My 2/2 success with close-quarters bonding introduction
Oct 17, 2022 14:33:04 GMT -8
Markpd likes this
Post by henryt on Oct 17, 2022 14:33:04 GMT -8
Hey gerbil fans, I've just completed my second successful introduction of two gerbils using a novel technique in addition to split-cage. I want to detail it here because I never saw it mentioned back when I was researching gerbil introductions. To put it very shortly, I've found it helps a whole lot after a little split-cage to wait until they're ready to sleep and then have them sleep with each other in a space that is comfortable but too small to fight in. Now I'll go into detail, hoping some of it can be useful.
My first two gerbils were twin brothers from PetSmart that got along great throughout their whole lives. They constantly chose to sleep together and they only every battled for a couple seconds at a time without any real aggression or mounting etc, so I believe it was just for play. Sadly, it seems that they both had genes prone to stroke, as they each had one fairly young which they could not recover from. After the first one died, I waited one day and then got a third gerbil which I began introducing to the surviving brother. After the second one died recently, I went and got a fourth gerbil to introduce to the third on the same day. I mention this because I don't know if loneliness or depression from loss can have any affect on a gerbil's readiness to form a new clan, but both of the surviving gerbils seemed restless when they were unable to find their brother as soon as they passed, so I decided not to wait around.
For the first introduction of gerbils 2 and 3, the first thing I tried was putting two large (cleaned and de-scented), enriched cages close together and treating that as a split cage, swapping them whenever they woke up after sleeping. After three days of this I noticed no progress, and they seemed hostile to one another (especially the new younger one who would try to attack the older one through the bars). Interestingly though, I noticed that if I picked them both up and let them see each other, or if I put them both on a pillow on my lap, they would not act aggressive at all but instead just look around with curiosity. Next, I decided to try traditional split caging, with a standard rectangular 10 gallon aquarium tank divided in the middle by a transparent plastic divider with small holes in it (not big enough to physically interact through). In each side of the tank, I gave them only food and water, and I kept the whole thing dim and unstimulated. Again, I swapped them after they slept and woke. I knew I was supposed to do this for a week, but I felt sorry for how bored they were and how much my old gerbil seemed to want out, so I wanted to do it more quickly if possible. Once they were sleeping next to each other through the divider after another couple days, I tried introducing them in neutral ground (a sort of play pen with a bunch of climbable objects in it.) The old one was curious and wanted to explore, but the new one only wanted to stalk and harass the old one. Eventually they got into a serious looking fight for a couple seconds and I gave up on that encounter, putting them back in the split tank.
Shortly after that, I was wondering about the fact that the more room they had, the more prone they were to fighting in it, and I decided to test to see if the inverse was true. I have a large amount of hamster tubing which I used to connect the two cages and two aquariums I own back when the first two were living in them. I took a few pieces of that and a couple "bubbles" and attached them together in isolation. The bubbles are 4" diameter hollow spheres that connect to the tubes and are meant to be used as sand baths but which my first two gerbils preferred to use as beds with a little ripped toilet paper inside as bedding. The space was very enclosed but had two beds, so I waited until both gerbils were going to sleep, and then I put them in the tubing. They explored it a little and got in each other's way a bit, even crowded each other out of the beds repeatedly, but they simply didn't have the room to bite or scratch, and after a while they went to sleep in their separate bubble beds. When they woke up, I put them back in the split cage, and when they were ready to sleep again, I put them back in the tubing but with only one bed. After some restlessness, they slept in the same bubble together. Once they woke up again, I tried introducing them in one side of the split cage, and they were far less aggressive. There were a few seconds of stalking here and there, some minor mounting and intimidation, but nothing that looked like it was about to break out in a fight. I separated them again to stay safe and after one more cycle with one sleep together, they were totally docile with one another, so I removed the cage split and put their enrichment back. I continued to keep an eye on them, separating them when I left the house and sleeping in the same room so I'd hear if they fought, but everything was good between those two after that. They were a perfect clan that always got along great and almost always chose to sleep together in a bubble until the day the older gerbil died.
After that, I once again got a new gerbil to introduce to the roughly year-old one and they were hostile at first as expected - both of them toward one another. This time, I went through an expedited version of the same process. Split cage at first, swapping after they sleep, only food and water inside, though I gave them each a wheel to run on for a little while to help them tire themselves out. I put them together in one side of the cage for a minute now and then to test the waters, using my hand to keep tensions from escalating. On day two, I put them in one bubble for nap time and waited until they slept and woke up. They were less aggressive after that, so I decided to try something new and I put them together in one half of the split tank, but cluttered it with objects to climb on so there wasn't much space to stalk or fight in. It worked and they kept the peace. They were still a bit wary of one another, but no mounting or biting and only a couple stare-downs. I gave them another bubble nap the next day, and after that they were fine together in an uncluttered half of the split tank. On day three, I unsplit the tank and added more enrichment in, kept them nearby to watch for fights, but they got along fine and slept together without being forced to. It's now day four and I hooked the cage back up to the rest of the four-part gerbil labyrinth and I've seen no hostility from them. They're sleeping together in one of the two bubbles as I type this, so things look good, but I will continue to separate them when I'm not there to watch them for the next couple days to stay safe.
That's it! Obviously, this is far from hard data. It's only two tests and I could have lucked out with the success, but it did get unrelated gerbils to go from hostile to snuggly with one another in a very short amount of time, so it seems like there's something to it. One day, hopefully no time soon, I will probably be back to let you know if the third such introduction went just as well. This should go without saying, but I don't recommend leaving gerbils in cramped confines if they are energetic, if it makes them too agitated, or for any extended period of time. When I tired them out with wheels and waited for them to be sleepy, they were only awake in there for 20 to 30 minutes before deciding to give up and sleep together. I also think it's best to avoid leaving them together unattended until they have gone at least a couple days without any hostility after introduction. I hope that if anyone else tries the enclosed sleeping, it goes as well for you as it did for me. Best of luck with all your introductions and thanks for reading!
My first two gerbils were twin brothers from PetSmart that got along great throughout their whole lives. They constantly chose to sleep together and they only every battled for a couple seconds at a time without any real aggression or mounting etc, so I believe it was just for play. Sadly, it seems that they both had genes prone to stroke, as they each had one fairly young which they could not recover from. After the first one died, I waited one day and then got a third gerbil which I began introducing to the surviving brother. After the second one died recently, I went and got a fourth gerbil to introduce to the third on the same day. I mention this because I don't know if loneliness or depression from loss can have any affect on a gerbil's readiness to form a new clan, but both of the surviving gerbils seemed restless when they were unable to find their brother as soon as they passed, so I decided not to wait around.
For the first introduction of gerbils 2 and 3, the first thing I tried was putting two large (cleaned and de-scented), enriched cages close together and treating that as a split cage, swapping them whenever they woke up after sleeping. After three days of this I noticed no progress, and they seemed hostile to one another (especially the new younger one who would try to attack the older one through the bars). Interestingly though, I noticed that if I picked them both up and let them see each other, or if I put them both on a pillow on my lap, they would not act aggressive at all but instead just look around with curiosity. Next, I decided to try traditional split caging, with a standard rectangular 10 gallon aquarium tank divided in the middle by a transparent plastic divider with small holes in it (not big enough to physically interact through). In each side of the tank, I gave them only food and water, and I kept the whole thing dim and unstimulated. Again, I swapped them after they slept and woke. I knew I was supposed to do this for a week, but I felt sorry for how bored they were and how much my old gerbil seemed to want out, so I wanted to do it more quickly if possible. Once they were sleeping next to each other through the divider after another couple days, I tried introducing them in neutral ground (a sort of play pen with a bunch of climbable objects in it.) The old one was curious and wanted to explore, but the new one only wanted to stalk and harass the old one. Eventually they got into a serious looking fight for a couple seconds and I gave up on that encounter, putting them back in the split tank.
Shortly after that, I was wondering about the fact that the more room they had, the more prone they were to fighting in it, and I decided to test to see if the inverse was true. I have a large amount of hamster tubing which I used to connect the two cages and two aquariums I own back when the first two were living in them. I took a few pieces of that and a couple "bubbles" and attached them together in isolation. The bubbles are 4" diameter hollow spheres that connect to the tubes and are meant to be used as sand baths but which my first two gerbils preferred to use as beds with a little ripped toilet paper inside as bedding. The space was very enclosed but had two beds, so I waited until both gerbils were going to sleep, and then I put them in the tubing. They explored it a little and got in each other's way a bit, even crowded each other out of the beds repeatedly, but they simply didn't have the room to bite or scratch, and after a while they went to sleep in their separate bubble beds. When they woke up, I put them back in the split cage, and when they were ready to sleep again, I put them back in the tubing but with only one bed. After some restlessness, they slept in the same bubble together. Once they woke up again, I tried introducing them in one side of the split cage, and they were far less aggressive. There were a few seconds of stalking here and there, some minor mounting and intimidation, but nothing that looked like it was about to break out in a fight. I separated them again to stay safe and after one more cycle with one sleep together, they were totally docile with one another, so I removed the cage split and put their enrichment back. I continued to keep an eye on them, separating them when I left the house and sleeping in the same room so I'd hear if they fought, but everything was good between those two after that. They were a perfect clan that always got along great and almost always chose to sleep together in a bubble until the day the older gerbil died.
After that, I once again got a new gerbil to introduce to the roughly year-old one and they were hostile at first as expected - both of them toward one another. This time, I went through an expedited version of the same process. Split cage at first, swapping after they sleep, only food and water inside, though I gave them each a wheel to run on for a little while to help them tire themselves out. I put them together in one side of the cage for a minute now and then to test the waters, using my hand to keep tensions from escalating. On day two, I put them in one bubble for nap time and waited until they slept and woke up. They were less aggressive after that, so I decided to try something new and I put them together in one half of the split tank, but cluttered it with objects to climb on so there wasn't much space to stalk or fight in. It worked and they kept the peace. They were still a bit wary of one another, but no mounting or biting and only a couple stare-downs. I gave them another bubble nap the next day, and after that they were fine together in an uncluttered half of the split tank. On day three, I unsplit the tank and added more enrichment in, kept them nearby to watch for fights, but they got along fine and slept together without being forced to. It's now day four and I hooked the cage back up to the rest of the four-part gerbil labyrinth and I've seen no hostility from them. They're sleeping together in one of the two bubbles as I type this, so things look good, but I will continue to separate them when I'm not there to watch them for the next couple days to stay safe.
That's it! Obviously, this is far from hard data. It's only two tests and I could have lucked out with the success, but it did get unrelated gerbils to go from hostile to snuggly with one another in a very short amount of time, so it seems like there's something to it. One day, hopefully no time soon, I will probably be back to let you know if the third such introduction went just as well. This should go without saying, but I don't recommend leaving gerbils in cramped confines if they are energetic, if it makes them too agitated, or for any extended period of time. When I tired them out with wheels and waited for them to be sleepy, they were only awake in there for 20 to 30 minutes before deciding to give up and sleep together. I also think it's best to avoid leaving them together unattended until they have gone at least a couple days without any hostility after introduction. I hope that if anyone else tries the enclosed sleeping, it goes as well for you as it did for me. Best of luck with all your introductions and thanks for reading!
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), late 70s
