# introducing meerkats to each other



## flatclyde (Sep 7, 2012)

hi. has anybody got any ideas of how to introduce 2 meerkats male/female into another group. we have got the offer of some more meerkats (I have no idea how many yet) but for us to take them we would need to introduce our 2 into that group.


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Joyce,

Hope you are well.

It is incredibly difficult to introduce two females together. It can be done but you are taking a chance.

We have introduced Meerkats a number of times both personally and at zoo's and colleges.

The easiest trick when introducing males to an existing mob is to rub Vick's vapour rub on to bottoms and chests. So you need to have good gauntlets to catch them :gasp:.

As you are trying to introduce another female it may be wiser to try and house them side by side for a while before using the vick's. All the Meerkats would need to be rubbed with it. It knocks their senses for a while and seem not to realise who is who in the group.

We have done this numerous times with success when introducing just males to a mob or a sexed pair to a male mob. However I would say we have had 50/50 success/failure rate when adding another female into the equation.

Ps. The vicks causes no distress or harm to the animals.

All the best

Neil


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## flatclyde (Sep 7, 2012)

*meerkats*

hi 
I did remember reading about rubbing them in something but couldn't remember what it was. I would love to have 2 groups of meerkats but space is an issue (again) and I have my eyes on some other things as well. 

if we rubbed every one in vics and moved every one into a new enclosure at the same time, wonder if that would work.
if war is to be declared between the 2 groups is that an instant thing?


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Joyce,

Yes it would be more or less instant. 

It is quite possible that the mob may attack your pair but it is more likely that the two females would be the problem and then the other members of that mob may join in.

If only the two females decide to be aggressive it may be that they will sort it out and decide who is the alpha and who is the beta. It is a case though of you deciding if enough is enough, if it does not subside.

A new environment would help but would not guarantee a good outcome.


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## flatclyde (Sep 7, 2012)

*merkats*

so if we get them and it does not work out, we then have 2 mobs of meerkats. 
I feel its only a matter of time before we have to move house again due to lack of space:whistling2:


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Yes for two groups lol


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## Lemur (Feb 23, 2014)

*Meerkat intros*

Hi, I,m new to this forum but have been following your Meerkat dilemma. You will need a completely neutral territory for your introductions. If you can spare it each Meerkat should go into individual carriers and ALL animals should be smeared in the Vics. Before you introduce any inividuals Swap Meerkats from carrier to carrier, this confuses each animal and do it at regular intervals and over a period of hours. The Meerkats will learn about each others scent from carrier to carrier. When you are confident introduce the most dominant females first and gage their reactions and aggression towards each other, if its not too intense then introduce the rest of the group members each in turn. I,m not sure how many you are going to try and introduce but it will not be all plain sailing. Best of luck. Steve


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## Snake Island Reptiles (Feb 6, 2014)

You can keep and breed meerkat's in the uk with out licences?.... :gasp:


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## flatclyde (Sep 7, 2012)

*meerkats*

we are still waiting to hear weather or not we are getting the other meerkats but we are all set in the hope they will come. worst case we need to build another enclosure best case with every ones advice and much luck things will go well. lemur have you tried this before?

snake island-- there are many meerkats kept in the uk that lead happy lives in private collections.


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Lemur,

I would like to raise a couple of points if that is ok and by the way not having a pop in any shape or form. What works for one does not necessarily work for others !!.

We have found that you don't need to introduce in a neutral territory, it is beneficial but not absolutely needed. Two of our best introductions were when we could not use a neutral territory. 1st was a small zoo and it literally had to be a case of vicking up, popping some food in and introducing. There was not the slightest bit of bother. Within minutes they were all eating together and ignoring each other. This was actually written up as an article in the Zoo Journal. I will state however, in this case we were only introducing males to an established mob. 

The second was at a college again with no neutral place. Again vicked up, food introduced and then Meerkats introduced. These split into two groups, although interestingly it was mixed groups from different mobs. These stayed to either side of enclosure for a while before coming together. Again though absolutely no problems.

The second point / question is that we are putting Vicks on the Meerkats to inhibit their sense of smell and to disguise the Meerkats smell. If you swap Meerkats around the boxes as you state, they will probably not be able to get a smell of the other Meerkats because of what we have used the Vicks for. All they will ever smell is Vicks ?. I would think that swapping boxes as you state would stress the Meerkats unnecessarily, ie catching numerous times, swapping boxes numerous times etc ?.

Best Wishes

Neil


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## Lemur (Feb 23, 2014)

*Meerkat Intros*

Hi Neil,
Thanks for your pointers and no im not offended by your comments, this is a forum and it should be used to swap old and new ideas if we are going to try and help people with problems regarding animal issues.
The idea of swapping carriers pre-dates the Vicks idea. We have to acknowledge from the time the first animal is restrained and smeared in Vicks it becomes stressed, the whole process of ANY introduction is a stressful event and Im sure you would agree.
The swapping of carriers/Meerkats is one other way of hopefully confusing the old and new group members.
I agree with the neutral territory theory, it works in some cases but not others. I recently introduced a hand reared, castrated male into an established group of four females with no problems at all, this would not have been the case had it been a female.
Like you I am only offering advice based on sound experience gained through working in the zoo profession.
Best Wishes
Steve


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