Declanning

[Guest123]

I am confident in my ability to take care of a pair of gerbils, feed them, provide them with necessary enrichment, etc. The one thing I'm hesitant about is declanning. Some sources say it's very common while others say it's not common at all. Hopefully some gerbil owners can clear this up for me. Thank you so much!

[betty]

Hello again.

Declans are very common in certain set up and situations - and not very common at all in others.

Two littermate siblings of the same sex who have only ever lived together (from pups) and who don't share any belongings or space with other gerbils should be absolutely fine their whole lives together.

Gerbil clans are very tense most of the time as one gerbil must totally dominate the other one (and this often isn't something the non-dominant one is very happy with). So as with any family, friends or workplace - you know your place in that heirachy and stay there - and as long as nothing changes externally that is how it stays.

Declans can happen when something external happens that changes that balance - and with gerbils this can (but doesn't always) happen when gerbils share belongings from other gerbils that haven't been cleaned properly; mix in a shared animal play space; are introduced to new gerbils; when non-sibling gerbils mature; when gerbils are split from one big clan into smaller clans; when a dominant gerbil becomes ill, and a few other things that are less easy to define.

Clans of females (groups of two or more non-littermate sisters) are more likely to be affected by changes like those above than clans of males. I would only ever actually recommend a pair of littermate-sibling females over any other type of female clan if you were starting from scratch (however mother and single daughter can also be good if a lone female has a litter).

[Guest 123]

Thank you so much for your help!