[hollyparrott]

Hi I was hoping someone could help. I adopted a gerbil from a pet centre that was handed in when the owners no longer wanted it. It is 2 year old female and nobody wanted to adopt it, so it stayed alone in the pet shop for a good few months. It was a breeding female at one point and so the woman in the pet store told me that I would probably be better off not getting any other gerbil to keep it company, as gerbils tha have already mated will fight with a male and fight with a female. But I keep reading that gerbils get depressed when they're on their own, and I want it to have the best life possible after having spent so long alone in a shop. Is she correct? I don't want to just take one persons opinion, as I haven't heard this advice anywhere else. Would be graeful if anyone with some knowledge coud help me! :confused:

[bushg]

I'm not sure about gerbils, but my kids were given a 2 hamster siblings. One evening they got into a fight so bad that one injured the others ones leg so badly that it had a limp for the rest of its life. It was a terrible sight to see. I would never keep rodents in a cage together after that.

[mysteryperson123]

bushg, the two hamsters fought each other because hamsters can't live with other hamsters, other rodents are fine, I keep two rats in the same cage, they don't fight, I used to keep two mice together, they didn't fight and after one died from cancer her sister still misses her. Don't keep hamsters together. Hollyparrot, the gerbil will probably not want a friend, it is probably used to being on it's own by now, one of my mice who was on his own for only two weeks before I got him, doesn't get along with other pets, I let him meet one of my other mice and he started to chase it, I immediately separated them. Keep the gerbil on it's own, if you had adopted two from the same litter at the same time then they would have gotten along, it sounds sad what happened to your hamster bushg, I like hamsters my sister has two IN Separate CAGES.

[Silverfoxkit]

I love, own, and raise gerbils, and they are highly sociable creatures. I would never keep a gerbil alone, but seeing as this gerbil in particular is an older female, you might have some difficulty in getting her to accept another gerbil. Gerbil females in particular tend to be the more aggressive of the species. If you were to attempt to find her companionship I would suggest a very young gerbil pup, under ten weeks of age, then slowly introducing them. Allow them to see each other at all times, an alternate them between cages or sides of the cage for a while so they also get use to the others scent. If you cannot get her to agree with another, then make sure you give her a lot of attention to compensate for the solitude.

[nessag]

Give your gerbil a play mate that's about the same size and the same gender. Then she will be happy.

[louise1200]

If you got it on its own at the age it is, keep it on its own, gerbils are fine on they're own. After they age off nine weeks if they haven't been with other gerbils, they have to stay on there own as otherwise they're likely to fight. I have a male gerbil on his own and he's happy enough. Just make sure they have things to play in like tunnels and a sand bath, basically make sure it has plenty off stuff to use, that way it won't get bored.

[autumn19]

Well I did A lot of research about gerbils before I got any and I even tested them. Gerbils need to have a buddy and it does not half to be the opposite sex because they usually don't fight. If you have one and you are thinking about getting another clean their cage so the old one does not kill the other for being in its teritory. The only other thing is if you have a female and get another and a male to, if they both have baby's or even if one has baby's seperat the two females so the one does not kill the other gerbils baby's, and the dad does not need to be separated from the mom and baby's because he helps her take care of them.