Slightly older gerbil bereaved

[John Whitworth]

My black Mongolian gerbil, Pin, died earlier today. We don't know what caused it, and the vet couldn't come to any solid conclusion either, meaning his injection to move his suspected [by me] blocked gut, was a bit of a waste, and may actually have contributed to his end.

Anyway, his brother, Chip, a very handsome agouti, is still alive and well, and is running round and round in his wheel at the moment. I know gerbils shouldn't use the wheel too much, but we thought it might take his mind off his loss for a while.

We got Chip and Pin about 7.5 weeks ago, from "Pets at Home" in the UK. They state that their gerbils are not sold any younger than 5 weeks old, so I guess that makes them at least 12.5 weeks old.

I read on the "Introducing Gerbils" part of this website that it is best to introduce new gerbils before they are 10 weeks old. If I acted quickly, what would be my best chance of making a new companionship succeed? Male? Female? Does colour matter?

He is housed in the Rotastak Adventure Zone, but without the "pod" part - i.e. just the original Rotastak housing plus the maxi-basement, and some extra tubing. I doubt I would have much success wiring part of this cage off!

Thanks

John

[paws]

get a male. They are more friendly.

[sandy]

So sorry! And so young, too, what a shame. Anyway, to answer your question, you should be fine getting a male pup to put in with your Chip. You're best to go with a male pup from 5 to 8 weeks old, as that will be the easiest adjustment for both gerbils. You might want to review your diet also, because that seems young for a gerbil to die. Or did he maybe ingest some non-food item such as fibre or plastic?

[doomgerbiluk]

john get a young male around 5 weeks and he'll probalbly love him
males are succkers for pups generally
I would advise if you can eventually dump the rotastac
I am finding it a big pain tbh
gerbils are happier in tanks, bins or dunas

[jw]

Thanks for your help everyone. I shall be on the lookout for a young male pup this weekend.

[simcoe]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how sad one of my girl pair will be if the other passes on, they depend on each other for so many things.

I know Chip will be thrilled to have a new little buddy. Good luck in your search, I hope the new pup's a charmer.

[jw]

I've discovered that Pets at Home, where we got Chip and Pin, sell their gerbils no younger than 10 weeks old. Therefore that means that Chip is at least 17.5 weeks old, and that any young male pup from there would be at least 10 weeks old.

Bearing in mind the situation that I am in, and that I will be unlikely to be able to get him a new companion until the latter half of next week (after 16th December), am I likely to be able to introduce these two slightly older gerbils?

If I still need a much younger pup, then does anyone have any idea where I could get one. I am in Orsett, near Grays, Essex, United Kingdom.

Thanks again,

John

[doomgerbiluk]

Well it depends how far you can travel
there are NGS breeders all over
for instance I'm in Southampton and have gerbils of various ages available.
try www.gerbils.co.uk and look at the gerbils available list.........also see Furry Forums p205.ezboard.com/bsmallandfurriesglobal for sale board at bottom of forum
and there's one on Andreas site

P.S. younger boys available now are blacks, slates, agoutis, REW and a cp agouti

[jw]

But will the younger gerbils still be OK with Chip, considering he is about 5 weeks older than I originally thought?

Thanks

John

[doomgerbiluk]

should be but a split cage handy just in case would be good
tbh the younger the pups (over 5 weeks) the better
how far can you travel?
Sunday 19th is the Stafford show and the NGS will be there...I'm sure there will be breeders with pups available and you can get advice from some real experts too

[sweetie]

Hey John,

I am sorry to hear about the loss of Pin .

If you get a young male gerbil, they will most likely get along fine. I would try a split cage with out either's scent in it. I have introduced pups to older males with relative ease. As a matter of fact, I did it in one day. My males were about 4 months old and I got a 10 week old pup. I should have quarentined the pup for a few days to make sure he was healthy before introducing them. In this situation, I would encourage the same especially due to the circumstances.

Good luck and Welcome to the Forum .