1 male gerbil or 3 female gerbils? -More details inside

[Sugarfoot]

I'm not really sure how to start, so I'm sorry if this is hard to follow along with. I am going to get some gerbils, and there are three female gerbils and one male gerbil. I don't know what would be better to get. I know pairs are good, so I would think two females would be the way to go, but that would leave one female gerbil by itself. Would it be better to get all three female gerbils? I'm also wondering, should I get the male gerbil and then introduce a new male gerbil to it? I know that female gerbils have a higher risk of fighting than male gerbils, so would three female gerbils be safe? I have a 40 gallon tank. The floor space is 564 inches (I know burrowing is important, and their is plenty of space for that, I just thought it would be good to add the floor space). If I got the three female gerbils and they ended up fighting, I would need to separate one right? Would that mean that I would need to get a friend for the single one? I have a spare ten gallon tank, with a topper, which I have heard that you can use it with a pair, but it just seems so small.

[PipSqueak]

Females do have a higher risk of fighting than males. Are the females all siblings because if they are usually siblings do not fight as much as gerbils who have been introduced. It would be best if you could keep all 3 since you wouldn't want the last one to live all alone if someone came along and didn't know that they aren't a solitary species. As for the male gerbil you could get another male and then bond them but it would be easier to get gerbils that have already bonded. A 10 gallon tank is very small so I don't reccomend putting gerbils in that tank. Get a 20 gallon minimum but 40 gallons are always better. I have 2 male gerbils that are siblings and I have them in a 29 gallon tank with a 10 gallon topper. The 29 gallon is basically just a 20 gallon tank but with an extra few inches of height for more bedding and I keep their sandbath, wheel, water bottle and bowl and food bowl in there when I don't scatter feed. They seem to be fine in it but in the future I would want to upgrade.

[yeti218]

Where are these gerbils you’re looking at? Someone on here was recently asking about whether she could adopt just 2 of 3 gerbils available at the pet store or if it was more ethical to get all 3. Some commenters suggested she ask the pet store what they would do with the lone gerbil if she just got two. If the pet store would bond it with another gerbil properly, or ensure it went to a home with another gerbil, it wouldn’t be so cruel to just adopt 2. Although, in that case the original poster ended up getting all 3.

Honestly, none of these situations sound ideal for me. I like the ease and the odds of adopting a pair of littermates. But I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer either. It just depends what you’re prepared to deal with, both now and later.

I assume these are young gerbils? If you go with the male, you’ll want to find him a friend. It’s not an emergency, you don’t need to do it this week, but I would get a split cage divider made and start looking for another male gerbil, and then hopefully start that process in a few weeks or months. Even if you do this, you’ll still need to be prepared for the possibility of a declan down the road, because no clan has guaranteed stability.

Now for the females, I’d personally be reluctant to leave a lone gerbil, but asking what’s going to be done with her if you don’t take her may help inform your decision, if they’re going to leave her alone or not check that she goes to a home with a friend, I would take her.

That said, females are considered more likely to have clan problems, and a clan of 3 is less stable than a clan of 2. You will need to be willing to deal with a declan should it occur. Whether or not you’d need to get another gerbil to pair for the one you took out during the declan probably depends on when it happens. Sometimes if a gerbil ends up alone later in life, people choose not to try to bond them again and just spend more time with them themselves. And you obviously have no idea what’s going to happen. We’ve had a few sad instances on this forum recently of people bringing home gerbils from a pet shop and having one die shortly after, and then they’re left trying to bond their remaining gerbil with whoever else they can find.

So, to surmise, do whatever you want lol. Just think about what you want to be dealing with now, and what your prepared to deal with later, and do what feels best. And if youre really hesitant, you could always wait for different gerbils. Let us know what you decide,