Reintroduced 7boys. Should I reclean THEIR tank?

[j]

One of my boys had a stroke a week ago, found him severly dehydrated and like half dead with the others grooming him and sleeping on top of him. Rehydrated him for like a day and he's fine now. He didn't want to be near anyone else, he ran away so I kept him by himself for a week and he started turning into a typical 'loner' after 3 days. He did have a bite on his neck.. but not deep or bad. I'm guessing someone tried putting him out of his misery when he was half dead.

Ok so took the 6 boys and did a split cage with him for 3 days and he kept sticking his nose in between the bars to be groomed. THEY Remember him because his scent was still in their tank. Removed splitter and he was scared and like threatened anyone that came near him. (like pawing at their heads..looks..but no boxing..) And no real fights so I left them to sort it out. Then it got stupid.. he was making THEM fight eachother. So I did the water method.. lol they're still a little wet now, but a completely different attitude ;D

Yeah, I had to rush this because I had to put all 7 in a 10 gallon tank.. it was the only convienent and safe way for me to do a split cage. Now I need that tank back and them all back in their 30 gallon asap.

So now I'm wondering..... Should I clean out the 30 gallon before putting them all back in it? ALL their scents are still mixed in it.. BUT the ExSick one won't remember it I don't think. And if I reclean it.. won't that cause new dominance issues ?

[sandy]

boy that is a complicated one! I've never had a group that big, but of f the top of my head I'd say no, don't clean the tank. But is rushing them a good idea? I'd give it another week if it was me.

[doomgerbiluk]

the whole point of intros is smell
once the colony smells the same your intro should be done
removing the smell means your gerbils are even more stressed

[sweetie]

I would say clean the tank only because then they can't get territorial and they will spend so much time scenting then they will be occupied and less likely to fight. If you were worried about stressing them, you would not have done the water method but that worked right? I like to clean tanks to minimize territoriality, to keep them occupied until they sleep and so that they are all at the same starting point smell wise. The other one may not have as much scent in the tank and be at a disadvantage.

Keep us posted and let us know what's happening.

[j]

It wasn't a scent thing though. I reintroduced them in a 10 gallon tank. The 6 boys remembered him, they didn't even notice he was back or missing. The problem was the one that turned into a loner, he got scared when anyone would go near him. They slept together but he'd squeak if 2 tried to groom him at once..which would make everyone else get curious as to what was going on... then he'd run by himself to an empty corner and the rest would box eachother. lol it was retarded. Guess he was just overwhelmed though. I'm sure if the 6boys forgot his scent than no way would this have worked.

I was kind of worried about him not being in the 30 gallon tank for a week and the others scent overpowering it and that causing problems.

Eh. Anyway, I cleaned it and they're all happily back together. Sleeping and grooming eachother, back to normal. ;D