How long should gerbil pups stay with their families?

[icecontroller2529]

Those of you who are more experienced with gerbils in general or with breeding in particular,
what is your opinion on the question how long gerbils should stay with their parents/families before they go to their new homes?
How much time do gerbils need for a healthy socialisation process that will enable them to live with another gerbil for the rest of their lives without declanning?

Also, what kind of social structure do they need for a successful socialisation? Mother and siblings only? Mother and father? Other older relatives?

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

I have a strict rule of not selling any pups before 6 weeks. They won't breed before 8 weeks, so I keep them with their mother and siblings until I sell them, or until they reach 8 weeks old. Once they do I separate them into their sexes and put the mother with the female pups, and the father with the male pups. If the tank is big enough, then I put a divider in so they can be somewhat together.

I find the best socialization is just leaving them with their parents and siblings until they go to their new homes. Before the pups reach ten weeks they will almost always just get right along with their dad, even if they've been separated for up to a month.

[betty]

I always go by what I am doing with them afterwards first - and then tinker with the details. I do try to always have them live in their new pair for at least a week away from all others. And for a smooth transition, I almost always have them live without parents with me whilst still in the same enclosures/environment.

If I am homing them in pairs from each individual litter immediately to planned homes (c.6-7weeks), then I may well be ok to take them out from mum/dad and have them living in a 4 (2 pairs) the week before homing - splitting the pairs off at purchase.

If they aren't going immediately, or are in mixed-litter groups, then I want them paired off by 10 weeks (12 at the latest) into individual enclosures so they can start sorting out their (hopefully life-long) bond straight off the bat. This is because we can't see who is a friend or in what order their heirachy is - and the longer a large group is living together, the more involved and structured this heirachy becomes. Needless to say just hoiking 2 out of a crowd based simply on colour or the character our buyers like, means that we could accidently be picking out gerbils who 'don't match'.

It isn't usually an issue if the pups are very young, but as they age into their teens this can sometimes create tension. The group itself might be ok and seem fine - but pulling out two from an established group could upset BOTH groups either straight away (and we do see newly purchased pairs from groups in pet stores reporting squabbles as soon as they get them home) or later down the line.

Obviously, if they are being homed with parents (for pets) then pups stay with anyway - or get shipped to dad short term if there are too many females for mum. But if with staying with parents until ready for breeding - then the rules are totally different.

I have, however, always worked in a more cautious (and maybe slightly more anthropogenic) way - but there are always alternate road maps that seem to be equally successful too.