tlera <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>OK I don't know what on earth is going on in my household.
>Yesterday my husband and I moved the four tanks of male
>pairs into the back bedroom. The female pairs and a couple
>of female singles are in the living room. There is a line
>of singles tanks down the hall, with the males toward the
>bedroom and the females toward the living room. I hoped
>this would solve the problems with my male pair Rascal and
>Pookie, and prevent others from happening in the future.
>The theory was that nearby females going into heat was
>setting them off.
I have no evidence that this is the case.
>
>Half an hour ago I noticed a wheel in the back bedroom
>squeaking, so I grabbed the Vaseline and headed back there
>to de-squeak it. The Vaseline hit the floor when I spotted
>Gabriel and Prince rolled in a ball fighting. I have NEVER
>seen any sort of hint of problems with these two so I am
>really puzzled. My husband and I managed to get them
>separated using a water bottle and guided Prince into a
>travel carrier. They both have bites on them, there is
>blood but not enough for me to think they are seriously
>injured. This is so weird. We are headed to Wal-Mart
>tomorrow to pick up another tank as I know I can't put them
>back together, not when they have drawn blood.
>
>I now have NINE tanks of single gerbils, all due to either
>fighting or failed introductions that were heading for a
>fight. What the heck?!? That's almost half my tanks!! I
>am so bewildered. Especially when perfectly happy pairs
>suddenly start turning on each other. The only thing I can
>think of is that in each case of fighting, one or both of
>the gerbils has just turned two years old or is about to.
We find that this is the most dangerous time by far. Especially with an
older female with a younger female (say a daughter).
>Lily is two this month, and was bullying Elita unmercifully,
>although Elita didn't seem the least bit interested in
>trying to take dominance. Pookie is two next month, and
>Rascal is I think about two and four months or so. Gabriel
>and Prince, however, are littermates. I thought the two
>year thing was when the gerbils were different ages?!?
Problems are more likely if they are different ages but being the same
age does not eliminate the possibility of problems.
> Do I
>have this to look forward to any time one of my gerbils hits
>two?? I've never had a large population heading toward old
>age like this, so I've no experience with it. Most of my
>gerbils in the past came from pet shops, and I had no real
>idea how old they were, nor did I keep track of how long I
>had them.
In our experience this does not usually happen. It is just that if there
are problems that age is the most likely time. As you seem to have more
trouble than most I would ask yourself if any of the following could be
factors:
Are these gerbils all related? You may have a more aggressive than usual
strain of gerbils if they are related in any way.
Are their tanks too complicated? multi-level, multi-chambered enclosures
seem to lead to the greatest problems. Also enclosures with a lot of
furniture or toys seem to create a richer battleground. Simple tanks
with little other than litter and bedding seems less likely to lead to
conflict.
Is there an enviromental constant, such as air-conditioning, background
noise, or odour, that could put the gerbils under unusual stress?
>
>I think after they have been alone awhile I might try to
>introduce either Gabriel or Prince to little Snowy,
>whichever of them seems to need the company more. He is
>only four months old this month so perhaps it will work
>well?
The bigger the size difference the better in males.
I hope this is helpful.
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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