Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 5, 2008 18:54:39 GMT -4
Not much doing with the gerbils here. My last several attempts at intros failed, those with males. I used all the tricks, and the split screens I had made (described in this forum long ago), and the gerbs were in them, switched from side to side, for over two weeks. As soon as I pulled the screen they went for each other's throat. 
Some female intros worked, previously; in fact the crippled Enjo* has now had four successful intros, but sadly the first three ended quickly as her tankmates died natural deaths after a few months.
But the fourth one has lasted for half a year!
So, I have three males living alone; two trios of gerbils that have remained stable (trios often do not); and four pairs of gerbils. Seventeen total.
Most are agouti color or black, and are rescues. Those are the most common colors. My beautiful colored ones have passed away: sapphire, burmese, nutmeg, dark-eyed honey, etc. I do have a couple of whites; I liked whites. Too much random breeding in pet stores creates common colors. When some of mine pass on I will look for different colors, unless more rescues present themselves.
One trio chewed the spindle of a SAM wheel destroying it. So they can have no wheel until I get around to going to a Petco and looking for a metal mesh wheel - no one seems able to get those except Petco, and I've asked local stores to order it. Those wheels are great also as they can be hung from the plastic lip-edge of a tank; that was not bedding can get kicked in and it won't get kicked over either.
And that is an update on my gerbil situation. No breeding. No deaths in a very long time (over half a year, since one of Enjo's friends died). Not much to report on.
* Enjo. Rescued from a pet store where they almost killed her but then they remembered me! She has a splayed out back leg and a locked front paw that cannot be straightened out. But she is OK.
Some female intros worked, previously; in fact the crippled Enjo* has now had four successful intros, but sadly the first three ended quickly as her tankmates died natural deaths after a few months.
But the fourth one has lasted for half a year!So, I have three males living alone; two trios of gerbils that have remained stable (trios often do not); and four pairs of gerbils. Seventeen total.
Most are agouti color or black, and are rescues. Those are the most common colors. My beautiful colored ones have passed away: sapphire, burmese, nutmeg, dark-eyed honey, etc. I do have a couple of whites; I liked whites. Too much random breeding in pet stores creates common colors. When some of mine pass on I will look for different colors, unless more rescues present themselves.
One trio chewed the spindle of a SAM wheel destroying it. So they can have no wheel until I get around to going to a Petco and looking for a metal mesh wheel - no one seems able to get those except Petco, and I've asked local stores to order it. Those wheels are great also as they can be hung from the plastic lip-edge of a tank; that was not bedding can get kicked in and it won't get kicked over either.
And that is an update on my gerbil situation. No breeding. No deaths in a very long time (over half a year, since one of Enjo's friends died). Not much to report on.
* Enjo. Rescued from a pet store where they almost killed her but then they remembered me! She has a splayed out back leg and a locked front paw that cannot be straightened out. But she is OK.
