Having trouble with my split

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Hi there, any advice would be appreciated. 

So, I'm currently conducting a split between my two nicest males. They're both really smart, and friendly, and I'm worried that if they fight, the younger one (who has never fought with another gerbil) might remember that. I don't know if this happens, but I had someone point it out to me, and I thought I would mention it here. 
They've been in the split for a little while now. I've switched sides several times but grew sick during and had to leave them for a little while as they were. (of course feeding and watering them). 
I've been observing them very closely, and have noticed a few things that seem to check the sheet for an introduction. 
They're acting as if they know the other pretty well, and they're used to seeing them at the barrier. At first there was very intense sniffing, smelling, and even licking, but now they just acknowledge each other and go on with their business. They're both pretty calm, eating near the barrier, not jumping at it or climbing it much. I've given them cardboard which they chew but no intensely as if they're stressed. But they don't sleep next to the barrier. 

If the thing I mentioned above is something to keep in mind, I really do not want to risk 'ruining' my male, as the person put it. Does it sound like they're ready for an intro? I know of course it's very possible that they might fight, so of course I'm prepared for that, I'm just not sure if they're ready to introduce.

I appreciate any advice, thanks so much

[LilyandDaisy]

Hello,

I'm not convinced gerbils can be that easily traumatised by a single event. Because they don't remember things in the same way as humans, trauma is more likely to result from prolonged or regular exposure to something frightening rather than one incident. For example, a gerbil who is always being chased round the cage to be picked up will be afraid of hands but there have been occasional times I have had to chase a gerbil (when it was essential to get them out and they weren't cooperating) and they haven't seemed to suffer any lasting effects from that.

Have you been swapping sides regularly? If you have, how do they act after a swap?

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Ok, that's a bit reassuring. I guess I don't have to be as afraid of this now! Of course the idea of a fight always weighs on my mind a bit in an introduction, as it seems everyone else does, but it was the idea of lasting effects that really scared me.

I was swapping sides regularly, and then I got sick and laid up in bed, so I fell down on it (I'm just now recovering so I haven't been on top of it yet). When I was still doing it they acted what I felt was pretty good. They would look around for a second, and then go to the barrier, sniff that, and start doing their normal gerbil thing. Not too much focus on 'what is this other smell'. That was when I started to suspect they might be ready for an intro.

[LilyandDaisy]

I would try to reliably swap them 3 times a day for at least a week, then maybe try an introduction.

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Okay, thanks again. I'll do that!

[icecontroller2529]

Good morning, sorry for being off topic. You changed your name! That's a great name! I immediately recognised Tunnely Joe from the photo contest.
You even have a cool picture to go with it! Nice.

Good luck with the boys in the split tank!

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

I'm glad you like it! I was on the fence because I have been posting so long as Jamie Whiler, but I decided if I waited any longer it would be more of a problem
I recently started up a website for gerbil breeding and decided to change my name to my website's name, and my picture to my website's logo, partly to make everything match (overly organized brain here, lol) and partly so that if anyone that had been to the website came here, they could recognize me.

Anyways, yes! It's going a bit better. Actually, update: I switched them yesterday to see how they would react. Definitely lost a little progress I think. Both were digging, sniffing, and rearranging for about five minutes before they finally settled down. Both, however, were content to eat their food and chew their cardboard next to the barrier. I don't know if that's much of anything at all, but I was happy about that.
I think it was more about being moved and less about the other gerbil. Both of them were acting very relaxed when they met at the barrier, not sniffing much or investigating much, just rearranging their half of the tank.

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Update!
I was switching them three times a day (two times when I was busy) they were both reacting really well, and even better when they met at the barrier. So, I did an intro today, and it went great. They were in a pretty small container, so it went a bit south at the end. (but not too badly) I think they just got stressed by being cramped in there by a gerb they didn't know that well.
I placed them both in, and neither was tense at all. They both sniffed their surroundings and interacted very well. One of them would come up to the other, sniff his rear, part his fur, and waddle over/around him to do something else. They both did that, and then eventually they both started grooming the other. The tranquility lasted for more than ten minutes! It was going really well until Sesame got a bit nosey and Frank just wasn't having it. They didn't fight, Frank just stuck his paws in Sesame's face and held really still for a bit. He started jumping and it got a bit tense, but they settled down right away afterward. Then when they would meet it would be a tense like this.
I thought I would split them up and put them back in the split, doing an intro again later, but then Frank lay down and closed his eyes, and Sesame came over and cleaned him. They took turns like this, and became peaceful again, and it stayed like that for the rest of the intro (about ten mins) so now I have them in a barebones tank while watching them with a hawk's eye. I just woke them up, they were curled up, sleeping in a corner of the tank together.
Before that Sesame was grooming Frank.
Fingers crossed it works out! Thank you for all the help.

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Another update! (I'll keep it short this time, lol).
I came upon them this morning to find them sleeping happily together. I added a wheel, which they've used once or twice, and liked, but it doesn't seem to cause a problem, though I'm still keeping a very close eye on them!
This was them sleeping together <3


Sesame was on the top, Frank was on the bottom.




This was them deciding if the sound of my camera was a cause worthy of their wakefulness... (they went back to sleep).

[icecontroller2529]

Lovely! Wonderful to see such a positive outcome!

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Thank you!
I actually partially posted this update because I feel like the positive outcomes need to be more seen. It seems like people only talk about splits if they're going badly, equaling some of the only threads about splits being negative! (Even mine is called 'having trouble with my split'!) I feel like this leaves a lot of wrong impressions about how unsuccessful splits are, so I thought I'd do the positive update to contribute to the little positive pile

[icecontroller2529]

That's right. It's so good to see a positive outcome, it really feels encouraging. 

I think it's also important to show the negative. When I started with gerbils, nobody told me how wrong it can go. All I heard was "They are such social animals", which was a major factor for me to get gerbils and not a hamster. And then I was not prepared for the declanning and the failing introductions and I made mistakes that could have been avoided.

Anyway, it is wonderful to see your boys happily together 

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Yeah. I agree. I guess I should rephrase what I said above.
I think that there are so many negative reviews that people can become discouraged and not even try, thinking it never really works anyway. Sometimes opting for a different, ironically, often riskier method.
But what you said is absolutely right. It's a common thing that people will say, Gerbils are easy! They're social and live in large numbers that you can just throw together. Which is very much not true. I certainly don't regret getting gerbils, but I do regret the mistakes I made along the way from being told this, so I think it definitely is dangerous to jump in thinking that everything will be easy because it really seems like that before you get gerbils.

But anyway, yes, I'm so glad it worked out, as well!

[LilyandDaisy]

I'm so happy that your split worked out!

I know what you mean about so many bad experiences putting people off doing splits. That's why I made this thread for people to post their experiences (both good and bad). Perhaps you might consider posting a summary of your experience there?