If you have ever kept female pets at all – you always hear about their ‘heat’ cycle.
If you aren’t in the know yet with your first female gerbils – being in ‘heat’ means that they are primed to find a mate to produce pups. It is the time in their reproductive cycle when they are most fertile and so mating is paramount at that time.
Mongolian Gerbils go ‘into heat’ every 4 days or thereabouts.
It seems to be one of the most defining features about a female anything in general – and it can change their behavior (whether they like it or not) because they NEED to mate.
Many animals will have a certain set of behaviours when they are ‘in heat’ that you can clearly see – and female gerbils are no exception here. It is all to obvious to watch.
But you won’t always see it!
What Are The Signs Of A Gerbil Going Into Heat?
Female gerbils come into heat around every 4 days – but I bet you haven’t really noticed her behaviour change twice a week for this?
Sometimes you won’t even see it as they do most of their running around overnight.
But every so often you will see your females doing a few things that will catch your eye – and often mean they are in heat right then.
The most obvious one is the run towards someone and then run away – just a bit.
Even if there is no male present – the female gerbil will ‘present’ herself to a friend if this is what her hormones are telling her. This presentation isn’t just standing totally still like a Syrian hamster would when she scents a male – female gerbils like to get his attention first.
So, they will run up to him (or anyone around) catch their attention face-to-face and then turn and run/skip just a few steps and pause briefly. If this other gerbil doesn’t take up the chase, the female will just look a bit disappointed then wander off and try again later.
However, if they are followed they often run off a few more steps (or more) starting a little chase. They then stop in a nice flat area, stand stock still and raise up their rump – almost like the skin is all tensing up towards the waist. This isn’t always easy to see unless you are close and know what to look for – but if they happen to be out in your hands at that point – you may trigger it yourself when stroking her.
If the female is in with a male – then this teasing-chasing-stopping activity can go on all night. They have high energy levels these gerbils.
Why Are My Female Gerbils Humping Each Other?
However, if there is no male – the females in heat either give up, frustrated; or they start to hump the other gerbils themselves. This can also trigger the other females to hump them back.
The problem with female gerbils mounting each other is that the more dominant female in a clan will often mount the less-dominant one as a sign of power (and to rub their scent gland all over their back) – and so often when you see this you might think you are seeing the start of a declan.
This usually isn’t the case – but of course with females it is always best to be sure – so watch for the teasing stage. Gerbils in a declan don’t tease first. They certainly don’t run away just a bit either and look back lovingly over their shoulder!
During a declan, the more dominant female will mount the other one whether they asked for it or not. They may have been just eating a sunflower seed at the time. This gerbil should then just sort of let it happen without too much fuss – potentially just carrying on eating?
If it goes on for too long, they may walk away a bit or turn around and start grooming the female who was just doing the humping. Just to get it over with – and that should be the end of it.
However, if they keep going back over and over again – and there isn’t a yummy snack in sight – then it is more likely one of the girls is in heat.
There may be some popcorning too during this whole evenings entertainment too – while they are all drunk on hormones.
How Long Does A Gerbil Go Into Heat For?
Usually, a female gerbil will go into heat for just a few hours – but it won’t always trigger a reaction like this.
It happens once or twice a week on average (nearly 8 times a month) – so that is a lot of the time to be in various heat cycles – but you most often won’t see it. It could be the 4 hours while you are asleep – or at work – or when you are binge-watching The Crown on Netflix.
However, if you are trying to split intro two adult females – this could be the perfect window of opportunity to introduce them – as the female in heat will be more readily open to friendships!
Don’t do it on the first heat for sure as they won’t have been together long enough – but if the second heat is spotted around day 6-8 and all other signs have been good – then it might be worth a try – but by the third or fourth heat cycle for sure – you should be good to go (especially if they are a male:female pairing and you witness mating on that heat cycle).
Back to the two females: they might appear a bit more on edge at this time due to the popcorning – but if you make sure that you give them enough time on that intro day to settle – you might find that they wear themselves out early on and end up sleeping together by the evening.
Perfect news for a split.
Do gerbils need any special food or treatment when they go into heat?
No they don’t – heat isn’t anything special in of itself – so their normal food, treats and toys will be just fine.
If you are planning on breeding your female – you may wish to thin out the clutter in your enclosure for her time with the male – to allow for easier navigation on the chases. Maybe putting in at least one flat platformed area for her to present on.
Also, if you want her to have all the energy she needs to grow and raise a litter of young – you will need to make sure she is on a really good food – but don’t start adding the extra treats until she is around 5 or so days – or when you notice her tummy growing – otherwise she will just get fat herself.
Well, the male will first as he will steal all the food off her if given the chance – so you need to make sure she is getting all the extras too. Our males get super fat around this time the cheeky monkeys!
