# Grrbils!



## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

Yes, that is how my family and I pronounce it. ^_^

So, on December 28th, my family got two gerbils to be family pets (the rats are all mine). Sadly, we've failed to introduce the two girls so far. Pretty Girl actually ended up losing a finger after a failed introduction. However, they seem really happy and borrow quite a bit. We love seeing all their tunnels! It's like having a huge ant farm!

So here are the girls.
Coco...

















And Pretty Girl...

















They're in a 40 gallon tank with a separator in the middle. The tank it practically full of bedding. The first pictures of each were taken the day we got them. The other two are fairly recent. Coco has lightened up in color a lot and gotten a bit fat, haha. She loves her sunflower seeds!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Aw. wait, no, not Aw, I'm not suppose to like gerbils (their tails creep me out, I am not kidding about that. something about the fluffy tip). oh well, they are adorable


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## Jenzie (Dec 26, 2012)

Cuuuute! I love gerbils! They're definitely not nearly as sweet as rats, but they're so fun to watch. I would always just give my gerbils a small amount of bedding after cleaning their tank, and then give them so boxes which they would destroy in minutes lol. By the next cage cleaning it would be full of cardboard shreds. They're such fun pets!


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

That's funny, LW, since my mom LOVES gerbils because they have furry tails.  She hates bald rat tails. XD


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

If you're trying to introduce them I'd recommend making their tank sides very basic. With my split-tanks I only give them 2 inches of bedding (just enough to make a decent nest with.. but not a proper amount for them to live in), a food bowl, a water bottle and one or two wood chews. I never add any huts or anything. Once every few days I'll give them some cardboard to keep them from getting too bored. All of that makes sure that they focus on each other rather than the things in their tank. I also prefer to introduce in a 10 gallon tank so each gerbil gets a small amount of space. 
How many times a day to you switch their sides? In my past introductions, I have switched their sides 3 or 4 times a day. I find that switching sides makes the introduction method a lot easier, but I've heard of people on the gerbil forums who have done successful split-tank introductions without switching their sides.

Do you know of what good signs to look for when doing split-tank introductions? 

Since you're introducing two females, don't give up hope! Females are the hardest to introduce since they are the dominant gender and more territorial, but they can be introduced with patience.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

I love the furred tails!  Especially if they have a prominent tail tuft.


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

We've actually about given up introducing them, so we don't switch sides. We can't, actually, since we can't ever catch Pretty Girl. I know it's not ideal, but they were alone before we got them anyways (since stupid petstore people sold all of their friends).

We may attempt again soon, but it's really up to my parents since the gerbils are technically theirs (even though I'm the one the feeds and waters them. They pay for everything for them, though.). I'll talk to them about it.

Also, these are our first gerbils, so no, we don't know the signs which is one of the reasons we gave up. We had no idea what was good or bad until Pretty Girl lost a toe. They had started looking like they wanted to be with each other and we'd read that was a good sign, so we took out the separator for a little while... Poor Pretty Girl tried to jump out of the tank to get away from mean Coco (who is about twice her size for some reason...).

We definitely are not Gerbil experts, but our little grrbils are happier than they were all alone at the store, with just 10 gallons and an inch of bedding. They have eight inches of bedding, more food than they could ever eat, and 20 gallons to burrow in.


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## GerbilGuru (Feb 25, 2013)

*Gerbil girls*

I kept gerbils for years; they are a great college dorm room pet! Had males and females, babies, lots of gerbils. Never more than about 6 at once in 2 tanks, but I had them for about 6 years. I always found that the females were happiest when kept with males. (No surprose there.) Two or more girls together might be fine for a while, but eventually they would fight. I even had my matriarch in a cage with her three daughters. They all got along great until one morning I work up and the daughters had killed their mother. Very Shakespearean.

The males got along much better. I never had a problem with the males fighting with each other. Gerbil dads are super sweet too - they sit on the babies to keep them warm, gather them up, etc.

I did some reading on gerbil families, (I was a biology and animal behavior major). Apparently the females have little territories, and the males come and live with them. The pairs are monogamous. However, the males will go "visiting" to other females, and sometimes sire their litters. However, while hubby is roaming, the female gerbil often entertains gentleman gerbils of her own. Gerbils solve this infidelity problem by having easy going males who will raise anyone's babies and generally get along with each other. 

I haven't kept rats yet - I am doing my research to prepare for it. I only want a single sex pair, but I think I can tell that rats have a very different social structure than gerbils!


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## GerbilGuru (Feb 25, 2013)

Also, gerbs are defintely fairly skittish. They were wild animals as recently as the 50's. They haven't had the 100 years or so of selective breeding for docility that domestic rats have had. I think rats, being more communal, might be better predisposed to docility as well. Anyway, I spent a lot of time training my gerbils. They work for sunflower seeds! Never use them as food - only treats. This makes them a high value reward.

Start by just putting your hand in the bottom of the cage, palm up, with a few sseeds in it. Do this for a week several times a day. Then slowly lift them a little, and then put them back down. Soon they will associate your hand and being picked up with super yummy treats. Another things you can do is tap the wall of the cage three time, and then give them a SSeed. Do this a lot, and eventually they will come running with you tap three times. This is how you teach a gerbil to come when called! Eventually I could let them free roam and then call them back to my hand with a few taps.

Really, it works well. My gerbs were super social and the hit of the floor. They still liked me best though - I was the only one that Mamma Gerbil wouldn't bite when she had babies.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Gerbils are only skiddish if they are not raised properly (I hold my pups daily and nearly all of them will jump onto my hand as soon as I place it in the tank) or if they're untame.

I'm not sure where you read that about wild gerbils, GerbilGuru, bug Mongolian gerbils in the wild live in family groups consisting of a dominant female and her mate and their pups. Male pups tend to stay with the family longer, while female pups leave sooner due to females being the dominant gender. Gerbils mate for life unless something happens to their mate.

@GerbilGuru: Declannings are rare, so its unfortunate that you've had so many with your females. When you cleaned the tank did you make sure to leave about half of the old bedding in the tank to keep their scent? I've heard of a few declannings happen from people cleaning the tank and the gerbils no longer smell their mixed scent on the fresh bedding so they declan.

@FallDeere: Don't give up hope on introducing them! They will be much happier once together. It will take time and patience. Most important thing is don't actually put them together until they have been showing good split-tank signs through the wire for several days. Some good signs are: Sleeping in each others' nests when you switch their sides, sleeping by each other next to the mesh, attempting to groom through the mesh, and not constantly marking when the sides are switched (rubbing their belly along everything they can). Don't give up hope! My shortest split cage took about 3 days, but my longest took two weeks. I've heard of people having to split-cage adult females for up to 3 months before they were okay together.
I will say that by the picture, your tank looks well suited for them. 

I definitely would not say females are happier with males. My female pairs/trios are just as happy as my male pairs/trios and my breeding pairs. Yes, female are easier to introduce to males since the males will submit to them, but that doesn't mean they're happier than a female who is kept with a female. Plus, I wouldn't suggest pairing a female with a male unless you are willing to keep all of the pups that they have every month or so. Yes, there will be many people who say "Oh I want gerbils" when they hear that you have pups, but you will have to be prepared for those homes to fall through. Two sister pups I had recently had a home waiting for them up until it was time for them to leave their parents and then the person backed out.

Please, don't pick out sunflower seeds from the food package! They are important to the nutrient balance of the food. You just have to make sure you don't give your gerbils fresh food until they have eaten everything (And yes they will also hide the pieces they don't like in the bedding). I've only ever had one gerbil that loved sunflower seeds to the point that he would work for them. Lol. However, my gerbils really enjoy cheerios, almonds, pecans, mealworms and peanuts.
I have a full list of safe treats for gerbils on my website if you're interested.  I also have a list of food that gerbils should never have.


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## GerbilGuru (Feb 25, 2013)

The gerbil families I described actually came from a study I read - the result of an experiment done in a large artifical habitat with multiple gerbil pairs. I don't think it looked at the relationships of older offspring to their parents. Your info on wild gerbils was great! I must admit, I kept gerbils in the 80's, so a lot more may be known about them now.

Come to think of it, I did replace all their litter at once. I would only wash the tanks out every month or so, as it didn't really need it more often than that. But I would subtract most of the nest litter they chewed up and add some fresh ever week. (I did have a fun fantasy about running a bank of gerbils in Washington DC to shred documents for the CIA.) Perhaps the female violence DID occur when there was all fresh litter - I didn't notice if so, as the fights were never serious except for that one event. 

I was fortunate that all my baby gerbils seemed to go as classroom pets for all my teacher aquaintences. I only had about 5 litters - I kept two sex segregated tanks and just put the male and female together when I wanted a litter. They seemed very happy when that happened. I picked the baby gerbils up daily too - very carefully in cupped hands, as they have a tendancy to shoot out in random directions as they learn to control their hopping!


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

The whole introducing thing isn't up to me. They're the family's pets which means my parents are in charge of them. The fact that Pretty Girl was so badly injured made my mom feel bad about the whole thing so she doesn't want t try to put them together any time soon. Besides, they've been side by side for two months now and rarely even acknowledge each others' presence. My mom said she may consider it in the future, but right now it's not worth the extra stress on everyone.

Our gerbils are _definitely _skittish. They're from Petsmart so obviously they won't be the tamest pets. My family is pretty happy just watching them burrow, though. If they wanted an interactive pet, they would play with my rats or we would've gotten another dog.

Don't worry, Awaiting_Abyss, I don't pick out the sunflower seeds.  I will occasionally hand feed them the seeds, though, but they don't get anymore than they would normally. I would love to see that list! I found your website through a gerbil forum I found, but I have since lost it. Do gerbils need fresh foods like rats do? We tried giving them cheerios, but they never ate them, lol.

It's weird: Coco was a nice dark lilac and now she's very pale. Is that normal? Pretty Girl is still the same color.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Well good luck if and when you do introduce them! Also, keeping them in a permanent split is fine too as long as they can smell each other they will be happier enjoying each other's presence that way than if they were in two separate tanks all together.

Yes, its normal for gerbils to change colors. All gerbils molt (shed their fur and grow new fur) all throughout their lives, so they constantly get a shade darker or lighter when they molt. If you look closely you can see the molt lines when they molt. (To see pictures of molt lines just search "gerbil molt lines" in google images  ) 

Here is the list of food that's safe: 
http://gerbitailsclan.wetpaint.com/page/Gerbil+Treats

Here's the food to avoid:
http://gerbitailsclan.wetpaint.com/page/Food+to+Avoid

When introducing a new treat, don't give up if they don't like it the first time. Like rats, gerbils can't vomit so they'll taste something new to make sure its safe to eat and remember it for the next time they get it. 
Gerbils do need fresh veggies and fruits just like rats, though not quite as often and in small amounts. 
I personally don't feed my gerbils meat of any kind anymore since that isn't part of their diet in the wild, but its safe to give it to them.


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## eaturbyfill (Aug 23, 2012)

They are adorable! Introducing gerbils, especially females, is extremely difficult.

Also, I would like to suggest getting a solid wheel so no toes or tails get stuck. 

I don't buy from chain pet stores any more, but my boys named Teddy and Dart came from Petsmart. They were extremely skittish, but through working with them, they run to me now. I laid my hand flat in the cage, and didn't move. I did that several times a day for about 20 minutes at a time. Once they were used to that, I moved on to placing sunflower seeds in my hand and letting them take them. Just take things one step at a time and don't rush.  Gerbils are sweet, hyper goofballs!


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