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Post by annie on Dec 8, 2004 12:39:44 GMT -8
I forgot to log in so now I have to rewrite this which is never fun, usually I just forget it due to my impatience however this is important to me that I do what is best.
I got 3 young males at one store and 2 young males at another store. When I got them home, I swithed the boxes they were in so they could get the scent of each other. About 10 minutes later I put them in their aquarium with a divider. About 20 after that I took the divider out and all went well for about 15-25 minutes while they scurried around checking out their new surroundings. Then one from the bunch of 3 began to chase one from the bunch of 2, but would stop and do other things. He then began to chase and fight both of them and i fianally put him by himself on one side of the divider. I tried him a while ago and he was much more aggresive than before.
Does this sound like he may never get along? How long should I wait before I take him back to the pet store where I got him? Will he still get along with the other two that he was caged with if i take him back tomorrow? I will take him back for sure right before Christmas if he doesn't get along by then...or would it be beneficial to all If I take him back as soon as possible?
This is a great, helpful site so thank you all whom respond to this! I posted a question about bedding.....waaayyy at the bottom of my priority list now..
Annie
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Post by sweetie on Dec 8, 2004 13:01:36 GMT -8
Hey Annie,
If you have not introduced them properly, by split caging, you are likely to get the behavior you did. I would strongly reccommend not having 5 in a 20 gal. Minimum is 5 gal for every gerbil. I would take him back unless you have more space for them. Also how old are the gerbils? The aggressive one might be the father and the other 2 his sons. I would not suggest keeping 5 males together even if you had the space. Reason being is that you might be able to successfully introduce them but you will most likely have aggression when the males reach sexual maturity between the 5-8 month mark.
If I were you, I would either keep the 3 you have in the 20 gallon and the other 2 in a different house or take one set back, or try to introduce the 2 groups of 2 and take the aggressive one back.
Good luck and keep us posted.
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Post by annie on Dec 8, 2004 14:00:56 GMT -8
Boy looks I really confused this one. I do have a 30 gallon tank and I found out on this site that I could house up to 6 males. I don't think he is the father unless he is really small, their were 5 altogether when I purchased the 3 males. The other 2 were females.
The other two are just about the same age as they are the same size. I guestimate they are 4-5 or 6 weeks. I don't have enough experience to judge that, but they are much much smaller than adults so I don't think that is the case that he is older.
I am really thinking of taking him back tomorrow as the other four are getting along ( so far) like they grew up together.
Just love this site; don't know what I would do without it. Thank you so much!!
Annie
I took a poll about how many I could put in a 30 gallon tank ( 2 or 4) and 100% answered 4. Also I thought that I learned if the males grew up together as babies or put together in that window of time when they would accept another gerbil, that they would be fine.
Also the 4 on the one side (2 from each store) are already sleeping together. Good sign I also got from this site..
I will let you know what happens and I am going to try to send a picture, but I am not too good at that so will see what happens.
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Post by sweetie on Dec 15, 2004 15:19:31 GMT -8
Hey Annie, Sorry!!  I misread the post. Yes the houseing you have is acceptable. Theory is 5 gallons of space for every gerbil. You have 5 so 5X5- 25 gallons and you have 30. Excellent!! If they grow up together, it is better but not always the case. I guess I err on the side of caution. I guess I just keep the end result in mind and I would not want to see any of the gerbils hurt because I was not accurate with my information. I also think that an ounce of prevention is worht a pound of cure. It is better to prevent the situation if you can than to deal with the situation after it happens. You are correct that it may very well work out given their ages. The reason I asked if one was the Dad is then my response would be different. I am pleased to hear that you have a 30 gal, that they are all the same age, and that they are now getting along. They are all good indicators that it will work. I did post signs to watch for in the other thread. Great job!! Good Luck!!! Keep us posted!!! but best of all I am looking forward to the pictures ;D. |
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Post by annie on Dec 18, 2004 20:38:10 GMT -8
Hi Sweetie,
Thanks and don't worry as they are just fine. They do however sleep more than I remembered. My daughter and I had them in our carpeted bathroom last Sunday and it was so funny. They all ran and ran and ran until they just about tired themselves out. Somtimes they would have almost collisions. I know that they really enjoyed it.
I did take many pic's of them, some of them pretty good, is there a site that tells me how to post them. I asked my hubby how to get them on this site and he says I may need to have my own website. When I do figure it out I can't wait to show them off!! Thanks again!
Annie
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Dec 19, 2004 5:22:17 GMT -8
www/photobucket.com great free photo hosting and once it's full you can alwasy get the premium (mines full-----------over 500 photos!!!) A 6 gerbil male colony should be fine, adorable even. I've had a 6 male gerbil colony for months (now it's an 11 gerbil colony as I had to put some pups in with them) I would be far more catious if you where talkin 5 females good luck and I'm sure your going to love them  |
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Post by sweetie on Dec 19, 2004 21:37:32 GMT -8
Hey Annie, I love watching them run around. It is like they have no agenda and just run for the sake of running. It is adorable!!! Doom, Thanks for the info on the colony . I can only share mine of the girls and intolerance to the others, the boys accepting a young pup for a trio, and inform about what the "books" say regarding suggested group size. Experience is more powerful that "books" so thanks for letting us know what works for you. |
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I misread the post. Yes the houseing you have is acceptable. Theory is 5 gallons of space for every gerbil. You have 5 so 5X5- 25 gallons and you have 30. Excellent!!