A declan is when your gerbils no longer want to live with the current status quo.
Many a gerbil clan can be very happy and everyone loves their role in their clan and wants to stay this way for ever. This is true for most male and female clans – especially related pairs.
However, this isn’t always so in some gerbils’ minds anyway – even if it looks happy to us humans outside of the tank – change sometimes happens inside the tank.
The first idea you may have of a declan is blood all over your tank and gerbils cowering in corners needing first aid.
Declanning can be a nasty affair.
Luckily, there are things you can do to reduce the chances of a declan in the first place – and there are signs you can look out for in the weeks leading up to a declan that can help you to spot these fights and perhaps re-stabilise your clan before these changes become irreversible.
However, once blood is drawn – your clan most likely won’t ever be friends again…
Declans are totally normal for gerbils.
Don’t forget though – as declans are a natural part of gerbil society – they are usually nothing to do with anything you have done, and there is little you can do to reverse it.
They happen quite often in the world of gerbils – but luckily you can often spot them before they get too bad – and there are safe ways to find your now split up gerbils new friends. Just as in nature, gerbils leave one clan and often find or form another. All can be happy afterwards in your home too.
You just have to spot trouble before anyone gets hurt.
However, if you miss the signs – and your gerbil has now attacked another gerbil in their existing clan – it doesn’t mean that they are an aggressive gerbil at all. They are just reacting to the situation at hand in the only way they can.
They have most likely been asking the other gerbil to step down and leave the clan for weeks and weeks – but of course – the other gerbil can’t leave the tank or may not want to – so all that is left is to fight.
Why would there be a declan?
One minute they are happy and sleeping together in a cute pile and the next day – they are fighting. What went wrong?
Well, plenty can happen in a community – just as with us humans – there are always external factors that you sometimes don’t take into account – or gerbils take them into account rather more seriously that they should.
Starting a Family – Well, just like in other groups of community dwelling mammals – someone thinks they are better than someone else and wants to prove it. Usually this is called fighting for the right to breed – which is actually the reason for a gerbil Boss too. Usually, it is only the lead male and lead female of a clan that get to breed – which is ultimately what being a mammal is all about.
So, certainly something worth fighting for?
So just as with all these other mammals, there are things that can change the balance of what appears to be a harmonious gathering because of the need to breed:
And then there were three. The appearance of the opposite sex is sure to start trouble. Adding a real reason to be the Boss to an existing clan can make it all the more worth fighting for. Before the arrival of the potential new partners they were all just bachelors or spinsters with nothing to do – then suddenly a beautiful maiden appears – or vice versa – the Diet Coke Man rocks up.
The Appearance of an Enemy – or a rival gerbil clan – can have a similar effect. If you mix the smells of different clans together by sharing toys etc. that have been scent-marked or swapping gerbils between tanks, there could be something worth fighting for.
What if the new smell smells like a new Boss? Clan members can get confused as to who is in charge now – maybe they will get worried about their own safety and panic?
Early Retirement? Another reason could be that the existing Boss just isn’t being Bossy enough? What if the boss has become old or has an illness or injury that is affecting their behaviour?
The other gerbils will certainly know about this before we do, and my start to think their time has come. They might gradually start to overthrow the Boss and kindly ask them to leave – for there can only ever be one Boss in a clan.
Unfortunately a gerbil having a seizure can confuse the other gerbils or one acting strangely during an ear infection; medication given to a gerbil – particularly if topical or strong smelling – can make them ‘different’ to before; similarly the extra attention that gerbil gets can upset things if they are getting handled in a different place or smell or act differently.
Why am I even here? Finally, it could just be that the existing Boss was just Boss due to circumstance – for example when you put a new pup or pups in with an existing single male or female.
They are automatically promoted to Boss whether they liked it or not – and the pups just stay submissive for starters as this is just what they are programmed to do. However, as they get older, they may think that their Boss just isn’t doing the job properly and want to take that job for themselves.
And the only way to be Boss is to get rid of the other Boss.
I had shared toys between my girl tank & boy tank. Now my boys are scuffling and I’m thinking it’s because they can smell the females. Is there any way to stop this?
Oh dear – speed is of the essence here – so if you haven’t already, take out the toys and all other toys even if they are the boys favourites, leave them nothing but each other as this will limit the scent-marking and without scent-marking they can’t prove they are more dominant than the other gerbil. Also scatter feeding their food and tasty treats everywhere and introducing a second water source will help relieve some tension for sure.
Ideally though, if you can move them to a smaler enclosure than they are already in that would be even better so there is less chance of them wanting to be dominant as there is nowhere to dominate in such a small space. I would have very low bedding levels too and nothing to hide in or under except a handful of hay/straw/paper bedding for them to make a nest with.
Don’t play with them inside or let them outside of their enclosure during this time either, taking them out of this small boring space will spark up their search for the ladies they think are in the area. Also many pairs have a gerbil who doesn’t like the other one to have any fun and so taking them out into a larger space with unknown scents may keep this tension going between them.
Let us know how it goes with the first few steps described here, it will certainly be a tense time.
With a declan in a trio, is it best to remove the bully or the victim?
I always remove the victim.
They have lost thier status anyway (hence the declan) and the new leader has already won over the third gerbil so it should stay stable.
If you take out the bully and leave the victim (the old bully/leader) then there is a chance that the third gerbil wasn’t on their side, they prefered the new bully – so you are left with this weird new pair.
Also, the victim may need time alone to heal and will readily accept a new (young single) friend in a split intro a month or two down the line.
Hope your little one wasn’t too badly injured before you spotted it.
I have 2 young female gerbils in a cage together. They were fine when I first got them (had them about a month) but now they keep fighting each other.
I’m not sure if they are declining or just play fighting, or just having normal issues with each other. I have noticed that when they get close to each other one gerbil starts stomping its foot at the other and then the dominate one goes for the face of the other gerbil. They’ve been doing this for about a week now. No blood has been drawn yet but I’m just not sure what to do with them.
It also looks like the less dominante one doesn’t sleep in the same part of the cage as the other one anymore.
Should I be thinking of removing one of the gerbils and trying to find them both new pairs?
Hi Phillippa
Always a difficult one as females can be quite bickery anyway – but in this instance sleeping apart is something I might take a a more serious sign. Especially if they are around the 4-8 month mark in age (a time when females start to exhibit adult behaviours – especially if they were not litter-mate siblings or were taken out from a larger female group when you bought them).
Females do tend to squabble face to face a lot especially when one of them is in heat – but this is often associated with ‘turning around’ to present themselves (as well as foot thumping. Many times the dominant one gets more grumpy with the other one when something has recently happened – like they have come out in the run, one has been handled, new toys been put in the enclosure or when treats are available. If it is happening when NONE of these such things is happening then it could be a bigger issue.
If it IS a declan, usually the non-dominant one is the one doing all the thumping and fighting – so if the submissive one was already submissive and the dominant one was always the dominant one, then it may just be either 1) a weird set up where the dominant one thinks that the presence of a male is imminant (so really needs to get rid of the competition with no obvious reason or triggers) or 2) they really are just typical females and you just need to try to figure out what ’causes’ these issues (ie what happens in the half hour or so preceeding the squabbles) and reduce the occurance of this.
Personally, if you think it is the first or more likely the first, then yes, personally I would consider them a dysfunctional pairing and start to look at options for splitting them up and them splitting them together with new friends.
I have a pair of male gerbils, and there have been a few times when one has tried to mount the other. The first time it happened out of the blue, and the second I was giving out treats. I read that this is likely them figuring out a hierarchy, but the two incidents happened quite far apart. They still sleep together, but I’m a little worried.
Hello Alex.
This isn’t usually a problem at all if this is the only thing you have seen. As you have said, gerbils often do this in their clan as a way of just setting out the rules of the clan and is usually nothing to worry about.
Only if it is accompanied by any chasing (and by that I mean sustained chasing not just a one of scamper) or one (usually the same) gerbil sleeping up top during the day for any length of time would I start to be concerned.
I would carry on as normal with them, although if you start to see more mounting when you are doing a particular thing then reduce the occurance of doing that thing (like my two females who had a strong leader would go mounting-mad if I let them out in to the run together) – and start to leave a bit more ‘old’ substrate in your enclosures and at least one strongly scented accessory during a ‘full’ clean out to allow that stronger leader to still ‘own’ the place (rather than them having to make it theirs all over again).
Anyway – hope it is just the odd thing nd doesn’t become a problem for you.
RodentZone.
Hello,
I have 3 male gerbils, 2 of them (from the same litter) were introduced to the older one when they were pups, the older one was 1 year old at the time. They have lived together for 2.5 years without problem. However, today I found one of the younger one was fighting the older gerbil, I had to interrupt the fight and separate them for a bit. The older gerbil seem to been scratched around the neck but there was no blood.
Later when I let all 3 out to play, they did not fight, just a bit of (seems to be) harmless chasing around. So I put them together again. Now all 3 are cuddling up sleeping like nothing happened.
The older gerbil has SGT, so I am wondering if this is making him week, although he is eating, drinking and chewing as normal. But I don’t know if this would be a early warning of the younger one trying to take over from the boss, and if I should start to separate them before things get worse?
Any advise would be much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Hello Lisa.
I’m sorry to hear that your gerbils are starting to declan – but this is quite common in any trio situation where the 2 younger pups were added to an older gerbil – especially – like you say – now he is potentially ‘looking less strong’.
Fightong face to face shows that they are still relatively equal and that the stronger one is still strong enough, but inevitably (if they keep fronting up to each other) this will end in the younger one ousting the older one. Usually in these situations we always advise to prepare to split them up into a pair and a single – but often this isn’t something that many people can immediately do – or even want to.
3 and a half is a decent age for the older one – and he may actually now want the peace of retirement – and sometimes clans do allow this – so there is the chances that if your old guy backs down a bit, the younger one can become boss without the older one having to leave. However, this isn’t very common in unrelated clans unfortunately.
No easy answer here apart from move the old guy into his on tank now, before there are any injuries, and entertain him as a lone gerbil until his time comes (which with a pimple-sized SGT can stil be up to a year more in decent health if it is slow growing – especially if he doesn’t have to keep scent-marking everything to stay dominant in the trio).
Alternatively, leave them together for longer but make sure that there are no dead ends, one-way access points, narrow points, ladders or tubes that are the only way to get somewhere – and start to scatter feed at all levels and offer 2 water bottles at opposite ends on the tank. And keep a really close eye. If you spot much more face-to-face fighting, ball fights or start to notice chasing, then it is time.
Good luck whichever path you take – and hope the old guy retires well and stays healthy for as long as possible.
Regards,
RodentZone Team
Thank you very much for the reply.
I don’t want to separated they yet as they seem to still enjoying cuddling up. But I will keep an close eye and get ready to remove the older gerbil from the trio if the fight happens again.
thanks again.
Regards.
Yes, it is one of those things – only you know how you ‘feel’ about your existing clan – so someone saying arbitary things sometimes doesn’t feel right just now.
So defo see how it goes but if you see any of the signs mentioned in the articles here – not just the actual fighting – have that space enclosure all ready to go (I’m sure it will be cheaper than an emergency vets appointment!).
Do keep in touch if you think you could add anything to the articles from your experiences or anything we could add for others going forward.
Speak soon.
I have just recently purchased 2 boy gerbils….I purchased them from a pet shop and was told they were between 6 – 8 weeks old, but I am noticing that one of them seems irritated towards the other, every time they are near one another, he just seems to look as if he wants to show him who is boss, to the extent where it looks like a form of bullying! and it does seem that the other one seems quite scared! I am not noticing any grooming or strong bonds between them. Do you think that I should be worried that maybe they are de-clanning at such a young age? and if so? what do you advise I do please? as I don’t want to leave it too late and they maybe draw blood?. Kind regards, Jacquie
Hey Jacquie – and this is a difficult one.
Often you don’t know if the gerbils you buy are simply a sibling pair – or whether they were part of a mixed group. And this can sometimes be a problem when you first buy them as they are then taken from a larger group. This is a bit like picking two people from an office based on hair colour alone and making them live together – sometimes you don’t quite get the right pair to do that. Sounds extreme – but this is where sometimes you find that gerbils are a bit on edge.
In a gerbil world though, one always has to be boss (a bit of a bully) and the other needs to just accept that. This way they stay together. We are not saying this is ideal for any gerbil – we are just saying this is how they stay in the same enclosure without fighting. The Boss only has to be as bossy as the other one makes things.
Ways that people have suggested you can help them do this is to reduce the size and ‘fun’ of the enclosure dramatically for say 2 weeks – so the two gerbils have to work together more often (like those annoying team-building games people make us humans do). So reduce the size, reduce the nests and tubes and make everything more open (less places to be separate). This way, the non-boss has nothing to do but work with the Boss to make things work out.
Try to avoid having them out for playtime also during this time – as this increases the places where the Boss isn’t actually the Boss (it is all on scent-marking in the gerbil world). Scatter feed and have a second water bottle on the other side to the original one and avoid putting in anything new that is permanent (cardboard and shredded paper etc is fine). Leave in the wheel if you have one, but make sure it is suspended well so it is always turning and doesn’t get clogged up underneath with substrate.
Anyway – hopefully this is just a settling down window and they can work it out. It is all about the balance – one of them needs to accept the other one as Boss and then they should settle. Unfortunately, there isn’t always a simple fix – so do keep an eye on them always. Read our post of signs of a declan and maybe make a decision based on those rather than just the lack of grooming and ‘bullying’ which are both normal things to see when a new clan is settling down together too.
Keep us updated and fingers crossed…
My male gerbils fought. And they were bleeding. Almost three times I tried to get together again, but it failed. One is aggressive to another. If there is a way to sneak into another gerbil, he sneaks, and fight again.
Is there no way to get together again? Now I put them in the split cage method.
Oh no – we are sorry ot hear that James. Declans are never nice to experience. At least noone was seriously hurt.
Unfortunately the balance between gerbils is quite specific – and often trying to ‘cheat’ on re-introducing them or having them accidently meet up (climb over an insecure barrier) when they aren’t ready is a sure fire way to have them less likely to ever go back together.
Gerbils have a reset period, and until you have exceeded that reset period for that individual gerbil – with no lapses inbetween – will there ever be a chance to repair some gerbils. Some gerbils never go back together no matter how hard you try if the situation isn’t different enough for them to fully reset.
So, if your pair had a ‘wounding’ declan – you are at a disadvantage already (sometimes if you catch them pre-injury you can reset them faster and have more success woth a re-pairing). Often with injuries – the reset is so hard or takes so long in time that many people just set the bar there and say ‘once blood is spilled – it’s over’. This is just a polite way of saying that this might take a lot of time and effort and stil not be successful – so cut your losses immediately and think of a Plan B.
If you are hopeful and really want them to be together again – and can put the time in – then you need to be real strict.
No contact AT ALL for at least a few months so they get used to being a single gerbil all over and htey forget each other entirely. Imagine you have had a friend at college or work who REALLY annoyed you and it broke the friendship so much, you couldn’t be in the same room. This is where your gerils are right now. It is too fresh to get over. So, down the line, after the holidays – you meet them again from afar (you move them into a large-ish permanent split). Say, as humans, you are now next door neighbors: You have your own space entirely, and you might see them in the garden. If neither of them cause any trouble, they learn to tolerate each other.
Only when they are entirely at ease with each other next door and you can drop food across the mesh and they don’t even flinch at each other and feed where the food is rather than run off – you may have a chance at a full split intro process. The cage you use must be TOTALLY EASCAPE PROOF – no exceptions, and do a proper by-the-book split swap for at least a week – ideally longer.
Only then – and this is at least 3 months down the line – most likely 6 – could you try to re-introduce them. If they meet anytime before this – it is almost certain to fail again and again as it was ‘too soon’ for them. But – not impossible.
So, if you are going to try this properly – we would say ‘SLOWLY’ is the key.
Good luck!
Hello. I found the response above (to James) very helpful, thank you! I wondered if you could offer a little more detail on the process of re-bonding a pair of de-clanned gerbils? Our two male gerbils had a totally unexpected fight last night. We heard a scuffle on our way to bed, and found them both with cuts to their faces and neck, and looking very bloodied. It’s completely out of character; they’re 2+ years old/ brothers and have always seemed very close since birth/ sleeping together/ grooming etc. No idea what could have caused this- no recent changes to the tank, no scent changes, no new toys- can’t think of anything at all. Currently I’ve got one gerbil securely separated in a small cage, but still within the larger tank (as I was worried about complete separation). So I now realise this is probably not the right thing to do, and I need to completely separate them? Is this likely to be stressful for them at the moment – ie: essentially being in a split cage environment?
A few more questions if I may?
Presume I need to buy a new 1-metre tank, and a full set up to put in another room in the house? Then assume I will have to wash hands etc between handling each gerbil?
Re: the existing tank, can this be left as it is, or will it need a full clean out/ removal of scent of the brother?
If I follow the above advice, and wait 3 months, to re-introduce, how exactly do I set up a split cage? Would this need to be fully scent-neutral again? And how do I make a barrier to split the two sides?
I think trying this is my best option, as I don’t want to risk introducing two new gerbils, and face another potential declan in future, and so many more gerbils! I don’t have the time or the space to take on more. Equally, I don’t want our gerbils to be lonely. Thanks in advance! Nicola
Oh no – declans are so sad for us gerbil owners – but they are a sure sign that these gerbils can no longer currently be housed together without risk of serious injury.
Gerbils live in what can be a very tense relationship – it all depends on the submissive one of the pair. A very relaxed gerbil will be just fine with all the bowing and scraping needed to keep the dominant one happy. It is like in any human relationship: one often is very accomodating to the more flamboyant or ‘driven’ partner. However, when the submissive gerbil has had enough of that life or the dominant gerbil changes in some way (usually through ill health) – the submissive one makes their move – and it can be sudden and appear to us humans as out of character.
If the dominant one isn’t ready to give up the crown just yet – there will be face to face combat – and injuries like you have: on the face, chest and front legs.
The good news is that you still have plenty of options for the pair of them as they are now both singles. As they are singles – they can’t declan any further and so washing hands super thoroughly and not sharing things at all is of lesser importance. Not that you shouldn’t still do those things for hygiene reasons, but that the smell of another gerbil can’t cause any more declans – but they may still illicit great interest when done.
In the short term, having them fully apart will reduce their stress levels (as after being attacked in a fight and still seeing the person who did it can’t be pleasant) but having them afterwards in a permanent split will be safe and they will know their boundaries. Just like with humans – getting a lock on your door really puts your mind at rest – so you KNOW that you have a safe space even if you are sharing a larger space.
If you wanted to keep them seperately – this is also fine and would give them more space individually – and removes all tension immediately. Some gerbils can however appear to change character when kept completely alone – because the reason for their previous behaviour patterns (dominant or submissive) are gone and so they can ‘be themselves’. They don’t need to be kept on a different room at all – and most gerbils in tanks don’t even react to gerbils standing next to them in a neighbouring tank – both digging in the same corner essentially.
The original tank – it is entirely up to you – but ideally start a rolling clean out just to allow the remaining gerbil there to completely freshen up the enclosure. If you left the original dominant one in there – it won’t matter so much as it was there space anyway according to them – and if you left the usurper in there – that is fine by them too – as technically they have won the space in their eyes. It would be more focus on making the NEW set up completely scent free because whoever goes in there needs to know it is a fresh start.
If you were still wanting to try a re-pairing in a few months – then yes – it would need to be a fully scent-free new split tank enclosure just like they were two complete strangers meeting for the first time. Any memory of them previously knowing each other needs to be eliminated for the best chance to get back together – although this split tank could be one of your original tanks if small enough AND fully cleaned out before the split was set up. There is a post on this website (one long version on short version depending on your wood working skills) showing one way to create a simple split tank divider (although you can make a longer divider and have it sit diagonally).
There is always a small risk introducing any gerbils like you say – so if you don’t have space to potentially quadruple up – then stick with the two you have first. It might work out after the split – it might not – but you are no worse of from trying.
We hope we haven’t missed anything – but if we have – please ajust ask.
Good luck!!!!
Thank you for the reply! This is such a great source of expertise and advice. Could I clarify a few things please?
– Is it always obvious who is dominant and who is submissive? I am not certain about our 2-year-old boys. One was a little fatter, seemed to eat more, and was more relaxed/ easier to handle. But I didn’t notice ever him behaving in a dominant manner towards his brother, taking food or mounting – or anything like that. They always seemed like equals, and sat side by side eating treats, took turns in the sand-bath, snuggled etc etc. The other one was faster, slimmer, and possibly seemed to do a bit more digging. Is this a sign of submission?
– Now that they are in separate tanks, is the scent not important? Could I pass a toy from one tank to the other for example, or use the same playpen for them to run in (at different times)?
– A few months down the line, if I try to reintroduce via a split-tank, how small must the space be? Can i use a divider down the middle of a 100cmx 50cm tank – or is this too big? And do you need to mess up the nests etc when you swap them around, or just hope they settle in the opposite nest? Can they have a sand bath (mine use as toilet) in the split, or is it best to have no enrichment at all?
– Finally, if the re-introduction fails, would you recommend them living in a permanent split, even though this would restrict space? Or is it better to give one up, and find a new mate for the existing gerbil (bearing in mind they could be almost 3 years old by then).
Thank you for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully. I can’t tell you how much you’ve already helped! : )
Glad it was helpful.
No it isn’t always obvious who is dominant – although there are a few give-aways if you watch closely. Like grooming: the dominant one being groomed will look relaxed, like they are enjoying it (if they are) or will simply bat off or walk away from the grooming if they aren’t. The submissive one will often stand completely still and look rather awkward when being groomed (like they are just waiting for it to be over). This isn’t always as clear in a really content pairing though, because the dominant one isn’t dominant by being agressive – they are dominant because the submissive one is happy to be submissive. They are sort of both equals day to day (but they both silently know their place).
A dominant one can also be really pushy and manic after the submissive one has been out of the enclosure for whatever reason – either alone without them, or both together. The dominant one is also often the first one out to investigate something new – where the submissive ones can often be seen as ‘the shy one’ always underground, or the first to run away. They aren’t shy or scared of humans – they are just trying to avoid the whole situation (like when you have a relative who always ruins a party once they get talking about balloons say – so when they arrive in a room (already full of party balloons) – many relatives leave the room as fast as they can just so they don’t have to listen to them whine about it again.
Being fatter is often associated with the dominant gerbil – but it isn’t always the case. However a gerbil who digs a lot in the presence of humans might well be assumed to be submissive because digging and running in wheels are seen to be a pacifier – a distraction – like trying to pretend to be reading when the bllloon moaner is talking…
The scent is still important to them – it is one of the main ways gerbils communicate – but when living alone there is noone to communicate to – or for you to shout at. So when there are two gerbils – one might take the smell of a new scent as a reason to get annoyed – and only their other tank mate is around – so they often get it in the ear. However when there is only one and there is a new scent – they have noone to tell or impress or blame. It is just a smell – and they can only get annoyed with themselves. I suppose if you lived with a friend and a new book appeared on your shelf – you might go find them and say – “hey, whats this – why have you let someone in my room? There’s this book here, yada yada yada.”. Whereas live on your own and a book appears, you are like, oh. A book. Darn it.
As with all split tanks – unless you are confident in their character or super experienced – stick with the basic full split tank advice. Small enclosure; no enrichment other than nesting material; and assume it will be a week at least – most likely 2. Switch three times a day (or 1 if you can’t do three – but always an odd number of times – and never disturb the nests – that is the way YOU tell if they are settling in as friends. If THEY mess up the nest – they aren’t ready yet.
However, as with all split tanks – if they get super stressed – if they are super aggressive at the divide, if they dangle off the ceiling wire all day, if they love each other on Day 1 – you modify the split. The actual ‘full split’ is the few days leading up to the introduction – the reast is flexible. So if they are getting stressed say early on – you can add enrichment, sand, wheels and houses etc – it is just that that isn’t the actual split – it just pushes the ACTUAL split intro back the same length of time it is in place. So, for example, you were going on a weeks holiday (the actual split intro) – that would take a week if you left today right. So this would be the perfect split intro. However, if your car broke down, or you got the flu – you would have to put in place some stages to remedy this (like call a garage or stay in bed) until you were ready to take the holiday. This would be a modified split: you needed to put in extra layers to the split to smooth things out initially before beginning the actual reason you started out.
If they are already 3 by the time the split intro fails, they might appreciate the smaller space. You can still fill a smaller enclosure with loads of enrichment, but it will be easier in a smaller space to keep the warm, close to their food and water and help improve health checking and even prevent injury. Unless you can find another person with a single gerbil to introduce your other single one too – they will just be living on their own anyway elsewhere – just without your own level of care. Giving up a pet in this situation is always a risk unless they are guaranteed a home directly with someone who will keep them for the rest of their lives or you find a rescue with another single who is prepared to do the split intro themselves.
Also, the split with the new gerbil for the one you have chosen to keep yourself may ALSO fail – and so you would be back to square one yourself – with two singles – but actually now there could well be be three single gerbils instead of just the original two! Gerbils are not for the faint hearted – they just aren’t always made for life long pairing and often declan – but they are still super adorable!!!
Sorry, if there are any typos – I am just on my lunch break…
Thank you. This is a brilliant resource, and I admire your knowledge of these crazy little creatures. I’m taking all your advice onboard. Best wishes