Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a new gerbil owner and I have a few questions. I made a somewhat impulsive purchase from a pet store of one gray ("dove," I think) male gerbil because I was feeling severely deprived of cute fuzziness in my dorm room. I know you're all going to yell at me for having just one, but hear me out: the store only had one. And I don't just mean in that cage, I mean anywhere. There were other cages labeled "gerbil" but they were all empty. Also, I did not know at the time that gerbils shouldn't live alone. I have had Basil for just over a week and he's starting to be hand-tamed. He seems generally happy and healthy. I don't know how old his is because he looks fully grown. So my questions are these...

1) Can Basil be happy by himself? He seems to be so far. I play with him a lot, give him plenty to chew on, set him loose on occasion in his roll-about ball, and work with him several times a day to get him hand-tamed. Since buying him, I have read on many a website that gerbils prefer to live with company, but sometimes it is just a suggestoin and other times it is a dire threat of early death and behavior abnormality to the solitary gerbil. How necessary is a cage mate, really?

2) If a cage mate is absolutely necessary, I'd prefer to buy one from a breeder. Are there any in the Peoria, Illinois area? I can't seem to find any online... I do not have a car at school, so I cannot travel far to find a breeder. I have seen breeders that offer to ship gerbils, but that seems like a bad idea to me--is it?

3) If there are no breeders in my area and shipping is not good for gerbils, should I just get a second one from a pet store? I know that they are notoriously bad at sexing gerbils, resulting in many surprise babies, but I have learned how through online tutorials and have verified that Basil is male. I'm also pretty confident that I could confirm the sex of a gerbil at the store. There is a PetsMart and a PetCo nearby. I got Basil from PetsMart and I don't know for sure that PetCo sells gerbils. If they do, is one better?

I know this was long-winded and I appreciate anyone who has the patience to read it and answer my questions. Thanks a lot!

ciao,
Megan

it think that if you spend a LOT!! of time with you new pet theres no need to get a second one BUT for the cost theres no need not to get him a friend it will free up some of your time and it more fun to watch them boxing, running,and playing

here you will find a grest sexing page with pics under" gerbil help" http://www.gerbils.co.uk/

have fun
don

Gerbils can be kept alone but it is generally not a good idea. No matter how much you play with him you can't replace a friend there all the time sleeping with him and eating with him. Another animal to chew up boxes with and wrestle. You can play with him alot but you can't be there every minute and you aren't a gerbil. If you decide to get another then getting one from a petstore is just fine if you don't plan on breeding and can double check the sex of the gerbil. You need to split cage them or they will fight. You can get a 20gallon rubbermaid container from walmart and just split it in half with some wire that goes all the way to the top. Make sure they can't get thru the wire and that it isn't so fine that they can chew it apart. I've heard of using hardware cloth but I don't know what that is. You set up each side as a cage with water, food and bedding. Then switch the sides each gerbil is on every day untill they are building their nests on either side of the wire next to each other. Then either just remove the divide or put them together in a neutral area with no gerbil smells. Bathtubs work. There is a breeder in Moline but I don't know how close that is to you. You can check www.agsgerbils.org for other breeders and gerbil care.

Thank you for the feedback. I heard basically what I expected: that it would be better to have a second gerbil. I have decided that while Basil might be fine on his own, I would rather that he be really happy. I'm going to get another gerbil, perhaps this weekend. I will be using the split cage method and will be moving them both into a larger cage, so it won't be Basil's turf. I know that preferably I need to get a young male (less than 10 weeks), but that may not be possible. How likely is it that Basil and another adult male will refuse to accept each other? I don't want to end up with TWO gerbils who need cagemates. Since I'm housing them on the sly in my dorm room, I only really have room for one cage. If for some reason Basil and the new gerbil can't get along, could I just keep them in a split cage permanently? Or should I return the newcomer to the store and try a different one? Thank you all very much for your help.

ciao,
Megan

Males usually get along even if they've been on their own for a year or more. Still it is more likely younger ones will get along and especially a pup introduced to an adult instead of 2 adults. I recently split up a breeding pair and put the 10month old male kojo with a 7 week old male from my other pairs litter. I didn't even split cage these 2 and just introduced them on my bed and kept an eye them for the first day. But putting the female Tandra with another female took 3 wks. You shouldn't have a problem but if you do you should probably return the gerbil and try another to see if he gets along with that one. If he doesn't get along after that or you can't return one then I'd leave them with split cage so at least they have another gerbil nearby so they won't get as lonely while your sleeping or away. There's always the chance living near each other long enough they might get along.

Thank you very much for your replies. I am much encouraged to hear that solitary males can usually be successfully introduced. I hope to be getting my second gerbil this weekend or early next week. Thanks again!

ciao,
Megan