hammiea
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 14:15:03 GMT -8
Okay so I have a five yr old male gerbil, he has been on his ownfor about two months since his frienddraven died.
Should I introduce a pair or a single gerbil an what age should they be? Or should i not bother as he is so old. Also how would i go about doing this??
xx
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Laer
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Post by Laer on Jan 26, 2012 14:17:00 GMT -8
He's... Five years olds?
If you're going to introduce anybody at that age, try for two young males. The younger the better since they'll be more accepting, and since there are two you don't have to go through the whole process again when the old man passes on.
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Post by cheekygerbils on Jan 26, 2012 14:21:16 GMT -8
How is he on his own? Does he seem unhappy? Personally I would keep him on his own, it could be very stressful for an old man to be introduced to newbies. He is a very old aged pensioner
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hammiea
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 14:29:16 GMT -8
Yeah had him since he was 8 weeks old, he's 6 in 4 months. Okay wicked, so how will igo about it? and what if it doesn't work out?? I can't really afford/have room for another tank if it doesn't work out. whats the success rate?? xx
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hammiea
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Get a life, Get a rodent!
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 14:30:12 GMT -8
cheekygerbilshe seems fine, still digging chewing and is okay in general.x
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Post by cheekygerbils on Jan 26, 2012 14:35:09 GMT -8
I think you should keep him on his own. Realistically the little guy can't have much longer left. Rather than put him through the stress of an intro give him extra attention. Also you really would need to have a spare tank etc incase the split didn't work.
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hammiea
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 14:55:06 GMT -8
yeah i'll keep him on his own then :/ bless, he is still very active.
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Post by wizz on Jan 26, 2012 15:07:02 GMT -8
I personally would give him a friend, as who knows he might have a new lease of life with two youngsters around. Generally at 3+ they're well beyond caring about territories and become very easy to introduce and certainly by 4 and 5 are extremely easy. I've done it was a 4 yo of mine in the past, but that was also partially because I had a lone 2 yo male. But the oldie certainly appreciated the warmth from having a companion to snuggle up against.
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Post by eli27 on Jan 26, 2012 15:13:58 GMT -8
It might be hard to see it, but if I were you I'd also definitely get him some new buddies to live the rest of his life out with. Also, in my experience it's a fascinating, fun, heart-warming, great challenge watching two (or three) gerbils slowly get used to each other and become best of friends. The easiest gerbils to split would be to baby males. You could probably just stick them in a tank together and they'd snuggle right up. An old male and two young pups is also a very easy combiniation to introduce. The male will love watching the pups bounce around with each other, and they will encourage him to play and excersice. The pups learn valuable social skills, and are almost always respectful of their 'elder'. It's quite adorable. The 'success rate' for this way of introducing, well, I've never heard of a split with this type of combination of gerbils that didn't work.
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hammiea
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 15:59:35 GMT -8
Okay well, how would I go about introducing them Also as i cant afford a tank, incase they dont get along i have two 80ltr attatched bin cages would that be okay while i save up for a tank???
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Post by alysalouise on Jan 26, 2012 16:08:20 GMT -8
It might be hard to see it, but if I were you I'd also definitely get him some new buddies to live the rest of his life out with. Also, in my experience it's a fascinating, fun, heart-warming, great challenge watching two (or three) gerbils slowly get used to each other and become best of friends. The easiest gerbils to split would be to baby males. You could probably just stick them in a tank together and they'd snuggle right up. An old male and two young pups is also a very easy combiniation to introduce. The male will love watching the pups bounce around with each other, and they will encourage him to play and excersice. The pups learn valuable social skills, and are almost always respectful of their 'elder'. It's quite adorable. The 'success rate' for this way of introducing, well, I've never heard of a split with this type of combination of gerbils that didn't work. DO NOT just stick them right in with each other Very bad idea, always do a split introduction But with introducing 2 young pups, the split should go by faster than an adult to an adult Here is a thread on a pup and adult intro that went bad because they didnt use a split Dont read past the first post if you dont want to see some gross pictures of the pup FYI gerbilforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=behaviour&action=display&thread=10594That is why you should always do a split intro!
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hammiea
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 16:45:03 GMT -8
I would never just put them in,but i dont know how itd be done ?X
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Post by esztershine on Jan 26, 2012 16:51:17 GMT -8
I personally would leave him on his own. Like Cheekygerbils said split/intros can be very stressful and for a 5 year old that Is the last thing I would wish. I would give lots of attention, out of time with you, and enjoy each other's company
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hammiea
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Post by hammiea on Jan 26, 2012 17:24:11 GMT -8
Really dont know what to do now:/
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Post by esztershine on Jan 27, 2012 1:51:56 GMT -8
you know your old man best. Is he stressed on his own? Is he happy on his own? If he seems happy then he may be ok on his own
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