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Post by tanzanyte on Jul 4, 2022 13:14:46 GMT -8
Sorry I haven't been on here for a long time. We've had a difficult time lately and I just haven't had the time to do a great deal. Unfortunately we lost Little My to a stroke at the weekend. I'm devastated, especially as she was still so young. I know I need to sort something for Mymble and I've been trying to get in touch with places online but I'm worried I may have missed the only lone female available as they don't tend to crop up very often. I really don't want to introduce a baby but I'm just wondering what the consensus is on those that have tried? Also any recommendations on where to look? I've tried gerbil and rodent rescue and just missed out on a lone girl today. I've also been in touch with ARC. There's nothing at the local centres that I can find and those that have been suggested are miles away and 3+hours driving just isn't feasible. I've been back in touch with the breeder I got them from and she only has babies. I'd rather introduce an older gerbil as ideally I don't want the cycle of always having a much younger gerbil surviving. I really don't want to have to give Mymble up, although I am extremely worried that it's a process I'm going to struggle with based on everything I've seen on here in the past. I'm going to go back through some of the other posts but any advice anyone is able to give would be much appreciated.
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Post by betty on Jul 6, 2022 10:12:51 GMT -8
Sorry this one was missed, but most split intros go very well - it is just the faff of sorting out the split tank first. Everyone is nervous their first few times - but once you have watched them a few times (pot in hand) and learned about the typical behaviours that are good signs (even if they don't initially look it). The pot has saved me a few times when I was worried.
Often like you most people contact their breeder back, or rescues - but you could also try the National Gerbil society as they may have other contacts across the country as well as knowing people who travel around a lot for various things but might not be on your radar. I know I used to pick up gerbils from all over the place or have other people travel with them to shows and meetings here and there.
Also, with normal rescues - make sure you give them your name and contact details as waiting - as they may not take small animals (depending on their set up) unless they know they have a waiting home already.
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Post by tanzanyte on Jul 15, 2022 10:59:03 GMT -8
Thanks Betty. I am thinking of giving the split cage a go. My husband think's it wouldn't be too hard to create a split. Annoyingly I've found a few lone males but no female as of yet. I wasn't sure if you could only get a male neutered due to medical problems rather than to enable gerbils to have a cagemate without fear of any litters. I'd be happy to rescue a male and pay for the operation if it's an option.
I am looking at rescues but didn't think of the National Gerbil Society as a possibility. I found a malein desperate need of a new home and am heartbroken as he's in a small plastic cage and they only have a thin, flat layer of newspaper in the bottom. There is no substrate to dig and he's alone, poor thing. I did wonder if they'd done that for photo's but I just don't understand why you would when you can get good enough photo's with substrate. Unfortunately at almost 10 hours round trip I don't think it's doable. I know I need to exercise some patience but Mymble has lost weight and I can't see another reason than grief/loneliness so I'm hoping I'll come across something sooner rather than later.
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Post by megsgerbils on Aug 9, 2022 1:16:13 GMT -8
Sorry I haven't been on here for a long time. We've had a difficult time lately and I just haven't had the time to do a great deal. Unfortunately we lost Little My to a stroke at the weekend. I'm devastated, especially as she was still so young. I know I need to sort something for Mymble and I've been trying to get in touch with places online but I'm worried I may have missed the only lone female available as they don't tend to crop up very often. I really don't want to introduce a baby but I'm just wondering what the consensus is on those that have tried? Also any recommendations on where to look? I've tried gerbil and rodent rescue and just missed out on a lone girl today. I've also been in touch with ARC. There's nothing at the local centres that I can find and those that have been suggested are miles away and 3+hours driving just isn't feasible. I've been back in touch with the breeder I got them from and she only has babies. I'd rather introduce an older gerbil as ideally I don't want the cycle of always having a much younger gerbil surviving. I really don't want to have to give Mymble up, although I am extremely worried that it's a process I'm going to struggle with based on everything I've seen on here in the past. I'm going to go back through some of the other posts but any advice anyone is able to give would be much appreciated. So sorry to hear of your loss. We lost our Pinky to a stroke and she was only 1. Nature can be so cruel 😞 Sending hugs to you and Mymble ❤️ Definitely keep checking the RSPCA website and the Blue Cross Website, though I’ve personally had more luck finding single gerbils at Pets at Home in their adoption side. If you give your local ones a call and ask if they have any gerbils up for adoption at the moment they will be able to tell you. If you do choose one from Pets at Home adoption side definitely ensure that they have sexed the gerbil correctly (if you are able to sex it yourself that would be really useful as sometimes they can get it wrong, but thankfully they’ve always been right in my experience). I’ve enjoyed adopting from them simply because I feel like I’ve helped give a good home to ones that would otherwise probably be sold to customers along with tiny cages and poor knowledge as sadly Pets at Home don’t have the highest standards for gerbil welfare. Good luck with finding a nice friend for Mymble. When you do, the split cage method is definitely the way to go. There is so much information on here about it to help you out if need be ❤️
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 13, 2022 12:51:12 GMT -8
I'm worried about jinxing it but I have a little girl lined up from the RSPCA! It's still a trek but a lot closer than anything else we've seen as she's the right age and has just lost her sister. They have reserved her as we are away on holiday so we pick her up the day after we get back. I'm very excited, but also very nervous. Now I really do need to read up on everything to give them the best start. My partner is going to make a divider when we're back but I'm a bit worried we haven't got the right materials. Need to look and see what mesh everyone has used so that we get the right stuff.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 13, 2022 12:59:42 GMT -8
Oh that's great to hear!
My divider has 6mm square mesh. They can't bite each other through that. You can also use 1cm or 13mm mesh (perhaps not 13mm if you were introducing a very young pup) but then you might need a double layer divider to keep them safe (depending on the gerbils). I also have a 13mm divider which I used later on when introducing Tilly and Wispa, once I trusted Tilly to be nice, but it's not essential.
Aside from the mesh you just need wood and a staple gun, and possibly screws and a drill though I made my divider with just staples. Plus a saw, clamps and goggles.
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 16, 2022 13:28:09 GMT -8
Thanks for this. I've looked at Wickes and they have 6mm mesh but I forgot it needs to be diagonally across the cage so I'm not sure if the length they sell it in will fit. I'll have to measure up and check it all or see if I can find some mesh from somewhere else.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 16, 2022 13:56:42 GMT -8
I prefer horizontal rather than diagonal splits as it seems less cramped for the gerbils. With a diagonal split they end up with a fairly narrow space and I think the diagonal divider was one of the reasons my attempt to introduce Tilly to Astra went badly - Tilly felt too stressed. I'd only use it again for a quick introduction between "easy" gerbils, so two pups or one pup and a quiet elderly gerbil. Not two adult females.
I wedge the horizontal divider in place with lengths of wood placed on the bottom of the tank.
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 20, 2022 6:48:34 GMT -8
Thanks LilyandDaisy I'll give this a go. I might have to postpone dong anything today as there's been a major accident and our main road is closed off and it's taken hours to get back with our new member. Unfortunately Wickes is right along the only other way for traffic to go. I'm hoping to go a bit later, but it won't really give me chance to get anything made up. I'll go with straight across for the divider as I actually thought the same in it looking cramped despite being a reasonable cage size. I don't want it to be more stressful than necessary. My partner seems to think the mesh will be alright up to the glass with just wood at the bottom with a channel for the mesh to go into but I'm worried that they will catch themselves or even be able to push through somehow. So I 'm rethinking and going to see if it's something I can do myself so that I actually get what I want, although I don't think we have a staple gun (husband is rather protective of his tools so I usually get moaned at if I touch anything in the garage). What wood have people used to make up the dividers? I know to avoid pine but don't know what half of the wood we have at home is so probably need to go and buy some of that at the same time. Although I have no idea what half of the treated wood you can get is and if it's safe for it to be treated wood so any advice would be appreciated.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 20, 2022 8:33:28 GMT -8
Pine is ok for solid things like this as there's not much surface area for phenols to off-gas. I usually use untreated kiln-dried whitewood timber.
I have little real DIY skill and managed to make a nice divided with a saw and staple gun, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 21, 2022 11:41:29 GMT -8
Thanks. I know from your photo on another post that you have a Marrakesh cage. Out of interest how did you get the divider to go around the glass bars at the back of the cage that hold the mesh panel at the back in place? I got some help from my dad and have got this perfect looking divider but didn't notice the glass bars sticking out on the inside so I need to cut a notch out to accommodate those and also cut the corners at the top for the aluminium rods, I just forgot to measure how far out they went into the cag and only measure the height of them. I'm hoping I can get it done tomorrow so that I can actually start them in the split cage.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 21, 2022 15:04:41 GMT -8
You can turn the panel round so that the bars face outside and inside there's just a small gap of a few mm between the divider and the vent.
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 23, 2022 14:10:00 GMT -8
Typical! I hadn't realised that as I got it secondhand and it came with it on the inside. I've cut slots out of the divider as wanted to get going with the split. I did wonder why it was on the inside as I'd rather have things sticking out outside the cage away from the gerbils. It's helpful that I know if I want to flip it in future I can, so thank you.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 23, 2022 14:14:12 GMT -8
Will you be able to lift the divider out when it comes to the introduction?
Also, if you have the large (95cm) Marrakesh, the whole thing will be fine for now but I think it's too much space for the later stages of the introduction. I started out using the whole space and after 2/3 weeks started gradually reducing the space down to 60cm. I made a second divider for this.
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 27, 2022 5:22:07 GMT -8
The divider does lift out, it just means tilting it slightly so it should be ok.
Thanks for this. I was wondering how they would get closer to the divider. They've been sleeping in each others nests since the first switch, but both nests are at opposite ends of the cage and if you're not supposed to mess about with anything in it I don't understand how they will actually manage to nest against the divider itself. They seem chilled out at the divider so it's ok so far. I haven't seen any other aggression from Mymble since the initial contact.
I'll see what else I can make up to reduce the space. Is 60cm the optimal size for intros?
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