Post by mygerbilprince on Sept 9, 2023 16:16:46 GMT -8
So, I searched the forum to find any advice, but no thread I found had the same amount of gerbils as I.
The story is that I had one single gerbil Dove, then I adopted her three sisters Vixen, Valencia, and Vanilla. Vixen and Dove fought out of nowhere. They were living together for 3 months.
Vixen was without injury, so I kept her in with Valencia and Vanilla. Dove had a cut on her nose and the corner of her mouth, so she stayed in a hospital tank. I waited for her wounds to heal, then began to re-introduce them to each other. I placed the hospital tank inside of my 40 gallon (the hospital tank is one of those single tier critter trails by kaytee). I've been switching Dove to the main tank and the other girls into the temporary one and vice versa every few days.
I've noticed Vixen seems to be the only hostile one, as she spends a lot of her time chewing on the bars or plastic of the cage, trying to get out/in. Dove has been completely calm and has been sniffing Vixen curiously whenever she comes close. Valencia is very neutral, only sniffing Dove occasionally while acting friendly with Vixen and Vanilla. Vanilla and Vixen have been getting along fine, but Vanilla spends a lot of her time trying to interact with Dove, even sleeping on top of the holding cage when Dove is inside. I think Vanilla misses her, because the interactions between them seem curious and overall positive. Once I even saw Vixen join Vanilla on top of Dove's tank, and they slept there together. I doubt Vixen would have done that had Vanilla not been there first, but I still view it as a positive. Recently, the aggression on Vixen's part has seemed to subside a bit. I've heard less of the god awful sound of Vixen digging at the wire bars, and seems to only chew or dig at the tank when she's trying to burrow but the tank is in the way. I haven't been at home a lot recently, so this may just be happening when I'm away. I plan to keep an eye on their tank when I home so I can confirm whether the aggression is gone.
I also removed all but one of their hideouts, because I've been told that multiple houses can lead to de-clanning. Apparently this is because one gerbil claims a hideout, causing tension when another gerbil uses it. I don't know how accurate this is, but the breeder I bought Vixen, Vanilla, and Valencia from said so, and she claims to have years of experience.
So I wanted to know whether or not the forum thinks I should continue re-introducing them, or if it is a lost cause. I'd also appreciate any ideas on how I could re-introduce them safely if I felt they were at that point. Thank you!
The story is that I had one single gerbil Dove, then I adopted her three sisters Vixen, Valencia, and Vanilla. Vixen and Dove fought out of nowhere. They were living together for 3 months.
Vixen was without injury, so I kept her in with Valencia and Vanilla. Dove had a cut on her nose and the corner of her mouth, so she stayed in a hospital tank. I waited for her wounds to heal, then began to re-introduce them to each other. I placed the hospital tank inside of my 40 gallon (the hospital tank is one of those single tier critter trails by kaytee). I've been switching Dove to the main tank and the other girls into the temporary one and vice versa every few days.
I've noticed Vixen seems to be the only hostile one, as she spends a lot of her time chewing on the bars or plastic of the cage, trying to get out/in. Dove has been completely calm and has been sniffing Vixen curiously whenever she comes close. Valencia is very neutral, only sniffing Dove occasionally while acting friendly with Vixen and Vanilla. Vanilla and Vixen have been getting along fine, but Vanilla spends a lot of her time trying to interact with Dove, even sleeping on top of the holding cage when Dove is inside. I think Vanilla misses her, because the interactions between them seem curious and overall positive. Once I even saw Vixen join Vanilla on top of Dove's tank, and they slept there together. I doubt Vixen would have done that had Vanilla not been there first, but I still view it as a positive. Recently, the aggression on Vixen's part has seemed to subside a bit. I've heard less of the god awful sound of Vixen digging at the wire bars, and seems to only chew or dig at the tank when she's trying to burrow but the tank is in the way. I haven't been at home a lot recently, so this may just be happening when I'm away. I plan to keep an eye on their tank when I home so I can confirm whether the aggression is gone.
I also removed all but one of their hideouts, because I've been told that multiple houses can lead to de-clanning. Apparently this is because one gerbil claims a hideout, causing tension when another gerbil uses it. I don't know how accurate this is, but the breeder I bought Vixen, Vanilla, and Valencia from said so, and she claims to have years of experience.
So I wanted to know whether or not the forum thinks I should continue re-introducing them, or if it is a lost cause. I'd also appreciate any ideas on how I could re-introduce them safely if I felt they were at that point. Thank you!
