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Post by callimico on Jun 28, 2005 9:09:46 GMT -8
Successful introduction tecnique: allowing gerbil to become accustomed to one another in a smaller space, so that they're relatively close to one another and more easily introduced.
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Post by southcore on Jun 28, 2005 9:27:56 GMT -8
that looks ridiculously cruel! and why would that person need to introduce one to a group that big, why not take one from the group and introduce it to the other gerbil!
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Post by callimico on Jun 28, 2005 9:36:16 GMT -8
That's exactly what I was thinking, especially for the poor gerbil in the bottom right hand corner. It must have terrified the stranger to be suddently pressed against so many strangers I know people use it because...I guess it works, usually split-cage from one adult to a group would NEVER work, but if it requires something like this, I just don't think there's enough benefit to even try it.
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Post by whitmoregirl on Jun 28, 2005 11:53:52 GMT -8
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Jun 28, 2005 12:24:10 GMT -8
lol your right Lauren she'd putthem in the small carrier to stop them from ignoring each other but it certianly is NOT small enough too squash the gerbils!!! I suspect Abbey would be most upset that anyone even suspected her of doing such a thing!!! I might add that Abbey has a number of gerbils, some of whom where rescues from a shop which was sellign tham at 3 weeks!!! Her other rescues (two females) unexpectedly turned out to both be pregnant!! I believe the colonies in question are all young gerbils being placed in spatious colony homes. Don't worry...the gerbils in those pictures where engaged in happy huddling not forced squashing!!!!
Please be careful guys, it can be very easy to misinterpret what you read and to unjustly malign someone.....also if you quote a website or posts in another forum it is only polite to add the link (as Lauren has done) so people can both check out the context AND acknowledge the source, I know of at least one individual who has produced excellent and often quoted articles on his website who really appreciates it of people take the trouble on forums to link back and gets somewhat irritated when people 'steal' his work... I'm sure any of you who have produced websites or posted pictures would also appreciate the same courtesy!! One other issue is tha timage hosting sites generally place a bandwidth limit and if you link to other peoples pictures on these sites you may cause their accounts to be closed!!
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Post by callimico on Jun 28, 2005 12:36:00 GMT -8
I should have read the full post, I'm sorry Doom & whitmoregirl- the link was emailed to me by someone who adopted a pair of my pups and I copied the pic without reading the explanation, just the thread title. Thank you for correcting me, I'll erase the post and not assume circumstances before understanding the situation.
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Jun 28, 2005 13:26:11 GMT -8
lol no problem Calllimico I think it is appropriate to leave it tbh...but it is also a warnign..please read carefully guys
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Post by whitmoregirl on Jun 28, 2005 13:27:04 GMT -8
It's ok Callimico, I would have made the same mistake should it have been me. You're only human
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Post by abbey on Jun 30, 2005 3:50:35 GMT -8
Ta for nicking my pic without my permission and taking it out of context. The reason I was adding to that group? Because they are particularly docile males and happened to be the new gerbil's brother, and the new one is only a few weeks old because that group was the original rescue group that were barely weaned, the breeder hands them over at 3 weeks. I bought that little gerbil and his sister because they were both alone and I hate to see gerbils sold alone. This group of 7 was my best bet as my only other male groups are 5, which are a lot older, and 10, which I would not add to. I used a split cage, and after that I let them in their 40'' rabbit tank to interact, but the issue was that the new one was scared of such a large amount of males to get to know. So he stayed away and hid. This meant it was hard to know if the others had properly accepted him, so I put them in a carrier so they were forced to interact and get to know each other. I had the carrier in front of me the whole time and it they were in it for half an hour, most of which was spent grooming and sleeping. This shows that they were not pysically squashed in the carrier. I would think gerbil owners know how gerbils like to squash into a big heap. And yes I used soiled bedding for the substrate in the small carrier, to get the scent of the other males onto the new one. The REW was perfectly able to stand alone from the others and actually did so until after a while he huddled up with his larger REW counterpart and then wiggled further into the warmth. I would never 'squash' them into a carrier, that has no logic, apart from the cruelty it doesn't exactly let them socialise. I personally think that the water method is awfully cruel, gerbils hate water, and can get a chill if not dried properly. This is their actual home, so you don't go assuming I stick all my gerbils in glass jars or ice cream tubs. And since that pic only shows part of the tank, here is an idea of the full size since you people can't visualise a bigger space than what is pictured,
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Jun 30, 2005 4:19:38 GMT -8
Introducing gerbil in a small cage or tank is indeed a proved successful way. I've never tried it myself yet, but I know Fred Petrij mentioned it in his book on gerbils. He is a well known Dutch breeder. Abbey, welcome here and nice to hear from someone else that it works!
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Post by abbey on Jun 30, 2005 4:22:28 GMT -8
I hardly consider it a welcome.
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Post by abbey on Jun 30, 2005 4:37:29 GMT -8
By the way, Lauren thanks for actually having some sense and remembering the FULL thread and defending me.
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Post by whitmoregirl on Jun 30, 2005 4:49:38 GMT -8
It's ok Abbey But if someone was sent the picture, as Callimico was, without the actual thread, they wouldn't have known that you were simply getting the new group member used to the other males. It was nothing against you, just a simple misunderstanding.
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Jun 30, 2005 4:56:12 GMT -8
Abbey nice to see you posting here. You don't need to defend yourself to us lass, and actually I hope despite this rocky start you will stay and post. For those who don't know Abbey she keeps a wide variety of small animals, is very passionate about animal welfare and has recently handreared some dipodil pups followed immediately by 4 kittens!! That's devotion!!! I know we can all learn a lot from Abbey.
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Post by abbey on Jun 30, 2005 4:58:00 GMT -8
She said she got the link, so she should have read it all. Also she goes to GSUK. I won't be returning. I was just bored and slumming it here and saw this and thought that proboards aren't keen on hotlinking since it is practically stealing my bandwidth, and also I was being slandered so I ought to reply. I'll return if I need to defend myself any further, other than that I'll stay where people aren't so judgemental. Ta for the words gill, and it's 4 kittens which are calling me right now so i'll be off.
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