|
Post by LilyandDaisy on May 5, 2022 9:08:01 GMT -8
That's good to hear! I shouldn't think you will have much trouble getting him to accept them since they are young and he is lonely, but the true test will be in the longer term. Fingers crossed it will work out though
|
|
|
Post by Markpd on May 6, 2022 1:17:58 GMT -8
Great to hear you've found more gerbils Did you have to go to Italy after all?
|
|
|
Post by alen78 on May 6, 2022 4:28:39 GMT -8
Great to hear you've found more gerbils Did you have to go to Italy after all? Yes. But is only a 60 minutes car trip. I'm near. 😁
|
|
|
Post by Markpd on May 11, 2022 11:17:12 GMT -8
Ah yea, that's not so bad at all Keep us posted.
|
|
|
Post by alen78 on May 18, 2022 6:26:06 GMT -8
Update:
The 4 gerbils are together! The split cage method worked and the older one accepted the 3 babies. They play together, sleep together and so on. 🥰
|
|
|
Post by sparkbubble on May 18, 2022 6:58:17 GMT -8
increíble good for you! I think that there's a pinned thread titled Non-Traditional Split Stories Please in behavior and intro that might want to hear the experience?
|
|
|
Post by Markpd on May 20, 2022 11:12:47 GMT -8
incredible good for you! I think that there's a pinned thread titled Non-Traditional Split Stories Please in behavior and intro that might want to hear the experience? This, and also we'd like to hear about them in the long run too
Btw, has the older one perked up since living with the pups?
|
|
|
Post by alen78 on Jun 13, 2022 8:12:38 GMT -8
Hi to all. A new update. Bad this time. The 4 gerbils were very happy together, the older one (2 years and 3 months old), that was so letargic after his brother died, was active and full of life again. But today the worst happened. One of the 3 pups (they are 2.5 months old) attacked him violently! It think it wasn't a playfight, I'm afraid it was declaning. :/ Good I was near their cage when it happened so I've split them before the old fella got seriosly injured (but he was scared as hell!). I've divided them for an hour and then put them together again, to see what will happen. The young fella first walked around the senior few laps and then attacked him again! I've divided them again in time and I've put the victim in a safe enviroment. Now he is alone again, and the 3 brothers have the cage+aquarium for them only. Now I don't know what to do. As I read on the internet, there are no big chances to re-clan the 2, even with a split cage method. So I see only 2 options. Leave the 3 brothers together and let the older gerbil to spend the rest of his life alone...or split them in 2 pairs, but it doesn't sound fair for one of the 3 brothers, that would be taken out of the trio. What would you suggest?
|
|
|
Post by sparkbubble on Jun 13, 2022 8:31:33 GMT -8
Hmm...if your gerbil is only two years old, sounds to me like he has at least one year, if not more. I guess it really depends on which gerbil you care more for. I don't think gerbils 'miss' their specific family members in the way we do, even if they do have a close bond. I think that the gerbil taken out of the clan could still have a happy life with your single gerbil, as long as one is properly submissive. But then you'd need to worry about the inevitable at some point...It's up to you, but for me personally, I'd like for all my gerbils to have a companion.
|
|
|
Post by alen78 on Jun 13, 2022 8:34:12 GMT -8
This is the enviroment were the 4 gerbils lived: The cage (they use it as a playground): 37 gallons of space The aquarium: 13 gallons of space And this is an improvised enviroment for the old fella (it's made of plastic, but I don't think he will escape, it's not active like the pups and never bites anything except the food). It's 15 gallons big: Of course this was only a fast solution to divide the 2 enemies. I will buy a new aquarium as a long term solution. But first I must decide if it will be an aquarium for 1 or 2 gerbils.
|
|
|
Post by alen78 on Jun 13, 2022 8:36:42 GMT -8
Hmm...if your gerbil is only two years old, sounds to me like he has at least one year, if not more. I guess it really depends on which gerbil you care more for. I don't think gerbils 'miss' their specific family members in the way we do, even if they do have a close bond. I think that the gerbil taken out of the clan could still have a happy life with your single gerbil, as long as one is properly submissive. But then you'd need to worry about the inevitable at some point...It's up to you, but for me personally, I'd like for all my gerbils to have a companion. I guess if I go for the 2/2 solution and one day the old fella dies...returning his companion to his 2 brothers would be a nearly impossible mission (so I will have again one alone gerbil in need of a new companion). Right?
|
|
|
Post by sparkbubble on Jun 13, 2022 8:40:25 GMT -8
If you're not burdened by budget or space, I don't think you could ever have an enclosure that's too large (I recently got a 20g tank, and that seems to small for one gerbil, but he's a big boy.) I find that 30 gallons is comfortable minimum for both gerbils or a roomy place for just one. Or just start with a small tank and then fix it to another like your presented enclosure if you end up with two? that environment looks pretty awesome, by the way, I wish I had the handy skills for that...
|
|
|
Post by sparkbubble on Jun 13, 2022 8:41:23 GMT -8
yes, probably, especially if the aggressive one goes a long time without seeing the sibling
|
|
|
Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 13, 2022 8:45:04 GMT -8
I'm sorry to hear they've declanned.
I wouldn't suggest trying to rebond your older gerbil with the trio because it's unlikely to work, and it's likely to cause him more stress than just keeping him on his own. The trio (or at least the dominant one of the trio) have made their decision that they don't want him around anymore, he knows it and probably accepts it, and there's no point us humans trying to change that.
Taking one gerbil out of the trio to introduce to him might be an option, but there's a risk of destabilising the trio if you pick the wrong one. You definitely don't want to remove the dominant gerbil because, firstly, he's already decided he doesn't want your older gerbil around, and secondly, it might cause the remaining pair to fight over dominance. Unfortunately if you took one out the trio to introduce to your older gerbil, and it didn't work out, you wouldn't be able to reintroduce him to the remaining pair, so you'd then have two lone gerbils. The same would apply when your older gerbil dies.
While there was a fairly high risk of a declan in this situation anyway, it's possible that your setup contributed to it. I can see you have a cage connected to a tank via a tube. Connected enclosures like this are considered a risk factor for a declan (as the gerbils can easily identify and claim separate territories, and the narrow tubes are easily defended). A single, large space is safer.
|
|
|
Post by alen78 on Jun 13, 2022 8:46:03 GMT -8
that environment looks pretty awesome, by the way, I wish I had the handy skills for that... That was a cage of my previous hamster. When I've decided to go with gerbils I've decided to re-use the cage and add an aquarium for digging purpose. So I've connecred them with the plastic tube (fortunatelly they don't bite it) and they go whenever they want. It's only sad that the senior gerbil was taken out of the enviroment where he lived 2 years, and is now in a sad enviroment. But as I said, it's a temporary solution, until I set some better enviroment.
|
|