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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 5:39:04 GMT -8
We have 4 male gerbils around 15 months old. We bought them together as a 4 and seemed to be bonded well until the last few days. In the last 24 hours one of the males has started acting aggressively towards one of the others, seemingly exerting his dominance. This has resulted in the other one sleeping separately on the top level of the gerbilariam. There has been no fighting observed just lots of chasing from the aggressive gerbil when the other male tries to enter the tunnels and join the others. We are unsure what to do. Please can you advise?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 8, 2023 6:21:15 GMT -8
Hello,
Unfortunately it does sound like a declan and it could escalate into violence at any point. It would be best to remove the gerbil who is being bullied.
You might be able to bond the gerbil who is removed with one of the other three (not the aggressive one of course), but that would need to be done carefully so as not to destabilise the remaining two.
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 8:44:19 GMT -8
Thank you for your reply. They seem settled at the moment and we are monitoring them very carefully. How would I bond the other one without causing problems with the other 3?
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Post by icecontroller2529 on May 8, 2023 9:17:58 GMT -8
Hello there,
Can you tell us a bit more about your situation? Are you experienced with gerbils, declans and introductions? It's a complicated topic and can go wrong easily (I wish someone had told me this when we got our first gerbils).
Also, do you have a second gerbilarium? You need one, and you need it NOW. The bullied one needs to be taken out of the other's tank as soon as possible, and then the next step will be like Lily and Daisy said, introduce the bullied one to one of the others (not the bully), and those two need to live in a separate tank. So you need two enclosures. Also, from own experience I recommend getting a third one in the near future just in case there will be another declan at some point. That's another thing I wish I had known sooner: Always have a free tank standing ready in case of emergency.
Not sure whether that was clear enough to answer your question how to bond without causing problems with the others. So the answer is that you can only bond the bullied gerbil to one of the others in a second enclosure. In other words, you will have two and two gerbils in the future. Trying to bond all four of them together again is not a good idea.
Good thing you're monitoring them closely.
How are they doing now?
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 9:23:03 GMT -8
They seem to be ok at the moment. My son removed the aggressive gerbil for a short time to give him some space in his bedroom. This gave the one being bullied time to settle too and return to the tunnels in the sawdust This is our second lot of gerbils. The first two were two girls a few years ago. No problems there at all. The males have been together for a year now with no problems apart from the last 24 hours. We do have a second gerbilariam fortunately. I really don’t want to split them if they settle again. What would your advice be now they seem settled?
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 9:25:37 GMT -8
So just to confirm the 4 have been together with no problems since April last year. We bought them as a 4 from 8-12 weeks old
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Post by icecontroller2529 on May 8, 2023 9:26:59 GMT -8
Good to hear things seem calm at the moment. I'm leaving the question for advice to the more experienced people. I just want to warn you that the trouble is probably not over.
Keep us updated!
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 9:48:32 GMT -8
No things aren’t good. The aggressive gerbil has been chasing the other one around the cage. We’ve removed him (the bullied one) and are going to put him in our second cage with another one
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Post by icecontroller2529 on May 8, 2023 10:17:09 GMT -8
Good thing you took him out. Don't put him in again with the others, the dominant one is not accepting him any more. You'll have to accept that your group of four won't be working any more.
What a blessing that you had a second tank ready!
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 10:26:34 GMT -8
Thank you. What are the chances of the aggressive one now dominating the other one? There are now two in one house and two in the other house. Do twos tend to declan?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 8, 2023 10:59:22 GMT -8
Twos are much less likely to declan than bigger groups, but for the next couple of weeks I suggest keeping things really simple in both of your enclosures. This is because your pairs will be working a new hierarchy and it's better if they have less stuff to be possessive over while this is happened. I'd suggest reducing their bedding to about 6 inches and giving each pair maybe a house and a couple of tunnels, but not much more than that. After a couple of weeks if everything seems fine, you can start gradually adding things back in and increasing their bedding.
With the bullied gerbil and the gerbil he's now living with, I would recommend not giving them any toys from the old tank because the scents of the other gerbils may confuse them.
It's possible that the aggressor may turn on the remaining gerbil, but probqbly not very likely.
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 11:05:27 GMT -8
Thank you so much for all your help both. It’s the first time I have needed to use the forum and you've both been amazing. Can I keep you posted please?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 8, 2023 11:08:31 GMT -8
Thank you so much for all your help both. It’s the first time I have needed to use the forum abd you e both been amazing. Can I keep you posted please? Absolutely, please do keep us updated and ask all the questions you need. It'd be great to find out how this turns out. |
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 11:13:12 GMT -8
Is there anyway I can donate to this forum? You’ve both been amazing 🙂
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Post by sammymay on May 8, 2023 11:27:11 GMT -8
Finally is it common for 4 gerbils who seem to have bonded after having them a year to declan?
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