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Help!
May 26, 2021 12:05:00 GMT -8
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Post by Kerry Rowland on May 26, 2021 12:05:00 GMT -8
I have 2 male gerbils that we have had for 18 months. They sadly declanned about 6 months ago. We have tried re-introduction and it has worked for a few weeks only for them to start fighting again. We have them separated by a wire mesh but they are now fighting through the divider and hurting each other or themselves trying to fight through it. I don’t know what to do anymore.
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Help!
May 26, 2021 12:30:19 GMT -8
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Post by yeti218 on May 26, 2021 12:30:19 GMT -8
I think at this point they've clearly decided they dont want to be roommates.
Sometimes people do get gerbils back together after a declan, only to have them fall out again later, like in your case.
I'd try to get them both set up in seperate enclosures and accept that they are just not going to be friends again.
Give them some time to calm down from the whole experience, and then you can start thinking about what your longterm plan is.
Are they 1.5 yrs old? Possibly a bit young to be alone for the rest of their lives so you may want to try getting some other gerbils and doing split cage intros, but that's something to think about after you've got the 2 guys you have now set up in their own enclosures and they've had some time to decompress from this.
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Help!
May 26, 2021 12:36:27 GMT -8
Post by Markpd on May 26, 2021 12:36:27 GMT -8
Sadly it seems you're going to have to keep them permanently separated When you say fought, have they badly wounded one or each other? Or fought without drawing blood (or very little)? Anyway, for now I would put them in totally separate cages. If they are less than 3yrs old you could intro each one with a new gerbil (using the split intro method, I assume that's what you've already tried before?) And seeing as they'll have to be in 2 cages anyway, no difference in cage numbers, of course that does double your gerbil count! And further declanning isn't impossible, although less likely if you introduce them to pups. Hopefully more experienced owners will be along soon to give more details.
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Help!
May 26, 2021 14:10:23 GMT -8
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Post by Kerry Rowland on May 26, 2021 14:10:23 GMT -8
Thank you both. They are separated by a metal mesh but they try to fight each other through it. I don’t have room for 2 enclosures. I think I may have to have them re-homed.
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Post by betty on May 27, 2021 2:56:49 GMT -8
You could potentially add a second layer of mesh to the same frame and so they couldn' make physical contact. I lot of people do this for normal split intros for the early days to avoid injury with strangers - but you could potentially use this for yours as a permanent.
However, yes, if your enclosure is less than 3ft long then this would be on the small side for two permanent homes without useful toppers each. Difficult decisions when you don't have much space.
Unless you go outside the box and look at getting a 'garage' shelving unit for your room like I have. Although it doesn't look pretty - it allows for more than one enclosure in the same space and makes use of the space above your existing. Plus storage on top or below for what was originally underneath the original enclosure.
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