Hi. i have got my other half an ipod touch 8gb for chrimbo and was wondering about how to set up with my already existing itunes account. I have heard stories about wiping songs from memory when syncing a new device?? any help appreciated.

Just connect it to iTunes and add it to your own account. That way you'll be able to sync it with what you already bought/have.

iTunes won't get wiped. What sometimes happens is the iPod itself gets wiped if it was synced to another library previously. You get a prompt to erase it and sync to this library instead. But this won't apply to your new iPod.