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help!!!
Oct 26, 2004 12:32:24 GMT -8
Post by tbchip on Oct 26, 2004 12:32:24 GMT -8
i have got a gerbil from college as they could no longer look after it due to, a large amount of rodents in the rodent room, and was goin to destroy it, but i said i would have it, but the only thing was, is that is on its own, so i was woundering weather i could put another gerbil with it, but thought it would get killed by the one i have? please help, wat can i do??? maybee introduce both in a brand new cage??? i would be really pleased if some one can help!!!! thanx!!!!
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Oct 26, 2004 13:41:50 GMT -8
Post by RyanF on Oct 26, 2004 13:41:50 GMT -8
How old is it??? Do you have any clue? The gerbil definently NEEDS a partner, gerbils hate being alone. Age will determine everything.
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Oct 27, 2004 2:51:01 GMT -8
Post by terry on Oct 27, 2004 2:51:01 GMT -8
i really dont no? all i know is that it is female and well it could be just under a yr??? its really hard to tell, especially when no one knows the back ground of it.
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Oct 27, 2004 3:47:56 GMT -8
Post by andrea on Oct 27, 2004 3:47:56 GMT -8
Gerbils can be very hard to introduce especially as adults.. I have been bitten HARD a few time whilst trying to introduce gerbils.. I find male to female intro can usually go ok, of course if the females on heat that usually helps.. but same sex to same sex (esp females) can be very hard and sometimes impossible. Have a read of Peters introducing methods. home.studenten.net/~petermaas/gerbils/introducing.htmAndrea
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Oct 27, 2004 16:06:19 GMT -8
Post by RyanF on Oct 27, 2004 16:06:19 GMT -8
About the biting, same here Andrea. Not because we were introducing, but Burkie (clan #1) was close to Honey (clan #2) and I got a bloody bite on the finger...
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Oct 27, 2004 17:04:13 GMT -8
Post by sweetie on Oct 27, 2004 17:04:13 GMT -8
Hey tb,
You could attempt to introduce her to a young female pup. There is a method called "split caging". I would try a young female pup unless you want babies yourself.
It is possible. It takes time and patience however. Keep in mind, if she has been alone her whole life she may not want company. There are solitary gerbils out there. SOme do better than others. Being a female, it WILL be harder to introduce her. She will be most receptive to a younger pup (less than 8 weeks preferably but older than 5 weeks due to weening).
Good luck and let us know what happens.
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Oct 28, 2004 8:26:09 GMT -8
Post by blackie on Oct 28, 2004 8:26:09 GMT -8
Well maybe you can keep it on its own for a short period of time, if you just got it. It's not like it will die of loneliness right away. Lonely gerbils do get depressed. Is it a male or a female? I've only tried introduction once myself. with a father and son. And it went OK but I think maybe the father gerbil knew the scent already. The father gerbil Oscar was very happy to have a new cagemate. In fact he groomed him after 20 minutes, and Rasmus was hiding in a tube. No biting or anything. You just need to split cage them for a while. So maybe what you should do now is to find another gerbil and figure out how to make a split cage.
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Oct 28, 2004 8:28:41 GMT -8
Post by blackie on Oct 28, 2004 8:28:41 GMT -8
And... if you are a new gerbils owner you should read everything you can about gerbils, caring,housing, behavior etc. Knowledge is important. First rule for taming gerbils: Be calm! Good luck
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Oct 28, 2004 13:36:15 GMT -8
Post by sweetie on Oct 28, 2004 13:36:15 GMT -8
Again, I would strongly reccommend getting a young pup for intro's. They work the best!! Unless you want to breed! Then you can get a young male pup (I did and the intro was a snap) or you could get an older male.
Do you know how old your gerbils is? That some times makes a defference in the females. They have a hard time giving birth if they are older!! It could be bad to breed an older female.
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Oct 30, 2004 2:09:55 GMT -8
Post by blackie on Oct 30, 2004 2:09:55 GMT -8
Why should he breed now?
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Oct 30, 2004 11:50:52 GMT -8
Post by lizzy on Oct 30, 2004 11:50:52 GMT -8
try and get a very young (less than 10 weeks, 8 weeks ideally) female if you want to introduce. i'm trying to introduce two adult females right now and it's proving impossible. :\
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