Introducing the parents to each other

Breeding Gerbils-  introducing the parents


Introducing a male gerbil to a female is a bit different then introductions between two gerbils of the same gender.
First off,  keep in mind that the only acceptable match-up for breeding is one male and one female.  Do not introduce two males to one female,  two females to one male,  two females to two males,  etc..  Not only is it a risky introduction,  those aren't suitable pairings in the long run,  either.

The introduction starts out the same.  Ten gallon with a little bedding,  two water bottles,  scattered food,  divided in half.  Gerbil on either side,  swapping three times a day.
The only real difference is when you remove the divider.  Instead of watching for positive signs (though those are good),  watch for signs that the female is in heat.
When I bred gerbils several months ago,  I started off planning to use a female named Penelope (in the end it turned out to be good I didn't use her.  She would have passed some skittishness onto her pups!) with my only male,  Pippin.  In the split,  all the signs were positive.  So I tried removing the divider,  only to have them get in a tussle.
I tried to put them together multiple times,  but it never worked.  I soon realized why-  Penelope wasn't in heat!
I don't know why Penelope never went into heat and,  as far as I know,  hasn't since,  but that was the fact of the matter.

So,  I took Penelope out and put Pepper in. (simultaneously introducing Penelope to Pepper's sister,  Parsley)
Pepper and Pippin didn't really seem very interested in each other. . . until Pepper went into heat!  Then the introduction was nice and smooth.  They got along great.

All that said,  don't remove the divider unless the female is in heat.  

Since she is in heat,  they will no doubt skip most of the traditional greetings and instead get into breeding.  This practically guarantees that they'll get along.  
And you don't need to worry about them fighting when mating is over.  As far as I know,  that's extremely rare or nonexistent. 

Finally,  how do you tell if the female is in heat?
It probably won't look the same from one female to the next.  The general behaviors,  however,  are:

• Thumping.  Most of the times,  the male (and perhaps the female) will thump.  However it will be a soft,  calm thump,  not like the usual "I'm terrified" thump.
• The female arching her rump.  When in heat,  a female will put her rear in the air (in preparation to be mounted) when touched by another gerbil,  whether it be male or female.  She might even do it if you touch her back.
• Excitement.  Both of the gerbils will probably be trying to get to each other.

Otherwise,  the female (maybe even the male) might act rather crazy,  doing odd things or being extremely active.

When Pepper went into heat,  it wasn't as much a matter of, "Oh she's showing all the signs,  she must be in heat".  It was more like,  "She's acting weird. . . maybe she's in heat." 

So keep an eye out!  And just in case you are mistaken and the female isn't in heat,  be sure to stay nearby and ready for awhile.