# Fighting gerbils



## paulo (Mar 23, 2009)

My son has 2 female gerbils (sisters) they are about 18 months old. One has started attacking the other, it has injured the other around the rear and base of tail, the injured one seems to have been prevented from eating & drinking by the bullying of the other. We separated them overnight and treated the injured one (she started eating and drinking straight away) tried reintroducing them later in the day but the attacks started straight away so we had to separate them again. We realise that gerbils prefer the company of others but cannot see any way around this problem. has anyone any ideas? My son doesn't really want 2 lonely gerbils and is quite upset by it.


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

This is called a de-clanning. I've had this happen. Your gerbils are at the age where it does sometimes happen. I've tried re-introing but once they've drawn blood it's a pretty hopeless battle to try to get them back together.

Unfortunately they'll have to be kept separate. But they might still be lonely, so what you could do is get a big fish tank, 3-4ft long, and put 2 layers of wire mesh down the middle permanently, about an inch apart, so they can't get at each other, but are still in contact with each other. The smells and sounds really do help with the loneliness. I know from experience.

I had a pair of females that when kept separately started biting their own tails out of what I can only assume was the stress of living apart. Now in their permanent split they are happy. I'm hoping now to re-intro them as they have never actually fought. But your girls I'd say you won't be able to get them back together.


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## paulo (Mar 23, 2009)

StolenkissGerbils said:


> This is called a de-clanning. I've had this happen. Your gerbils are at the age where it does sometimes happen. I've tried re-introing but once they've drawn blood it's a pretty hopeless battle to try to get them back together.
> 
> Unfortunately they'll have to be kept separate. But they might still be lonely, so what you could do is get a big fish tank, 3-4ft long, and put 2 layers of wire mesh down the middle permanently, about an inch apart, so they can't get at each other, but are still in contact with each other. The smells and sounds really do help with the loneliness. I know from experience.
> 
> I had a pair of females that when kept separately started biting their own tails out of what I can only assume was the stress of living apart. Now in their permanent split they are happy. I'm hoping now to re-intro them as they have never actually fought. But your girls I'd say you won't be able to get them back together.


Thank you for your reply,
The gerbils were in a fish tank (3' x 1') but would this be big enough if I divide it in half? each gerbil effectively having 1'6" x 1' of space each. Hopefully it will be OK as we don't have space for anything much bigger!
thanks once again.


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

is that in feet? 3ft by 1ft is more than enough space. If it's in inches then no it's too small and was too small for 2 gerbils which is why they might be fighting. My gerbils tank is 12inches x 10 Inches by 18inches. and it has a tank topper with 2 levels. Anything less then what I have with a tank topper is too small.


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

He said 3' by 1' - that's feet. Divided in half this would be a little cramped in my opinion BUT you could give each gerbil a separate topper on each side of the permanently divided tank so that they have a little more room but it doesn't take up any more floor space. I have a 3ft tank set up split in half right now, with the idea to introduce the two that are in it. It's definitely too small for them. They are very bored. I'm hoping they'll accept each other soon so that they can have more space to potter about in.


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

duh me I thought he meant they'd have 3x1 feet each not in half. Definatly too small. I would say a 10 gall tank per gerbil if you are keeping them seperate so if your dividing it it needs to be 20 gall and they need to have a tank topper on top. I used rotastak and made my own tank topper it's not hard. You can find some cheap rotastak around too. You just cut the hole big enough for the rotastak tube to fit in and they jump up and down. Mine love it and they are very healthy and have pleanty of space to move around in. They will also need an excersise wheel each.


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Here's a good page with some homemade tank toppers on it:

Gerbil Breeding and Development - Housing Ideas


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