Introducing one young gerbil ladie to older one's

[saartje]

Hi

I have two gerbil ladies that i bought in july I would like to introduce them to one young gerbil ladie, is that gonna work?

[queenofthenile]

No, it probably will not work. Even if you get them together, they will likely fight later on.

[saartje]

Are you sure?

My older gerbil aren't very old they are only six months old.

I know some people where it worked, i think that i could try

[queenofthenile]

You could try, but the odds certainly are against you. In my experience, groups of females larger than 2 only work if they were introduced at the same time (5-7 weeks old), or consist of a mother with her daughters. Do you already have the new gerbil? If so, it would be easier to just introduce a new female mate to the lone gerb, rather than disrupting an already established clan.

Although the young gerbil may get integrated into the group at this point, when she reaches sexual maturity it is extremely likely that they will fight.

[saartje]

I will have her next week, I would put them in an aquarium where the older one's haven't been in a time ago, and i would make a split.

[doomgerbiluk]

oops misread that
yes u can sometimes do that and I have successfully but it can be disaster too
split cages are for introducing individuals and do not work as well with mutiples

[Ritzie/Admin]

You could try, but I agree with Queenofthenile (EDIT: and with Doomgerbiluk). It will probably not work, or they will have problems later on. I always recommend to keep only two females together. Most problems with females are in groups with three or more females together.

Female gerbils are much more territorial than males and even a bit more aggressive towards other gerbils. With gerbils that are older than 8-10 weeks old it is much more difficult to introduce another, especially when you want to introduce one to a group of two or more.

The fact that the pup is still very young, might be a reason that can work! Their mother instinct can surface. But this is not always the case.

Of course you can always try, but keep in mind that it might be possible that you need to seperate them anyway. So you need to be willing of having two tanks if necessary. And if so, purchasing another one to house with the lonely one.

But as always each gerbil is different! Some are more tolerant than others. Some accept others more easy than others.

Peter

[saartje]

I don't understand how the older one's 'Akira and Josephine' could be teritorial because i would do the split in a tank they don't remember. So they would al be new in that tank.

[doomgerbiluk]

Saartje its not aopbut territory
In the wild gerbils live in colonys
each colony has its own territory and recognises its members by smell
until the new colony smell has been established they will not accept her.

[paws]

No! do not do this! I ended up with a demented gerbil who thinks he is a dog from doing this. ;D At least get 2 pups. (about the demented gerbil, it's true. His best friend is my dog, Abbie, and this is....odd.)

[sweetie]

Hey Saartje,

If I were you, I would weigh the risks. It is possible to introduce them now. There have been many successful introductions of a lone female pup to 2 older females. You have to ask yourself if you are willing to risk the possible out come of a dead gerbil when the female pup reaches maturity. WHen the pup reaches maturity, then it is extremely likely that they will declan as they do in the wild. This is because there is only one fertile female per colony. The other is killed in a battle for dominance.

If you are willing to risk this or make sure that you will take every precaution ( know the warning signs of declanning) to prevent injury or death from fighting; then you can try it. If not, I would get 2 more pups to live separately. Is there another pup you could get?

[Ritzie/Admin]

Saartje said:

I don't understand how the older one's 'Akira and Josephine' could be teritorial because i would do the split in a tank they don't remember. So they would al be new in that tank.

I understand what you say. By using the splitcage method, all gerbils would become part of the territory, so also of the group.

However, the splitcage method does not always work, and especially with an established group is is hard. I've tried it with males, and it is the only time I failed with the splitcage method. I personally never try it again. Probably because the two older ones are always together during the splitcage, and keep each other recognising as group member, and the gerbils on the other side of the seperation as not a member!

But there are indeed some people who have succeeded with the same thing as you want to do. Only I would never recommend it!

But of course you are free to do want you think is best. As Sweetie told you: weigh the risks, and than decide. And if you decide to do it, than make sure that you will take every precaution that is needed for when problems occur.

And no matter what you decide, please tell us how it went! ;D We all can learn from each others experience.

[saartje]

Yesterday I bought a gerbil and one of my older ladies has already accepted her. They are in the same cage a bit longer than 2 hours. So I'm guessing everything is going fine. They wash each other, they are sleeping together, ....

[paws]

Two lovely little agoutis! Irrelivant Q, is bread a good treat, because I see some in there.

[saartje]

It's old bread, i have read that you can give that to a gerbil.

Aren't they cute?