one 1.5 year gerbil / two 3 month pups intro

[alexs]

Hello!

One of our two gerbils passed away this morning . The one gerbil we have now is a 1.5 years old male.

We are trying to look for available gerbils ready for adoption so he is not alone, but its hard to find gerbils where we are we don't have a lot of options

One thing we found is someone that is giving away 3 month pups:

Would it be a good idea to try and introduce one new 3 months old gerbil to a 1.5 gerbils to make a duo

Also, would it be better to introduce 2 pups instead of one and make a trio?

Thank you

[betty]

Quick work!

Well, 12 weeks old is already technically 'a clan' so it would be risky to split two of them to a single anyway - but are the pups already in pair or in a larger group? If they are in a larger group, then the two you pick might not even be a decent clan and so this could unsteady the new trio further.

It is always easier with a one-on-one to create a stable pair-clan - but not all pairs work out in the end, especially if the young one matures out into a dominant and the old guy won't step aside.

Gerbils are always ifs and buts...

[teambenji543]

Sorry for your loss. Just like Betty said, a pair of gerbils is always easier to pair up. Although, I’ve successfully had a trio of female gerbils. Male gerbils are easier to bond so a trio of gerbils could work out.

[georgina]

How did you get on with the introduction? I have a lone male. His brother recently passed away suddenly. I’m going to collect a pair of males of a similar age to introduce to him via a split cage. I’d love any advice.

[teambenji543]

I put my gerbils into a split cage for two weeks. Make sure that you switch their sides a few times a day. In the bonding cage you should add very little things, only a water bottle and maybe a wheel. This is so that they recognize each other instead of doing other things. Look out for gerbils trying to groom each other through the bars and sleeping next to each other on either side. These are great signs.

Once it’s been a least a few days, you can take down the border. I know that some people do it in the cage, while some people do it in a neutral environment. For me, I let them meet up in a bathtub. It might sound weird but it works really well for a playpen! (Just make sure that it’s dry and clean of soap.) For the first few hours you should watch them really carefully for blood or big fights. When my gerbils were being bonded I sat with them for hours just to make sure that they were not fighting.

Some great signs of successfully bonded gerbils are them grooming, sitting, or eating together. I hope that this pairing works out for you, do you have any questions?

[teambenji543]

Here is a link to more info: gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/12094/split-tank-why

[georgina]

Hi, thanks for your reply, so. I have two males in a split cage. One is 11weeks old one is 6months I introduced them yesterday evening. There was lots of sniffing/interest through the mesh. No aggression. I slept in the room to be near by. There were no issues.
This morning I swapped them over at about 6 am. Both digging about for a while especially the older one. I think he was sending a bit of a message! …and have now gone to sleep in each other’s hideaways.
I do have a question. Can I leave them a dandelion chew each?? I’ve stripped it down to hideaway bowl bottle and chew? Do you think that’s ok? Also can I let them (not get them out, but, put my hand in the tank?)

[teambenji543]

You can give them a chew, just to give them something to do. Also, you can handle them a bit, or put your hand in the tank, I don't think that it'll interfere.

[alexs]

Just to give and update:

We started doing a split cage setup today, we will see how it goes but im not very confident

On one side: 1 male, 1year and 6months ( Miel )
Other side: 2 males, 12/13 week (Creme & Cotton)

Small detail: The two younger gerbils are white gerbils with bright red eyes (they have very poor eyesights, which is logical, but i wonder if it is making the intro even harder!), and they are very very tiny! Miel is super chonk next to them, like double their size 😊

Day1 of the split cage: Miel seems to no care much, he sometimes sniff the other through the mesh but is always calm (he is a very calm gerbil, we love him!)
However the dominant of the two younger (Cotton) seems pretty angry when he smells Miel through the wire. He tries to dig below it, bite a bit the mesh and squeak, while Miel looks at him calmy, like he doesnt care.
The other young one (Creme) is very timid and but doesnt seem to feel threatened by Miel.

Its only the first day, I might be paranoid but im wondering if this will even work 😞

[teambenji543]

I wouldn’t be worried… yet. It’s only the first day so hopefully they will settle down after a few weeks.

[betty]

How are they doing after a few days alexs?

[alexs]

Hello!

Sorry I forgot to update:

It was going very badly, Our old one was very receptive, putting his head down, eyes closed near the mesh. But the two youngers one were very agressive and territorial, it was not evolving at all. We even saw a little bit of blood (just a tiny bit) on the older one's nose. I guess a little claw went through the wire mesh

The sitution was too stressfull for us (and them too i suppose), so we decided to keep the two young ones on their own habitat, and they are very happy right now!
Even if it was possible, their clan was already seemed well establish, and even though our old is extremely nice and submissive, I don't think it would have been a very healthy clan in then end..

Im still currently looking for a single gerbil to rehome to introduce to our Older one, I hope we can find one soon!

[betty]

Argh, no luck then. Shows how young they have to be to make a trio work every time.

Glad the split did its job and kept everyone safe.

So, fingers crossed then for the perfect single to appear.