Nipping

[psandy]

For nearly two weeks, I've had three youngish (8 weeks old or so) boy gerbils. When I pick them up and hold them (if I can catch them ) they are fine with me so far.

The thing is, when I hold out my hand to them sometimes (to let them sniff, learn to trust me, etc.) they will sometimes nip. It's only when my hand is stretched out to them, but I read you needed to do this in order to gain their trust. The nips don't hurt and haven't broken my skin or anything... But they'll seem to be in one place on my hand -- lots of little ones, where they gradually up the pressure when they press down with their teeth. Is this to be expected, or are they showing aggression?

[nzcage]

This is to be expected! Pups, like human babies, want a chew on everything to get a feel for it! Just give them a firm "NO" when they do it, and they should back off. Moving or jerking the hand might scare them, and they may start to think that biting is the best way to get rid of you! Telling them no should do the trick after a few times, they should grow out of it in the next few weeks.


Just always make sure to wash your hands before handling them- any food smells on your hand can make them nibble!

[Laurerz]

Aye, as Nzcage says, they just want to taste you Though sometimes it's a way to express things for them (such as 'stop holding me like that' 'get your hand away from there' etc; for these I just put my hand in the cage that's away from there activity so they can still see me & let them come to me in there own time, if they still nip it normally doesn't mean 'Eff off!') so think about what you're doing at the time. Biscuit and Hershels play bite me, but they're so soft when they do it that I don't mind. But when Glenn bites me it HURTS, so he gets the brunt of my punishment (Blowing on them and saying firmly no is a tip for stopping the nibbles!)

On the topic of food/washing your hands make sure you don't use a scent that's really overpowering. Some hand washes are really strong, as with some food, and if you handle your gerbil with an over powering smell it can mask it's natural scent which will mean the others wont recognize him/her via scent glands (& this can lead to aggression!)

[Deleted]

i'm not sure what i think of the telling off thing tbh. when it is a BITE it is usually out of fear rather than pure agression, and the only way to get to the root of that is to gain trust.
the nibbles for me are always just seeing if you happen to be food this time. i don't really see it as a problem behaviour. to me it just shows that they are interested in their environment and testing how squishy your skin is today. i don't really think a punishment is necessary, it is usually my fault anyway due to the smells on my hand or the environment. you can't really blame the gerbils.

[Laurerz]

I normally go into the cage and place my hand away from my boys so they can chose to come to me Glenn always stops what he's doing even if he's a couple of levels down and comes to see me and normally bites me. I've read it's bad for you to remove your hand if they do this, but a lot of sites & breeders recommend a gentle blowing & a 'no' (which I don't really class as punishment to be honest I don't think the cheeky bugger even knows i'm doing it! ) I think it's all in opinion, but I think it's the same with any living creature, my dog jumps up at people to say hello, he bites my feet to try and stop me from leaving a room, we have to try and teach him not to do this (Mainly because he's tripped me over on my *ss more times than I can count!) even if it's not his fault. If you're genuinely not doing anything to freak out your gerbil I think you should teach them it's not common practice to bite people (AKA me ) I don't blame him for a second though, he's not used to being handled. (Not his fault he came from a mean pet store!)

[nzcage]

Yeah I suppose that's up to the individual, but I've always managed to train the nibbling out of my gerbils when they were pups. I'd rather they didn't put their teeth on skin in any way, even for a taste, especially when they're older.

As for "punishment", it's more of an intervention than a punishment. I give the same "no" when they chew plastic, and they soon learn the difference between things they're supposed to chew, and things they're not. I personally don't blow on mine, as it can (in some cases) be linked with seizures.

[Laurerz]

Really?! WHY DO PEOPLE RECOMMEND STUPID THINGS ON OFFICIAL SITES! Grrr. I shan't be blowing anymore, though I have a sneaky suspicion that Glenn enjoyed it See how he gets on with a 'no' - I don't mind the gentle nibbles, but he's just too hard! He doesn't know the difference bless him & afer seeing P@H handle him, I'm not surprised he does it.

[psandy]

Laurerz: how long have you had your gerbils for? I'm wondering about the hand wash thing, too... I do wash my hands quite a bit and always before gerbil handling, in the hope to clear smells. then I might just be adding a fragrance to my hands with the wash. Hmm. I've sometimes noticed one sniffing another I've just handled, so you could be right on that score.

As I say, they're usually good as gold when I'm actually holding them. It's just the hand outstretched situ. If they do nip I'll either just stay quiet or, if they're persisting, give them a gentle nudge (that's what I've read) and they've stopped.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice, people. Will persevere! They are young.

[Laurerz]

I've only had my boys for a week But I've had a stack of gerbil books for months that I read endlessly before hand, heh - I've read that strong scents can do that as they purely rely on there scent glands (Doesn't matter about appearance) I wouldn't worry as I say unless it's 'strong' - A sand bath can fix them but in some cases they might see it as a newcomer & not be happy. I've also read that they recognize each other via saliva, but I don't imagine they'd let someone they saw as 'new' near there mouths! Hope this helps

[psandy]

I know what you mean about swotting over books- I've been googling what seems like every hour and bought several books since I've had them. Recently got them a little playpen and put a sandbath in there with some toys, so hopefully that will keep them occupied. And it contains the mess slightly . Good luck with yours, Laurerz! We appear to both be kind of new to this at the moment.

[Deleted]

i bought every book i could find, their care advice was pretty out of date :/

[Laurerz]

Aye, but it's better than not having them! I normally double check advice online or on this forum and they seem to be bang on, haven't read anything 'wrong' yet (Other than blowing on them which multiple things told me to do )