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Post by Thelodar on Jun 23, 2020 8:19:31 GMT -8
Baby is 3 weeks old now! Eyes opened on Thursday and he became very scared of me, but is starting to come back around. He's starting to eat solid food and tries to chew cardboard without much luck lol. He also chews on me quite a bit but it doesn't cause any discomfort yet. Hasn't tried the water bottle yet. I cleaned the tank for the first time today so had him out in a storage tote and got some pictures of him and mom Piper. He's so cute and looks like a real gerbil now. I haven't come up with a good name yet, nothing seems to fit. Noming some aspen IMG_3201 IMG_3188 Noming me IMG_3193Noming mom IMG_3192Piper says hi IMG_3179IMG_3172 (2) Streeetch IMG_3159IMG_3155
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Post by betty on Jun 23, 2020 9:12:16 GMT -8
Oh my - that stretching picture is adorable!!!
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Post by Thelodar on Sept 24, 2020 6:25:05 GMT -8
Just realized I never gave a final update of sorts on my baby. Little Scotty is all grown up! He is a very skittish guy around me unfortunately, probably because I was so afraid of making mom abandon him that he didn't get a ton of handling as a pup. Plus mom isn't the most social gerbil herself. I am still trying to get him with a tankmate. His dad did not want to accept him, so I have him in a split with another young male right now. The new male is very confident and friendly with me, maybe he'll teach Scotty I'm not evil lol. I'm hoping it will all go smoothly and they will both live long happy lives together as they should. The moral of this story is that breeding doesn't always go the way you plan it. I bred with the intention of making new tank mates for Piper and Liam (plus I thought it'd be super fun to raise a bunch of babies). Instead I got one baby and no tank mates for Piper and Liam lol. Ah well, it was still fun watching little Scotty grow, I just wish I wasn't constantly worried about him dying throughout his pup-hood. I'd love to try again in the future, but for now my bedroom is at gerbil capacity! Here is Mr. Scotty IMG_3495
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 24, 2020 6:53:49 GMT -8
Do you think being an only pup makes a difference to sociability with other gerbils in later life?
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Post by Thelodar on Sept 24, 2020 11:03:16 GMT -8
It is something that worries me. We'll see if he can bond to this male. I really hope he can, I wouldn't want him to spend his life alone. But yeah, he had no siblings and dad was removed too, so his mom is the only gerbil he's lived with. It broke my heart to split them up. Plus he was removed from mom and went into a split for a couple of weeks and after that failed he's been alone. So he missed out on some socialization during his development.
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Post by betty on Sept 25, 2020 2:17:10 GMT -8
Why didn't you put him in with his dad again? Was there some particular reason - I can't remember?
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Post by Markpd on Sept 25, 2020 12:03:45 GMT -8
Adorable pics! Glad he made it
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Pim
Member
Posts: 346
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Post by Pim on Sept 25, 2020 12:41:43 GMT -8
betty , They didn't bond if im remembering correctly
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Post by Thelodar on Sept 25, 2020 12:58:01 GMT -8
Why didn't you put him in with his dad again? Was there some particular reason - I can't remember? I tried, dad would not accept him. Scotty's behavior was really irritating to dad during the intros, Scotty was a bit of a pain in the butt. Part of me thinks I should have kept trying (I don't have that much intro experience, I've done three successfully if you count Piper and Liam, so I don't know what's acceptable aggression during an intro. It's hard to find consistent advice on that) and another part really thinks dad didn't want a tank mate. Dad wasn't even very nice to Piper when they were together and is the first gerbil I've had that seems happier and more outgoing on his own. Dad is also 3, so it will work out better for Scotty to be with a similar age gerbil so we don't have to pair him again in a year or less.
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Post by Markpd on Sept 25, 2020 13:37:16 GMT -8
Did you do a separate thread about that including videos of them? Or am I thinking of someone else?
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Post by Thelodar on Sept 25, 2020 13:58:57 GMT -8
Did you do a separate thread about that including videos of them? Or am I thinking of someone else? Yes, that was them! I also had a thread of another failed intro with my females (their behavior was more aggressive than the boys). Things have gotten complicated lol.
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Post by betty on Sept 26, 2020 8:33:18 GMT -8
Sorry, I forget who is who sometimes???
I have never had a father/son combo who didn't get on with each other is all - just thinking of all the times I have dropped in the pups to dad between 4-6 weeks and - apart from dad smelling mum and getting all a bit frisky - they have always settled - so interesting that that sometimes doesn't happen. I always recommend that as an action for others - so perhaps if yours really didn't settle within that time frame - I might be a bit more cautious with my advice.
Hmm?
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Post by Thelodar on Sept 26, 2020 13:19:18 GMT -8
They didn't attack each other or anything super dramatic, but dad wanted Scotty to stay the heck away from him and made sure he did. It might have worked out eventually but they had been in the split for a couple of weeks and had been introduced multiple times with no improvement. The last time dad eventually got tired and fell asleep. Scotty attempted to sleep with him a few times and dad would lunge and chase him off.
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Post by Thelodar on Sept 29, 2020 5:52:00 GMT -8
I tried introducing Scotty to the new male today and Scotty bit him on the face. I'm feeling really discouraged. The new guy is such a sweetheart too, poor guy. I hate to give him back to the breeder because he's so nice but I can't keep adding more. I'm not sure if there is any point to continuing the split after this, can they ever get along once someone's been bit?
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Post by Markpd on Sept 29, 2020 11:33:47 GMT -8
darn, sorry to hear that . How old is the new male? Were they getting on ok when they were still split?
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