Hi Summer -- Thanks for your comments. "If you don't feel that you want/can handle the number of litters a gerbil pair is going to produce throughout their reproductive lifetime, perhaps you should reconsider breeding them in the first place." I don't think I could handle the 50 or so pup a pair might produce in a year, but still feel very satisfied with the care I've given my gerbils and their very apparent health and happiness. I've been following a limited breeding endeavor for the past 10 months with great success. "Separating a bonded pair can lead to unhappy, lethargic gerbils on both ends... Sure, you can always try using a split-cage method to introduce same-sex friends later on after the litter is out of the way, but regardless..." I've re-paired several of my gerbils (into same sex clans, breeding pairs, or parent-child) and have not had any trouble with depressed, lethargic gerbils. (Except for gerbils that have had to go a few weeks to a month alone, they get inactive or obsessive, e.g., gnawing all the plastic off the tank top). I've been reading carefully the accounts of people who have had difficulty in splitting a bonded pair. My theory is that young gerbils are very adaptable. If a gerbil is older and has had one partner for life, especially from puppihood, then I would not break up that pair (perhaps even go the neutering route). Donna A. http://www.geocities.com/abcgerbils/home.html
