Is it to late to get him a friend?

[tirilliel]

I recently bought a male gerbil about a week ago. When I was purchasing him I noticed a sign that said gerbils were social, but I wasn’t sure and asked the employee there who was putting my new fuzz ball into a carrier. She said she thought one would be best as they might fight later on so I only got one.

Now that I have him and have posted about him I’m being told he should have a cage mate. But will they fight if I buy another young male from a different litter and introduce them?


Thanks for your input

[queenofthenile]

If you introduce him to a really young pup (5-6 weeks), you may not even need to split cage them. I've found introductions with males really easy, even when they are over a year old. I say you should go back to the store and get the youngest male pup you can.

[tirilliel]

Hmm I just might... If I can..

I might like to get into breeding so I may wait for a female.. if I do get a male and they dont get along, then I'll need another cage and the space to put it.

Hrmmm what to do..

Ill ask my husband about it, the place we got him from was at Petsmart which is about an hour drive from where we lived and he planned on taking me out to a suprise place this weekend.

I suppose I could just make another bin cage if I had to and stack them

[RyanF]

Yep, you are fine, you can get him a friend. It takes about two weeks or more for a gerbil to become dominant with their surroundings. So, you won't need to do any kind of introduction method, just put another gerbil in there with him. This is assuming you are not going to buy a gerbil of the opposite sex to breed them.

[sweetie]

Two quick things. Yes a younger pup would work fine like queenie said probably with out a split cage. Second, you can look on AGS or NGS depending on where you live and get a young pup from a breeder.

Where do you live?

[tirilliel]

I lve in the USA Connecticut..

so would it be alright to get a young gerbil that inst even from the same litter?

well if am going to get a cage mate I better fast.

[doomgerbiluk]

with the gerbils age it should be fine
get the youngest (over 5 weeks) same sex pup you can