Is it safe to buy a new gerbil for my other gerbil because its friend just died?

Question

see i had 2 gerbils but about 3 weeks ago one just died.now the one that is still alive seems very deppressed and i want to know if it is safe to buy a buddy for it

Answer 1

Yes! When y gerbil died i went to buy him a friend, but they had 2 in a cage and that was the only 2 they had and i didn't want to leave one alone so i bought both of them and intorduced them and now the 3 of them live happily together!

Make sure you use the split cage method though for about a week.

i went to petsmart and got a fish tank divider(from the fish section) and it worked great. You just put it down the middle of a tank and let them sniff each other. About twice a day you switch them to the other's side so they can get each other's scent. that's the easiest way. You don't have to spend a bunch of money on an expensive split cage.

Answer 2

It depends. How old is your gerbil? If it's an older gerbil, you may want to consider keeping it alone. However, if your gerbil is on the younger side, I'd say 1.5 years or less, you could consider getting a younger, same s*x friend for it.

However, when introducing gerbils, you must use the split cage method. It's a slow way of introducing them. You should never plop a new gerbil into an existing gerbil's cage. It's threatening and is almost always a recipe for disaster. You could end up with a dead gerbil. Here's a good link for the split cage method:

http://www.agsgerbils.org/Gerbil_Care_Ha...

Answer 3

Ideally, you should pick out 2 gerbils that are already living together, or that are between 5 and 8 weeks old. That way you won't have trouble introducing them. However if you can't help it, or if one of your original pair passes away, you'll need to do an introduction. Adult female to adult female is the most risky ones, then adult female to baby female, then adult male to adult male, then adult female to adult male, then adult male to baby male or female. Under no circumstances should just "plop" the newcomer into the existing gerbils' cage. Sometimes, with intros between adult males and an immature (5-8wks) female or male(s), you can just put them in neutral territory for a while and observe for a while, and they will likely not fight. But if the intro is between 2 adult males, or anything involving an adult female, a split cage will be needed.

What you do is this. Get an aquarium, and some kind of divider. You can get a divider made out of screening or wire mesh (with holes smaller than .25in!) to "split" the cage with. The basic idea is to keep the tank divided so the other can't get to the other side & attack the other gerbil, but they can still sniff each other through the bars/mesh. For this I use a wire bottom to a S.A.M. habitat (as you can't use it in the habitat.) You can also use metal lids to tanks (but they fall a bit short of the top so you have to use something else to fill that space!!) or cookie cooling racks.

Once you have this set up, put one gerbil on each side. Then, two to three times a day, physically swap their sides (take one out and put it where the other one was, and vice versa). Do this for a week to 10 days. By then they should be used to scents. Then try to introduce them in neutral territory. Watch them run around for a half hour, and if no fights occur, clean out their tank and put them both in it. Keep them in your sight for a few hours to make sure they don't turn on each other. After about 3 hours of peacefulness it can be assumed they're getting along well. Keep checking them always for bites near the tail or rump; this is a sign of trouble erupting.

A few notes though. Females will often bat at the bars/screen of the split tank. This is alarming but largely normal. It should subside after a few days' adjustment. Also you cannot use this method to introduce groups! Excluding a few immature males to a lone adult male. You CANNOT introduce adult, established groups. At least, I would highly discourage it because you'd likely do more harm than good.

Answer 4

yes it is fine but you must use the slipt cage or a cage in a cage

because no one has told you real how to do it here i link that shows both. pick one they both work.

http://www.gerbilbreeding.com/intro.htm

You can split the cage just get meas and chicp it to a wooden broader

Hope that this help and if you gerbil is old about 2 or older that the old gerbil is going to die had you will have one on it own again

Answer 5

no there is a chance that they probably WILL fight.When your other one dies, get 2 or 3 next time.     :) ~natalie

Answer 6

Ask your friend first.