Different Clans

[southcore]

So i have two pairs of girls. Yeterday, when i brought home my second pair, my first pair freaked out. They hid, and were acting generally crazy...they seem to be carrying on with business as usual today though. Though each pair will perk up every now and then when they hear the others. I am planning on breeding one of my new girls when i find an appropriate male, my question is, would it be wise to go ahead and try and split cage introduce all 4 gerbils or keep them separate and just pair the girl i'm not breeding in the new pair, up with a pup? Also, for those of you who have multiple pairs, do i need to change shirts or anything between handlings of different pairs? Do they get use to each other's smells after a certain period of time even without introduction and think of it as a non-threat? i've been thinking about putting the cages next to each other so they can see each other as well as smell...i'm not sure though...

Also, i'm finding it hard to think about splitting either of my two pairs up b/c they are so loving towards each other...especially my new pair which are the ones i will eventually be splitting up

I almost forgot. On of the gerbils in my new pair is pretty young, her tail is a little more than 2 inches and she's still looking like an older pup (thought she's already motled i think) while the other is an adult.

[sfgerbils]

Hey Southcore, I think you should try to split cage the two pairs into a tank (at least 20gal) if you are eventually planning on having one of the females permanently removed from the group. That way there will be a group of three happy girls and your breeding pair. If you find the male you want pretty quickly then you can just split cage the single girl in. I'm not sure which of the new girls you are planning on breeding but if the younger one is the one not breeding then it will probably be pretty easy to do the intros.
I know it can be kinda heartwrenching to split them up but they will be happy with other gerbs too

I don't change shirts or anything in between handling gerbs from different tanks. I think all of mine are used to each other - their tanks are all side by side and I feed them all at the same time/change water/add toys so my hand does go from one tank to another. I've never had any fights but it does depend on the gerbils. Also, I have males and females so that might make a difference. I know that some people with many gerb wash hands in between each tank every time but it seems kinda overboard in my situation (three tanks only).

Hope that helped some!

[southcore]

Thanks for the helpful advice!