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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on Jul 25, 2023 14:23:10 GMT -8
Yeah, I know it can be really hard to lose them, I'm so glad you gave her a good life. I hope you guys are doing okay.
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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on Jul 25, 2023 14:32:41 GMT -8
Thanks for posting this and the replies. We've just lost a gerbil 18months old leaving her sister same age. Very unsure what to do. She always been skittish and nervous but now stays in her tunnels and is very reluctant to interact with us. It's so hard to know what to do. We thought about split intro a pup but then we'll always be left with a lone gerbil due to the 18month age gap. Any suggestions? Also, to Kerry. I know this was posted a year ago, so certainly the problem is no longer an issue, however, for anyone else wondering this is my usual answer to a situation like this. The age gap is always something to think about when it's considerable, like 18 months. You can take care of this by getting a gerbil that's the same age, which works well but can be hard to find sometimes. So, if i can't find one of the same age, what I do in a situation like this, is I get two very young bonded gerbils, usually around 6 to 8 weeks. This makes it much easier for the older gerbil to accept them, as they are very young, and they won't try to pick a fight with the older gerbil. Then, once the older gerbil passes, I end up with two gerbils about the same age, so there will be no age gap between them. As in this post, one gerb will most certainly always pass on a month or two, sometimes more, than the other. But since they're about the same age, as long as it's due to old age and not a strange ailment, the other will go soon after. This way, you don't end up with the constant age gap between them.
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Post by Markpd on Jul 30, 2023 5:23:00 GMT -8
Thanks for posting this and the replies. We've just lost a gerbil 18months old leaving her sister same age. Very unsure what to do. She always been skittish and nervous but now stays in her tunnels and is very reluctant to interact with us. It's so hard to know what to do. We thought about split intro a pup but then we'll always be left with a lone gerbil due to the 18month age gap. Any suggestions? Also, to Kerry. I know this was posted a year ago, so certainly the problem is no longer an issue, however, for anyone else wondering this is my usual answer to a situation like this. The age gap is always something to think about when it's considerable, like 18 months. You can take care of this by getting a gerbil that's the same age, which works well but can be hard to find sometimes. So, if i can't find one of the same age, what I do in a situation like this, is I get two very young bonded gerbils, usually around 6 to 8 weeks. This makes it much easier for the older gerbil to accept them, as they are very young, and they won't try to pick a fight with the older gerbil. Then, once the older gerbil passes, I end up with two gerbils about the same age, so there will be no age gap between them. As in this post, one gerb will most certainly always pass on a month or two, sometimes more, than the other. But since they're about the same age, as long as it's due to old age and not a strange ailment, the other will go soon after. This way, you don't end up with the constant age gap between them. I've wondered about this point too, and thought about intro'ing a pair of pups to Blake (after his brother passed away, but before he became ill and passed away 1 1/2 months later), at the time of course I didn't know how much longer Blake would likely live. I thought that if he passed away before the pups got to about 6 months say, their would probably be no declanning issues (which would've been the case). FYI, Avon died from problems related to kidney disease, Blake died from (what was probably) lung cancer about 6-7 weeks later (lesions found on his lungs). Check out my threads on their illnesses if you're interested.
And from what you say, it's quite common for one to pass soon after the other, but presumably that's only true for brothers or sisters? Otherwise an unrelated pair could have quite a large difference in lifespan surely? And even for related pairs, how often does one gerbil live considerably longer (say 6+ months) than the other?
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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on Jul 30, 2023 10:52:28 GMT -8
Yes, I think it is more common in sisters and brothers that they pass soon after. But I find it can happen in a lot of gerbils, related or not, if they were bonded at a young age. This is just usually what I do when I have one older gerbil that needs another partner. If they're really old, sometimes over two years, then I usually wait a while to see the state of the older gerbil. If they seem healthy and show no sign of passing, that's when I'll look into getting them a younger pair. If they do pass after their tank mate goes, it'll usually be within a month or two, sometimes three. After some time passes it's usually safe to say that they will live for a while longer, and probably need a buddy.
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