Keeping two pairs of opposite sex gerbils in the same room

[care4gerbils]

Hello!

I am looking into adopting another pair of gerbil, girls this time because there is many gerbils up for adoption online where i live and in need of a loving home. So far I have only had boys in my one room apartment and they always loved to free roam my room in the evenings during their hyper hour.

I am wondering if there could be any problems by having two pairs of opposite sex gerbils living in separate tanks in the same room and letting them also take turns in free roaming the room whenever they want to go out and explore. Would the smell of other gerbils be upsetting or stressful or would the boys go wild when they smell the female gerbils on my carpet for example?

I'd really love to know!

Thank you in advance

[LilyandDaisy]

I often have opposite sex pairs in the same room and have never had an issue just with them being in the same room.

However when I had a female pair and a neutered male/female pair, I couldn't use the same carpeted free roaming space for both or the female pair would argue. I don't think this is necessarily an opposite sex issue, the same might have happened even with two female pairs. I used to use a playpen with a base for the female and neutered male. Yours might be ok with using the same space, but be prepared that they might not.

Don't move toys between tanks without cleaning them thoroughly first as the smell of other gerbils could cause problems in a pair.

[care4gerbils]

Thank you for sharing your experience! Really good to know. I will have to be careful about letting them use the same toys/floor.

[sparkbubble]

I let my gerbils (lone male, lone female, mom +pups) run around a large area (aka a tub) at separate intervals, but I change the newspaper lining and I thoroughly 'wash' the toys in their respective bedding each time. Is perhaps a less-than-wise decision? I didn't even think about any issues with containing my gerbils in the same scent radius. If this is considered 'off topic,' I'll turn this comment into a thread elsewhere.

[care4gerbils]

Thank you sparkbubble for sharing your experience! I guess it is really not a good idea to let them take turns in just running around the same room without necessary precautions.