Post by roisinparker on Jan 30, 2023 8:36:37 GMT -8
Hi everyone - So this week we had a sad loss in our gerbil family (for reference we originally had 4 gerbils - 2 females and 2 males kept in separate tanks). Picard (male gerbil) had to be put to sleep on Friday due to a scent gland tumour, he leaves behind his other male littermate - Ramsay. About 10 months ago in our separate female gerbil tank, Triss lost her littermate Matilda. Triss has been doing really well on her own, to be honest she has grown really confident and self assured now (she was the submissive gerbil of the pair). I think she's done so well partly because her tank is right next to my desk in the room I work from home/spend most of my free time in so I can talk and interact with her all the time. Ramsay on the other hand, we are a bit worried about him being on his own in this way, he is also the submissive of his pair but he has always been a lot more nervous and dependent on Picard, his tank at the moment is also in a hallway so although he gets a lot of attention, and we're going to make sure he gets extra love in the meantime, it's not the same as the level of interaction as Triss.
So my question is, due to the advanced ages of my remaining gerbils - Triss is 3.5 years old, and Ramsay is 3 years old, could they perhaps be introduced to live in the same tank (I understand there are methods to do that gradually) so they can live their remaining lives with companionship? We do not want to get new tank-mates for both of them because we don't want a never ending cycle of gerbils being left in need of a new partner, as we eventually want to keep cats and I won't subject any of my gerbils to a predator animal in the house.
My main worry of course is the usual downside of keeping a male and female together - pregnancies, and if there is a chance of this happening, we do not want to do this or risk any harm to Triss. However due to her being really quite old now, i'm unsure if this is at all likely? I've read online that the female fertility declines quite rapidly after 1.5 years old, and she is now way beyond this. She has also stopped going into heat periodically now, this used to happen to her and matilda when they were younger, but not now.
Does anyone have any experience with doing this, or with breeding gerbils and understanding how their fertility is at this age?
Thank you for any help
TLDR: I have an old female gerbil and old male gerbil whose partners have both died, can they be kept together safely without making babies!
So my question is, due to the advanced ages of my remaining gerbils - Triss is 3.5 years old, and Ramsay is 3 years old, could they perhaps be introduced to live in the same tank (I understand there are methods to do that gradually) so they can live their remaining lives with companionship? We do not want to get new tank-mates for both of them because we don't want a never ending cycle of gerbils being left in need of a new partner, as we eventually want to keep cats and I won't subject any of my gerbils to a predator animal in the house.
My main worry of course is the usual downside of keeping a male and female together - pregnancies, and if there is a chance of this happening, we do not want to do this or risk any harm to Triss. However due to her being really quite old now, i'm unsure if this is at all likely? I've read online that the female fertility declines quite rapidly after 1.5 years old, and she is now way beyond this. She has also stopped going into heat periodically now, this used to happen to her and matilda when they were younger, but not now.
Does anyone have any experience with doing this, or with breeding gerbils and understanding how their fertility is at this age?
Thank you for any help
TLDR: I have an old female gerbil and old male gerbil whose partners have both died, can they be kept together safely without making babies!
), late 70s
, at least she had a long and happy life with you.