Confused - Trios

[clyon]

I know I read somewhere that it's o.k. to have two males with one female, but I just saw the post where there are two females with one male? Is either way safe?

I have a predicament - I have a pair that have mated and a young female (not related). The first mating did not take and the pair has been together about three weeks. I have come to the realization that I do not think I am capable of getting rid of the pups and I can't keep endless gerbils. My initial plan was to let her have two litters and then split them up with their male/female sons/daughters. However since I have this new female is it possible/good idea to put the pregnant mom with the young female to help raise the litter and get a new male companion for dad?

I can still stick to plan A and let them have two litters and them separate the boys with dad and girl (s) with mom. Which after reading more, should only 1 daughter stay with mom? I don't want a dominance situation later.....

Then I still feel like I need to go out and get a companion for the lone female while she is still young (another female).

HELLP!

I have a GERBIL ADDICTION.... they are SO cute!

Christi

[lizzy]

I thought that all trios were bad.

Males will argue with each other to get to females, won't they?
And I don't know about two females and a male, but females can be more aggressive with each other (and humans) if there are males in the room (not even in the same tank).

I'm not sure about your gerbil predicament.. but I know what you mean about the addiction. I've gotten 10 gerbils in 7 months
must.stopnow. (and none of them I bred)

[sherica]

Hey Guys, no, trios usually do not work out. I have tried it and I currently have just one trio left. As soon as the litters are old enough, I will be splitting them up. As far as fighting, they have all gotten along together for about 5 months with no problems. But, they also did not start producing pups until last month. And even now, if they were breeding on the same schedule, I think they would be ok, but they're not. There's a 3 week difference in the litters which make is much harder for the younger pups to get nursed properly. And the 3 week old pups use the younger ones as a mattress which really stinks. I tried split cage them so only the parents could get to the younger pups, but the Mom's keep carrying the pups back over to the other side. Once the younger pups hit one week old, then I will take the older pups and Mom/Dad to them out and leave the new Mom with her pups in her cage. Right now when I try anything with them, they all start spazzing out and grabbing pups in their mouths and running wildly around the cage with them.

But on the other hand, I have 4 non-breeding females in my room in a 20 gallon long aquarium. Right now they are still getting along great but with females, you just never know when a battle will start. I try to keep them entertained as much as possible with either hay in the box or new toys.

[clyon]

So, does anyone recommend putting my (assumed pregnant female) with the new female and get a new male companion for the male?

I'm dazed and confuzed but after reading alot of the posts I KNOW I belong here...........

Decisions Decisions Decisions

Christi

[sherica]

Well, if the older female is pregnant, it may not be a good time to introduce them. You can always split cage them in the same tank and introduce them later. I would go and get another male for your lonely male tho. Or if you want one or two litters, then leave the pair together and just split cage the lone girl next to them until the other one has her pups. Then you could intro one of the pups with her or the female. That way no one has to be alone. Good luck, I hope I helped a little!

[callimico]

It's dangerous to have 2 (mature) females and one male in a single tank, especially if only one of the females is going to give birth. You may lose the litter, or one of the females in a fight.

I have never heard of someone having a problem with 3 females in one tank (as long as it's big enough- 20 gallon, but some ppl recommend just 2 females in a tank).

I would do one of 2 things:

Let mom and dad raise the first litter alone, then take all the boys and put them with dad in a 20 gallon tank, or a 55 gallon (that's the next size up here) if more then 3 boys are born.

Then take one daughter from the first litter and pair her with the lone young female in a 10-20 gallon tank. Leave the remaining daughter(s) to help mom raise the second litter. You can then let 1-2 of the female daughters in with mom, and either rehome the other pups or keep the 2nd litter boys in another tank. THat would leave you with just 4 tanks of gerbils (dad and sons, 2 girls, mom and daughters, new boys). Depending on how many females are born you can leave all (up to 3) with mom or rehome a couple.

If the young female is really young and already living with dad and mom you can take dad out and let her and mom raise the litter. But I wouldn't try inroducing 2 strange female gerbils late in pregnancy.

If you really don't have room for a second litter you can have mom in her own tank, dad in his own cage, adn the lone female in her own cage. Then place sons with dad, one daughter with lone female and the rest of the daughters with mom.

Trio's with 2 males and a female often work out as males don't fight over the female- they fight over males, or feel threatened by one another (when pregnant- lively hood of pups, it's a natural instinct).

Since the other girl isn't related it's best not to pair her with mom and dad, but wait for a female pup to place with her. Good luck ;D

[clyon]

O.K. my explanation was confusing... I have the breeding pair together right now. I went out and got a new female, she is younger. The breeding pair just mated yesterday. I would like to leave them together, I'm just trying to keep my tanks down to 3. I just had the idea that maybe if I introduced the young female to the pregnant one now, they might raise the babies and I wouldn't have to worry about another litter. Then I would have to find a companion for dad, unless I waited to introduce his sons back to him. THIS GETS COMPLICATED!!!!!

I am thinking that the only solution right now is to go out and get another female. Then I have a pair of females, the breeding pair and when they have their babies, split them up with their offspring and find homes for the extra females. So there will be the mom and a daughter, and the dad with his sons. Of course then there would be another litter on the way that I would also have to deal with.

I have complicated my life!!!!

[queenofthenile]

How old is the new female? If she is under 8 weeks, I would put her and the preggo mom in a split cage. Two females can successfully raise litters together, especially if one hasn't yet hit sexual maturity. They should be fairly easy to introduce and since they just mated, you have between 24-28 days to get them together. Once the pups are old enough, place a male with the dad. If it turns out the female isn't pregnant, just get a new male pup to pair with the older male.

[Ritzie/Admin]

I have had trios of both males as females, some worked well, others not!

And I can tell you that I have had also one group of two females with one male. The females started to fight when they male became sexually mature! They were both almost equal dominant and they did not allow the other to mate! They almost killed each other, After seperation everything was fine again. The same can of course happen with two males and one female.

I get a lot of e-mail from people that have problems with trios. The majority of these people with problems have females, some also with males.

[clyon]

I had done exactly what queenofthenile had suggested the night before I read the email. I was relieved to hear that it seemed reasonable and quite happily has worked out very well so far. I will watch closely around the time she would be due if the pregnancy took to see what happens then, but am relieved!!!

I work in a few different pet stores doing dog food demos and I just couldn't bear to ever have pups end up there! So few people know enough about gerbils and I often see families stuck together in the tanks and there is fighting and I can't stand it... hence I keep bringing home the odd one...

I did bring home a pied/mottled black this weekend and successfully paired him with my male that was alone as I thought a month would be a long time to wait/see if she has babies. That was my scariest intro yet but they seem to be doing just fine! I call it the split-shower method. I put the existing cage in my shower stall and let them in back and forth, then let them loose in the stall with my gloves on. There were a few interesting moments, but the new boy, who will now be known as squeaky, as he squeaked alot, is quite young. I think he is probably 8 weeks or so.

Thanks for all the help!

Christi