Chances of 4 females being fine?

[KatnissUna]

I am currently breeding gerbils (just 2 litters probably) and I would like to keep four girls. I will have to introduce some to each other as they aren’t all going to be from the same family, I’ve heard about declanning and am terrified.

 Does declanning always happen? Is there a way to prevent it? I just want happy gerbils that don’t try to kill each other, and am prepared to change my plans if I have to. I have had girls together in the past, but not for very long. I personally haven’t experienced declanning, but it is definitely a fear of mine. Is it more common for females to declan than males? Should I have a plan in case my boys declan as well? They’ve been together for about 2 years with no problems, but I’m mainly concerned for keeping females.
      Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[iamplankton]

You should never introduce more than one gerbil to a gerbil and never to an established pair/clan. Either keep 4 females from the same litter together or keep 2 pairs completely separately from each other

[Markpd]

Ditto, although even 4 sisters are at higher risk of declanning than 2, unfortunately their isn't much hard data on that as to how much more of a risk. We've started a (stickied) thread here that's collecting data on that, but it's early days. See this thread for more info. Only 2 quads have been reported so far, both declanned.

Does declanning of 4 sisters always happen? Quite possibly not, but it's significantly more likely than 2.

Is it more common for females to declan than males?
That's the consensus, yes. (our data thread doesn't have enough reports to confirm or deny that yet).

Should I have a plan in case my boys declan as well? They’ve been together for about 2 years with no problems,
They'll probably be ok at this stage, but it wouldn't hurt to have either a divider (for a larger cage) ready, or another cage for any future possible declans (from any gerbils).

[KatnissUna]

Ok, thank you! We will keep a divider in mind in case, I think that’s a great option to just have in case.

[LilyandDaisy]

The chance of 4 females working out long term is very low, especially if they're not all littermates. Also bear in mind that you can't introduce new gerbils into an existing pair/group.

If you'd like to keep 4, it would be best to have them in 2 pairs.