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Post by jen on Sept 6, 2004 20:15:11 GMT -8
Slight problem. I'm going to try and make a long story short. Basically I took a 2 month old gerbil out of a group because of on and off fighting. It was always him being attacked, or him attacking everyone else. He'd make his own nest and squeak at anyone who came near him. Then other days, he would be fine with the others.
I kept him alone in his own cage for about a week and he was peaceful. He didn't seem to mind being alone at all as most gerbils would. A week later I put a youngin in with him and he did his mounting and then not cared that he was there. They've been together for a couple of months now and no fighting. The younger gerbil has a great temperment. Very easy and tame. The older one still has his issues and likes to sleep by himself, and very rarely do I see them sleeping together. Just like before, one day they're together, the next they're on seperate sides. He'll groom the younger one but most of the time they just completely ignore eachother. Or the older one seems to make him stay in the house, box or whatever. I rarely see them out together, I'll see the young one on the wheel every now and then that's about it. He doesn't squeak at him or anything like he did in the other group.
I feel bad for the younger gerbil. He's very social, nice, tame, great. Should I put another pup in there so at least if the older one wants to be alone, he has someone to sleep with?
But with the older one's temperment and history, I'm not even sure if he'll be ok in a group of 3..
Or maybe just keep him by himself? I know that's not right, but they act like they're alone anyways. On the other hand I do not think it is fair to the younger gerbil to be ignored like that.
What should I do?
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Post by queenofthenile on Sept 7, 2004 6:14:59 GMT -8
I definately wouldn't add another gerbil to the mix. It is likely that they won't even go together and instead will fight.
I personally would leave things as is. If the older one is forcing the young one to stay in the house, can you remove the house? Try and remove any objects that the older one seems to be dominating over. Maybe then he will let the little one out and about.
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Post by jen on Sept 7, 2004 12:07:06 GMT -8
I've tried that. I put nothing in their tank but bedding, a water bottle and food is just thrown in there. If I put a dish in the older one sits in it and hogs it. I left it like that for a week and the same thing. Together one day, not the next. They sleep a few inches away from eachother or on opposite sides. He didn't make him stay in a corner but he completely ignored him except when he felt like forcing him to be groomed.
They do seem to sleep together more with toys and they'll share a house.
I know I would be able to add a 6 week old pup without any fights. I don't know what to do though this setup is just not fair to the younger one. All my other gerbils sleep together, eat together, drink together, are curious when the other is chewing something and they chew together - Not these guys.
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Post by sweetie on Sept 7, 2004 18:58:06 GMT -8
Jen, It has been my experience that gerbils will not always sleep together. Mine sleep together some days and not others. I don't think that they alwaya need to sleep together. It might not be an issue now if you put in the pup but you will probably experience problems when the younger ones hit the 5-8 month mark they seem to go through adolescence and the testosterone  makes them a little bit more nippy. Like QUeenie said if it is working now, leave it as it is or you may end up with more issues later on down the road! Good luck and keep us posted! |
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Post by sandy2 on Sept 8, 2004 13:01:21 GMT -8
Yup, I'm with Queenie and sweetie. Leave things be as they are, so long as the older fellow is not attacking the younger they are still interacting. Looks like the personality mix is good. I'm leery with trios anyways--its too easy for 2 to gang up on 1. You might try a smaller tank, which forces them to get together more, or keep the room cooler so they snuggle for warmth. As the little one grows they may be together even more than now.
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Post by sweetie on Sept 8, 2004 21:53:47 GMT -8
Sandy, Excellent idea about the temperature. I notice that they do tend to snuggle when we put the AC down at night so we can sleep. Remember not to drop the temperature below 68. I believe the threshold is 65 degrees? I am not sure what that is celcius. |
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Post by j on Sept 13, 2004 22:36:32 GMT -8
How old are they now? I have a shy loner that I took out of a petshop a few months ago and plopped it in with my others. He's in with 7 others and I still see him sleeping on and off with the others...He doesn't have much dominance in him either. When I asked about it, people just thought he was sick.  If the new one is still small and young, i'd say to leave them together a little longer and see what happens. If the older one is aggressive, like with the grooming.. when the young one gets full grown he might try standing up for himself and defending himself and there could be some fights then. Situation is kind of weird though... I don't think you should seperate them just because they hardly do anything together. I don't think you should have to bore them to death and make them miserable by taking toys and hiding places away from them to force them to be next to eachother. Or have to freeze them or make them live in a small cage so they sleep together. That's not normal... It's not like they were just introduced. They must've accepted eachother and bonded if they haven't even had a fight.... So should wait a little longer if they're not the same size to see what happens. umm about adding another one... He'll prolly just harass that one the ame way and if he's making one squeak with his aggressive grooming, (or something) another gerbil might get in on it and start boxing or something trying to protect the other. And if the 3rd pup ends up wanting to be dominant, more trouble. |
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Post by lizzy on Sept 14, 2004 10:18:21 GMT -8
i agree with whats already been said, when i had my sisters together sometimes one would sleep over the other side of the cage completely. if they're not fighting then you shouldn't really have a problem. the dominant one can't hog the food 24/7. and introducing another would probably cause problems.. if it's not broken, don't fix it maybe he's just not the snuggly type |
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Post by jen on Oct 9, 2004 20:58:59 GMT -8
I thought I had replied to this already last month. Maybe not or it just didn't go through. Situation is kind of weird though... I don't think you should seperate them just because they hardly do anything together. I don't think you should have to bore them to death and make them miserable by taking toys and hiding places away from them to force them to be next to eachother. Or have to freeze them or make them live in a small cage so they sleep together. That's not normal... It's not like they were just introduced. They must've accepted eachother and bonded if they haven't even had a fight.... So should wait a little longer if they're not the same size to see what happens. J, I just wanted to say thanks. Your reply made the most sense. You are also right about the age and size. The bully is 3 months older and bigger. The others seemed to have misunderstood. My concerns were not that they didn't sleep together all the time. My concerns were that I had 2 gerbils together that barely interacted and any slight interaction they had was more aggression and bullying than any kind of socialization. Someone had mentioned "if it's not broken, don't fix it". It's not broken because there wasn't anything there to break. They were introduced easily because the goodguy was a baby at the time. They were doing better. Then a couple weeks after I posted this they were getting into boxing matches. I seperated them and put a new pup in with the good guy. They get along great. Instant match. I have never seen the good guy so happy. He is a lot more active and just overall happy now that he isn't being forced to sit in a box. He doesn't do that compulsive corner digging anymore either. The mean one is now by himself again and he doesn't seem to mind one bit. He never had much of a personality but I still feel a little bad. But then on the other hand, there is obviously some reason why every single male he was ever with before resulted in fights. My new question is would a gerbil with this type of personality be a good father? I'm thinking of breeding him eventually because of his color. Dominant gerbils in colonies usually end up as fathers anyway. Maybe he would get along fine with a female rather than males ? |
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Post by moghedien on Oct 10, 2004 15:03:19 GMT -8
The first gerbil I ever bred was very aggressive with other gerbils like it sounds yours is. I haven't been breeding for very long, but I think it will have a negative impact on the personality of the pups. I bred him with a really sweet, tame, non-aggressive female, and though the pups were a lot more nice than the dad, they still aren't nearly as social as their mom.
I have since bred the female with another friendlier gerbil, and I've noticed the pups are much more tame and friendly, so that's been my experience so far.
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Post by sweetie on Oct 11, 2004 17:53:21 GMT -8
Great input Mag,
I would say that it is better to breed for temperment than for color!! He may be beautiful but his pups might be hard to place if they are aggressive or unfriendly.
You of course have the ultimate decision. Perhaps, if you want to breed him, you could breed him once and then work on socializing his pups and breeding them!! As long as Dad is not in the cage to teach the pups aggression, you might have some luck with his pups.
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Post by j on Oct 13, 2004 20:58:17 GMT -8
My new question is would a gerbil with this type of personality be a good father? I'm thinking of breeding him eventually because of his color. Dominant gerbils in colonies usually end up as fathers anyway. Maybe he would get along fine with a female rather than males ? Um maybe because the female would end up being dominant too and she could end up owning him. You could always just let him get her pregnant and then remove him if there are any problems..Although you said he has a mounting obsession. My male used to mount my female every now and then even though she was pregnant. So it won't neccesarily make the mounting stop. Plus like Mog said,.. the pups could come out a little aggressive or just as aggressive as him. I've always bred my tamest gerbils and my pups came out fine. If you handled them enough and socialized them as much as possible you might not have that problem with his lack of personality but that aggressive/domminance thing against other gerbils might get passed on. You could end up with a good colored litter of like 8 but all or most could end up loners.. Good idea though.. maybe he just needs to.. "be bred" to knock his testosterone levels down. lol. He doesn't sound breed worthy though. Maybe try taming him now that he's alone and see if he gets a personality? See if that helps, that way you'd at least be able give him some attention and let him out and things . |
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makes them a little bit more nippy. Like QUeenie said if it is working now, leave it as it is or you may end up with more issues later on down the road!