Sexing Gerbils

Question
My sons 2 adult gerbils witch the Pet store said were both Male! Had babies and they are now about 4 to 6 weeks old, I took the Older Male out of the cage today so there is not a repeat occurance, My question is we truly cannot tell the sexes apart! They wiggle around so much and there furry little things, If one is indeed a male can I put him in the same cage as the Dad? I did do that today for a little while. thinking one was a male and the Older one was sniffing his/her butt and looked like they were starting to fight, so I took him/her out and put back with the Mom, Will the Male be OK on his own now? I know that Gerbils are social creatures! Thanks

Answer
Hi!

Classic example of petstore knowledge if I may say! ;-) The easiest way to tell which gender the gerbil represents is to either gently but firmly grabbing him on the loose skin at the back of the neck and peek under his tummy - if you see any nipples you're holding a missus. You can also place the gerbil in an empty, transparent glass/plastic container (such as a travel-terrarium), and lift it up.

Gerbils are indeed very social little critters! You can most definitely put the males in the same cage as the dad. In the beginning you may see them squeek and chase each other around alot, but so long as they aren't wounding each other it's merely healthy hierarchy-establishing. I wouldn't expect much problems on the males' part, but female gerbils tend to be a bit more temperamental than males. In the case of a mother and daughters though, everything should go well! Enjoy your army of gerbils! :-)