Hi Lillian,
If you do split them up (and can handle more babies) leave the boy with one
of the girls. He will help to raise the pups, e.g., groom them and keep
them warm. I've had three litter so far -- one the mom raised alone, the
second the mom and dad raised, the third the mom raised with the help of two
older (4 1/2 week) pups from the previous birth. These are all good options
for pup raising.
The two mature females with a male in the tank I have heard from the web
literature and from people on the list commonly leads to aggressive behavior
such as the females fighting over the male or pup stealing or even killing
-- again I do not have direct experience here -- I split up my
female-female-male trio (3 month old had been together for a week) shortly
after signing on to the GML on the advice from people on the list.
Finally, I have a 5-male clan set up; and have read and asked quite a bit on
this topic. In any setup with more than two gerbils tubes and partions are
not a good idea. It is better that they are in one space (e.g., mine are in
a 20 gallon) or else they can get territorial and fight.
Best of luck to you and your upcoming litters, Donna A.
Lillian Jones wrote:
> This is my situation. I have two 10 gallon tanks that are connected by
> tubes. I have three gerbils. Two pregnant females and a male. The
> females are sisters and the male is younger than them, but not by much.
> Lately, I have gotten info stating that the females will be aggressive
> towards each other and eat the other's babies, but then I have heard
> stories of the gerbils not doing this. I need advice on what to do, and
> I don't really want to separate them since they love being together and
> can't stand to be apart. Thank for your help!
>
> Lillian
> Boo's Gerbil Federation
