I got Peppermint, I got concerned and went to a pet store to adopt another gerbil. The employee that I spoke to at the store, however, told me not to adopt another one. She told me about an example when a family took a gerbil home to introduce it to another one, but brought it back shortly because it got completely beat up. We talked a bit more, and somehow we figured out that the gerbil that got beat up was Peppermint. Because she suffered from this traumatic incident, I decided not to introduce her to another gerbil. Besides, she seemed very happy and did not show any signs of depression.
But now, I am very worried. Peppermint has been sleeping a lot more during the day and hides in her wooden house a lot. If I hold a sunflower seed towards her, she grabs it, only to retreat back to her house. Is Peppermint depressed? Do I need to introduce her to another gerbil? Does anyone know what could've caused this change in behavior?
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jgl
Member
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Post by jgl on Mar 13, 2016 16:40:44 GMT -8
It's always hard to tell exactly what gerbils are thinking and feeling but I believe that all gerbils should be paired up if they are not aggressive or sick. If I were you I would definitely get another gerbil. The family that first took Peppermint home may not have been very informed and just put her in the other gerbil's cage, or the gerbil they tried to pair her with may have been overly aggressive you never know. And with sufficient time to overcome being beaten up she should be fine.
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Post by blanknote on Mar 14, 2016 13:59:04 GMT -8
If you are able to, I would also recommend trying to introduce Peppermint to another female by using the split cage method (you can find a lot of information about this on this forum, and when googling).
Has it been any colder in the house recently? Sometimes it seems that gerbils spend more time in their nest when it is a bit cooler temperature. There is also a possibility that she's up and running when you're not around, and so she's resting when you do get home.
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Post by peppermintthegerbil on Mar 15, 2016 15:02:04 GMT -8
Thank you for your advice! Peppermint has started acting normal again. I do think it may have been the cold.
I would love to introduce her to another gerbil, but I am very worried about fights. I do not have the space to have two gerbils in separate tanks, and I would hate to take the new gerbil back to the store or the shelter. Also, would a 20 gallon long be enough space for two gerbils? (that is what Peppermint is living in right now, but I do want to upgrade to a larger tank very soon)
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Post by blanknote on Mar 16, 2016 1:33:33 GMT -8
Thank you for your advice! Peppermint has started acting normal again. I do think it may have been the cold. I would love to introduce her to another gerbil, but I am very worried about fights. I do not have the space to have two gerbils in separate tanks, and I would hate to take the new gerbil back to the store or the shelter. Also, would a 20 gallon long be enough space for two gerbils? (that is what Peppermint is living in right now, but I do want to upgrade to a larger tank very soon) Do you have any friends/relatives, who would be up for keeping a gerbil, in case there was a fight? Just asking as I would prefer to give my pet to someone I know and could visit. I think it's a really hard choice what to do when you don't have the space for another setup if a fight happens. However, 20 gallon would be fine for a pair (a lot of people say 20 gallon is the minimum size for a pair). |
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PurpleSheep
Member
Bossed around by rodents & a toddler
Posts: 331
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Post by PurpleSheep on Mar 16, 2016 2:07:01 GMT -8
There isn't really a way of telling whether a gerbil is 'happy' on their own if you haven't seen what their behaviour is like when they do have a friend. Our first gerbil Sukie was on her own when we got her from a shelter, and she seemed content for the time we had her on her own, but a bit shy and standoffish. However, we ended up introducing her two pups and her behaviour changed so much - she became super-friendly and much more easy to handle. She wasn't 'depressed' on her own, but there was no doubt that she was happier with other gerbils around.
Gerbils don't really have a long-term memory, so your gerbil won't be 'traumatized' from having a fight previously. A 20 gallon is fine for a pair, or if you can get a bigger tank you could potentially keep your gerbils in a permanent split set-up, if for any reason the introduction doesn't work out.
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Post by peppermintthegerbil on Mar 19, 2016 15:16:36 GMT -8
Okay, I am definitely thinking about introducing another female gerbil to Peppermint. I have read a lot about split-cage intros, my only question is, should the new gerbil be younger than Peppermint? And if so, how old should she be?
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PurpleSheep
Member
Bossed around by rodents & a toddler
Posts: 331
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Post by PurpleSheep on Mar 20, 2016 3:55:11 GMT -8
As a general rule, the younger the other gerbil, the easier the introduction will be. 2-4 months old would be ideal. An older gerbil around the same age as Peppermint will be fine too, the introduction will just take a bit longer.
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Post by peppermintthegerbil on Mar 20, 2016 7:29:50 GMT -8
Okay. I am definitely going to try to introduce a gerbil to Peppermint, but does anyone know the chances of them declanning after the introduction? I'm sorry for asking all these questions, but I am always worrying about the health and the well-being of my pets. It's just what I do best.
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Post by betty on Mar 20, 2016 10:13:23 GMT -8
I had a female gerbil acting similar to this after a massive declan, but after a period of time to calm down and become a bit more relaxed, I split caged her to an older female that I already had who I knew was super lovely and chilled - which went a treat.
When the old lady passed and she was alone again, I split her to a much younger gerbil I had free (but not a pup) and they have been in love ever since. It only took 2 weeks in both cases, so I am sure that there is a high chance that your little gerbil can find herself a long lasting new friend.
Don't think too much about the chance of declanning though, as although it can happen to newly introduced friends, it can also happen to long term pairs and trios - sometimes after 2 years of apparent bliss. However, most pairs live out their lives together with no trouble.
I have found that splitting and declanning are just a part of normal gerbil keeping.
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Post by peppermintthegerbil on Apr 4, 2016 13:14:40 GMT -8
So I know this issue is already pretty old, but I have another question. I am starting the introduction hopefully this week. I just need to know if I have to quarantine the new gerbil. I know that sometimes split cages can take up to a month, but I really need to get this done before mid-May, and I don't really have time to quarantine the new gerbil. So I was just wondering if it is necessary and if yes, then how long?
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Post by blanknote on Apr 5, 2016 5:11:32 GMT -8
From what I have read, quite a few people seem to do quarantine for a couple weeks to make sure the gerbil is all fine.
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Post by betty on Apr 6, 2016 3:25:09 GMT -8
Keeping a new gerbil away from you existing pets is always the safer option especially if you have a lot of pets of your own or you are looking at breeding or already have pups in the same area.
However, if you are hoping to do this introduction in less time than advised, it is entirely up to you.
Of course if you are getting your new gerbil from a reputable breeder and their pets are the picture of health, then there is less risk, but if you are picking up a gerbil from a pet store or random person who had an accidental litter, then it is up to you whether you take the risk that they won't make your existing gerbil fall ill.
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Post by peppermintthegerbil on Apr 6, 2016 15:57:14 GMT -8
Hi everyone,
I got a young female gerbil today, and I know I should be really enthusiastic and positive, but honestly, this is just nerve racking. I'm worried about the whole intro, about the new gerbil's health, and about Peppermint's health. I'm afraid I'm taking too many risks.
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Post by betty on Apr 7, 2016 0:40:22 GMT -8
I used to get really nervous about introducing gerbils when I first started as I only had a make-shift split and tried all sorts methods as I thought it should be quick - but after being so nervous every time and having a few failed introductions I took the advice of the experienced experts on here and set up some special split-tank introduction tanks - just for this. I have now done it successfully SO many times in these tanks that I now have no worries all the while they are in there.
I leave mine longer than other people though until I am 100% they will go together, and then the introduction itself is no longer as stressful either as I know they are as ready as they are going to be.
Also, if you have some pots ready in your hand - you can take them out at ANY point without harming anyone anyway - and stop them fighting if they do. Again, this reduces the need for stress.
I have introduced old, very old, young and unknown before and they have all been successful introductions. The only one that wasn't successful was an experiment (seeing if I could introduce an older mother to her older daughter who she hadn't seem for 2 years). It didn't work out due to the daughter being a bit bossy but noone got hurt - it was all very civilised as I knew what signs to look out for and noone got even a scratch (including me) - they just ended up getting a new friend each instead.
Just do a bit more reading, set up a good split tank and I am sure it will all be fine. Keep us updated as you go and ask as many questions as you need.
Good luck.
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