Hi, As far as introducing an older gerbil (the male whose brother died) to two young male pups... I think that although introduction is always somewhat stressful for gerbils, if he is in good health still, I wouldn't disregard the idea entirely. I had two female gerbils (a mother and daughter), and when the daughter died at about 2.5 years, the mother was over 3 years but still healthy. She was quite inactive and sluggish (depressed?) once she was alone, so I wasn't sure if it was worth giving her new companious or whether she was going to 'die soon' anyways. But, I got two male pups, and introduced them through the split cage method. She was very friendly and so eager (falling all over herself to greet them), and was very gentle and tolerant with them. She would gently groom them and even when they (as young pups) would be clumsy with her or make awkward nibbles on her face, she was calm and gentle. They got along very well, and she definitely perked up and was very happy again. She constantly groomed them (even though with her daughter before she was always the one to beg for the most groomings) and taught them how to do some tricky things! Of course, she was quite old, and only lived with them for about 6 months before she died (old age). But, it can work out! (Of course, as already pointed out, he might not accept the pups and you might need to keep them separately) So, I guess it depends on whether you can commit to keeping the new pups for the rest of their lives (maybe 4 years). If so, it might be an option to consider, because it's very sweet to see the older gerbil and the young ones loving each other and enjoying each other's company. Lian _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
