Is my adult female accepting new baby already?

[mglover923]

Hi, everyone! I'm new to the forum, and still fairly new at gerbils, but found the forum when I couldn't find any similar stories searching online. I need some help. We took in 3 females about 2 years ago, 2 being sisters, and the third having been added to the bunch not long after, from a neighbor who had handled depression by hoarding animals. They were only 3-4 months old. The unrelated gerbil passed quite a few months ago after a brief illness that didn't seem to affect the other two. Last week, our alpha passed, leaving her sister greiving, so we found the only female gerbil in any of the local pet stores on Saturday. We bought a starter Tiny Tales to easily do a split cage by just putting it into the 40 gallon long aquarium we already had been using. Yesterday morning I switched them, and this morning I noticed they were sleeping in burrows at the same end of the tank, literally inches from each other. Our adult was in the smaller enclosure, so I noted it would be a little more difficult for her to find a spot away from the baby when the small enclosure is essentially in the front corner, and the baby was right between it and the side of the 40 gallon. I switched them again today, and they are spending a lot of time sniffing and following each other through the bars, and I haven't once seen or heard any signs of aggression or stress. Has anyone ever had an acclimation happen this quickly? It seems to be unheard of and against nature from everything I've read online. Does this sound like they're ready for an attempt at introduction? I'm not trying to rush anything and take chances, but wanted to ask for input.

[LilyandDaisy]

Hello,

It's possible they're nearly ready but I'd probably wait a little longer to be more sure. Since the young gerbil is from a pet store, she's not quite a baby but more of a preteen/early teenage gerbil so may need a bit longer than a very young pup would.

If you scatter food alongside the barrier, are they happy to eat side by side? That's a good sign, though running away to a corner to eat isn't necessarily a bad sign.

Sniffing and following each other isn't a bad sign either but it does suggest they're still in a "getting to know each other" phase and might not be quite ready to meet properly. Ideally you would want them to be acting like the other gerbil is "old news", and they might touch noses and perhaps groom a bit when they meet at the mesh but not really doing a lot of extensive sniffing and investigating.