Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello. I am trying at this point to learn the best methods of breeding Gerbils for feeders. I already have 3 years experience breeding Mice and 2 years breeding Rats. Over the past 4 months, I have begun to breed Gerbils. I seem to notice some differences in Gerbil behavior compared to Mice and Rats. I recently have had 3 Gerbils die from fighting each other. It seems that whenever I try to add another Gerbil to my breeder cage, whether a Male or a Female, the new Gerbil gets killed by the other/s. I don't why this is happening and I have some questions:

1) Are Gerbils highly territorial?

2) Do I have to purchase my whole breeder set (1.2 or 1.3) at the same time in order to avoid huge fights amongst them?

3) Are there any trademark behaviors or needs of Gerbils that I should be aware of?

Nothing can be more frustrating that making car trips to the local pet shop and purchasing Gerbils (they are a lot costlier than Mice and Rats) just to have the new Gerbil get killed on me.

If you have any helpful advice, please post a reply to this message.

Thank you

>>Hello. I am trying at this point to learn the best methods of breeding Gerbils for feeders. I already have 3 years experience breeding Mice and 2 years breeding Rats. Over the past 4 months, I have begun to breed Gerbils. I seem to notice some differences in Gerbil behavior compared to Mice and Rats. I recently have had 3 Gerbils die from fighting each other. It seems that whenever I try to add another Gerbil to my breeder cage, whether a Male or a Female, the new Gerbil gets killed by the other/s. I don't why this is happening and I have some questions:
>>
>> 1) Are Gerbils highly territorial?

Yes, very.
>>
>> 2) Do I have to purchase my whole breeder set (1.2 or 1.3) at the same time in order to avoid huge fights amongst them?

Yes get them all at the same time. If you try to add later they will kill the newcomer. Sometimes if you have to add one in you can try cleaning everything, cage and all really really good. Put the new one in first, then add the others one at a time slowly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
>>
>> 3) Are there any trademark behaviors or needs of Gerbils that I should be aware of?
>>
>> Nothing can be more frustrating that making car trips to the local pet shop and purchasing Gerbils (they are a lot costlier than Mice and Rats) just to have the new Gerbil get killed on me.
>>
>> If you have any helpful advice, please post a reply to this message.
>>
>> Thank you
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Anna

1.0.0 Ball Python {Shane}
1.0.0 Afican Bullfrog {Bungy}
2.2.3 Crested Geckos {Mel, Harley, Sally, Momma, unnamed}
0.0.1 Giant Black African Millipede {Milly}
2.0.0 Parakeets {Storm, Cloud}
1.2.1 Button Quails {Bob, unnamed}
1.0.0 Short Tail Possum {Eddie}
3.0.0 Pet Rats {Carlos, Ibin, Meany}
1.1.0 Dogs Lab/Pionter mix,German Shepherd {Vegas,Nevada}
2.1.0 Kitties {Kenny, Sebation, Phoebe}
1.0.0 Betta {George}
1.0.0 Boyfriend {Brian}
1 fish tanks with lots of fish
2 Crested Gecko eggs layed 5/18
And the bugs

Thats it for now.....

I've bred Gerbils for 10 years. Gerbils do NOT do well in Colony settings unless that colony setting is a family started with a male and a female and using their offspring as further breeding stock. Gerbils pair bond where rats and mice really don't. Its very difficult to introduce a new gerbil if one loses its mate. Usually you're better off raising a few babies from a litter if you want to increase your breeding colony. In the wild Gerbils live in family situations. Young males are driven out eventually... Females are allowed to stay in the parental territory to help with the raising of future litters.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

>>Lucien

Do you get better production out of strict pairings or have you had good luck with trios? And how often have you gotten litters. Mine I am not thrilled with right now and just got in an unrelated pair. I have had luck setting up new pairs when they are young.....like 8-12 weeks. But I am wondering if I want strict pairs. I hate all the space allocated, but I have some fussy snakes and gerbil scent works for them. (along with Russian Dwarf Hams and Syrian Hams.)
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Actually, to tell you the truth, I tend to get better production from pairs than Trio's.. reason being is that usually you're only getting one litter at a time anyway... the younger females in the group will usually stay their own pregnancy or heat cycle to help the alpha female nurse and take care of her litter. But you're still only going to get litters every 6-10 weeks... despite the fact the mother's get pregnant within hours of birthing. The new embryo's don't implant until after the current litter is weaned at 3-4 weeks..Sometimes not until 6 weeks..it depends on how big the litter is and how much good food is available to the mother. I lost my breeding stock to some kind of virus not too long ago.. Which is the first time I've had that. Gerbils are much hardier than rats but the smaller litters are a pain. However, I was working with a bloodline at the time that consistantly produced 8 pups per litter. I was selective breeding to get larger litters. If I could just get it up to 10... it'd be worth it to seriously breed them as feeders especially for stubborn snakes...

Introducting your pups to each other at 6-8 weeks once they can be removed from their mothers is always a good idea... because they haven't hit sexual maturity yet so there;s not so much fighting. But after 4 or 5 months of age.. it gets more difficult. There's no reliable trick for introduction really.. just try it and see.. I've had pairs do well from day one.. and pairs that tried to kill each other 2 months after being put together... They're unpredictable. The other downfall, as you mentioned, is space... because putting them in plastic isn't an option.. they'll chew through it in no time.. Glass is about the only way to go unless you can get critter keepers large enough.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Well, I am getting a new rack (friend built it- Yeah!) and so condensing in the room and may set up my gerbils in strict pairs and see what comes of it. My one pair is consistently making 7 each litter...3 times in a row anyway. I am hoping to pair off two of the daughters now. Good think I like them! They are frustrating.

What is funny to me is that back in the Dark Ages we had a pair that gave us 12pups for three litters in a row. Plain agoutis, gentle, great parents. My mom hated those gerbils. We were running out of friends who didn't have any!
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Frustrating is the perfect word for these guys. Back years ago the gerbil population was purer.. less in bred. See the problem comes in when you consider that the Gerbil population here came from Mongolia from 6 founder parents before China closed their borders. 2 Males and 4 females. Not a good basis for a captive population but when they were brought in for a lab they covered selective breeding pretty well and were able to get a wide diversity out of the 6 founder parents. Despite their inbred status already, Gerbils are hardy and resistant to most common diseases like Myco in rats and mice. You want to be careful with further inbreeding among families though however. I found within 2 or 3 generations of inbreeding my founding stock... genetic deformities cropped up.. so bringing in new blood frequently is a very good idea with these guys. I've gone to different pet stores to pick up stock up to 40 or 50 miles away to get good stock to mix in. I've also bought from online breeders to mix up my bloodlines even more. I used to breed for colors... and fed off any extra of colors I didn't need... I may go back to doing so.. but I have to cut my rat population first. I always loved watching all the gerbils running around digging through everything. *L* I had 39 at one point. They're fun little critters.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

We have been breeding gerbils as feeders for many years now, and find that the best way to achieve the greatest output is to keep only one pair per cage. Babies are weaned at four weeks and placed in communal cages with other similar aged babies until they reach six weeks of age, at which point they are seperated into single sex cages. When new pairs are made up, we always ensure that the females are a few weeks older than the males.

If one of a pair dies for any reason, the remaining male/female is 'retired'(feeder) and a new, young pair chosen to replace them.
Keeping them in pairs and single sex cages has cut out fighting completely.

VERY TERRITORIAL!!! Males that is.
The same technique as mice or rats, just keep males away from each other.
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Greg Holland
G&M HERPS
www.imageevent.com/gmherps
gmherps@sbcglobal.net

Actually no.. both sexes are territorial.. I've had 10 years experience breeding these guys... and I've seen females tear each other up... including females that were related to each other.. taken apart and later put back together. The males hid in the corner. That was my one try at putting more than one pair in a community tank. Never happened again. I've also seen a group of littermates fight over a fertile female... the males... though not to the point of actual majory injury. So take that for what its worth. Gerbils are in no way like mice or rats..
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Jim here again.

My last Female Gerbil (last adult Gerbil I have left) just gave birth to 7 pinkies yesterday. Since this is my only Adult Breeder, I have decided to let 2 of the babies grow into 1.1 Adult Gerbils. This will bring my breeding colony back to a 1.2 setup. Who cares about inbreeding when it comes to feeders anyways?

1) Should I just leave this colony together at all times to avoid problems?

2) Does this seem like a good strategy?

I can just move the Feeders into a grow-out cage when they don't need their Mommy anymore. This way, the Breeder's cage won't get overcrowded.

If you have any helpful answers to my questions, please post a follow-up to this message.