|
Post by crittercrazy on Jul 21, 2014 11:55:01 GMT -8
My suggestion would be to wait another day at least, then switch them and immediately after remove the divider. I didn't realize last time you hadn't removed the divider but had just put one on the other side- I wouldn't suggest that since it can make the one who was already on that side feel like there's another gerbil invading his territory. If you remove the divider right after switching them though, they should hopefully not stress over territory. And the behavior you're describing sounds positive, so hopefully it works out this time.
|
|
|
Post by MTPetey1 on Jul 23, 2014 6:02:38 GMT -8
So, I did like talked about. They've been together for an hour and a half so far. I switched them, I decided to give them a few seconds to sniff around, then I removed the divider. They seemed nervous to say the least, but no fighting. I put the cup in after a couple minutes. Since then I've noticed what seems like odd behavior to me. They both really like scratching at the walls of the cup while rolling around inside of it. I mean like almost excessively. I'd be worried if it wasn't for the other odd thing. They also seem to be willingly allowing the other to take turns. What I mean by that is, multiple times I've seen one stick they're head is while the other is in it, then the one that is inside stops, looks at the other one, then calmly walks out and let's the other go in. Then the one that is left goes on to do normal gerbily things. They have occasionally both ignored the cup to groom each other. Is this normal?
|
|
|
Post by crittercrazy on Jul 23, 2014 7:52:47 GMT -8
Sounds normal enough to me. A lot of the times, things that seem bizarre are, to gerbils at least, quite normal. I wouldn't worry about it as long as one of them doesn't start forcing the other to stay in the cup or get aggressive about it etc. Glad things are going well so far and hope they stay that way!!!
|
|
|
Post by johanne on Jul 23, 2014 9:48:39 GMT -8
That's normal and positive behaviour. They're alternately rubbing their body scents in the cup, and when the next gerbil goes in the last gerbil's scent gets into their own coat. A very good thing. The whole point of the split cage is to mix their two scents together.
|
|
|
Post by MTPetey1 on Jul 23, 2014 11:18:52 GMT -8
I think I may be in the clear at this point.
So, after they'd been in a while scurrying about Dale started doing his usual corner digging, and Joel started to copy him. Before this Joel had never done any stereotyped digging. In the process of them doing this and switching to random corners they effectively destroyed both of the pre-existing nests. I decided to rip up some paper towels and throw it in to give them some fresh nesting material. Dale immediately started piling it all into one corner, but while he was doing this, Joel quickly made a nest in a different corner, on the other side of the tank and went to sleep. When Dale realized this, he then carried the paper towel over to the corner Joel was on, and looked like he was trying to make sure Joel was comfy. After Joel woke up they horsed around a bit, then a crow outside started make a bunch of noise, and they huddled together and started thumping. After this I noticed Joel starting grooming Dale, who willingly let him. Every other time, Dale groomed Joel, and when Joel tried to groom him back he seemed uninterested. Since then I have seen them grooming each other, both willing keeping their head down or rolling over. Right now Dale is trying to sleep but Joel keeps waking him up. I cannot tell if its on purpose or not. I would think not. I've noticed that sometimes Joel just seems hyper, and after his nap he might just want to play while Dale just wants to take a nap of his own. I'm still waiting to see if they actually sleep together.
|
|
|
Post by MTPetey1 on Jul 23, 2014 11:21:58 GMT -8
I wish I could edit, because as I was submitting that last post, Joel snuggled up to Dale and they both now seem to be sleeping.
|
|
|
Post by MTPetey1 on Jul 25, 2014 8:19:13 GMT -8
Gerbils are still getting along great. there has been some playful shoving/boxing every now and then that usually ends in one thoroughly grooming the other, but no actual fighting. I am currently working on slowly introducing toys back in. I cleaned the wheel and nest box Dale has had before, and I put in the nest box yesterday. The don't actually sleep in it but they do love chewing and scratching it . I put the wheel back in today and Dale loves it, same as before, and Joel just looks at it like "what the heck." Joel also ran up onto my hand and let me pick him up as soon as I set it in there. I think I seemed a little to happy, because it didn't take long before he wanted me to put him back. I really want to say thank you, not just to Johanne and Crittercrazy, but to the whole forum. It has been a great help being able to read all the different thoughts and opinions on here. If not for this forum I would have probably been a lot more nervous about everything.
|
|
|
Post by crittercrazy on Jul 25, 2014 14:55:26 GMT -8
Oh I'm so glad it all worked out!!! I know what you mean about the forum- I wish I had found it sooner!! I'd already owned four gerbils by the time I found it. Best wishes to you and your boys!!
|
|
|
Post by wolfgirl on Jul 27, 2014 7:38:55 GMT -8
i agree. the forum is a wonderful resource. i had Dusty for 3 months before i joined the forum but i'd been lurking since i decided to get him. i would have been lost without all the advice and answers here. plus its so fun to hear the antics of other gerbils
|
|
|
Post by MTPetey on Aug 3, 2014 18:28:33 GMT -8
I wanted some advice on a follow-up issue. I've been noticing what seems like some aggressive behavior and was not sure if I should be really worried or not. I have them in their 30 gallon tank with a lot bedding, a cardboard box they nest in, a wheel, one water bottle, and as of yesterday, a food bowl. I originally had two boxes, and a wooden hut in there. I noticed they were acting rather skittish and aggressive on Thursday. I decided that I had so much in there they may have been spending almost no time together. I took out the hut and the second box. I noticed neither of those seemed to have ever contained a nest and had been chewed on quite a bit. The box that is still in there, there was a nest in, and only places that looked chewed was the holes I had cut in it, and it looked they had just tried to widen them. It was after this that I noticed the water bottle was not dispensing water. I took it out opened and closed it again and I noticed that after the first few drops, no more came out. I loosened the top to try to get it to work, but it seemed to either not work at all, or leak. I decided leaking was the more acceptable choice and stuck it back in, and they happily drank from it both at the same time, with their faces pressed against each-others. I figured this was the real source of the issue, and I decided to buy a new glass water bottle that works a lot better than either of the previous ones I had purchased, but to be safe I decided to leave the tank simple, with just the one nest box and other items I listed earlier.
Today, I'm noticing some aggressive behavior again. I noticed earlier Dale tried to mount Joel, and Joel quickly moved away. Dale didn't seem to mind as he didn't even pause before deciding to eat some food. I keep noticing this afternoon/evening that most times they actually walk up to each other, they start to box (standing on hind legs, looking like their slapping each other, no rolling in a ball, no biting, no squeaking), and it seems like Joel usually initiates it. It only last for a few seconds, occasionally one will give the others fur a few licks (I'm 100% sure its just licking and not attempts to bite). They then do their usual gerbily things. I did notice just a minute ago, right after a bit of slapping, Joel rolled over on his back and lied still, but he rolled back over when Dale moved away. Not sure what that means. They groom themselves in the open, they take turns on their wheel (which they both love, but when one sticks his face up to it, the other calmly gets off), eat, drink, they always sleep in their nest box, usually both at the same time. I noticed whenever Joel seems scared, Dale acts in way that seems protective to me. Dale is the only one I ever see scent marking anything, and it doesn't seem like an excessive amount of scent marking. There was one thing I saw earlier, that I originally thought was just cute. While Dale was drinking, Joel jumped onto his back and Dale just turned his head a bit to look at him, and then Joel just kind of nudged Dale with his head, then dived into a tunnel. Dale seemed completely unfazed by it and I thought it just seemed like Joel was goofing around. Maybe it was more than that? I've looked them over and I see absolutely no signs of injury at all. I just don't see them willingly groom each other (they might only do it in their nest box) and the amount of boxing makes me worry if a bigger fight might be brewing.
And while I was typing this and watching them out the corner of my eye, I see Dale grooming Joel, who seems quite willing. I'm just wondering if any of it seems like trouble brewing to you guys as well. or if I need to just let them do their thing. I feel like just passing it off as "boys will be boys" but I'd also hate myself if they really fought and I could have prevented it.
|
|
|
Post by wolfgirl on Aug 3, 2014 18:47:10 GMT -8
what you are describing sounds just like what my boys do. its normal behavior as far as i've seen and read so don't worry about it too much. if they start squeaking a lot while "fighting" or go into the dreaded ball, that's when to be concerned.
|
|
|
Post by MTPetey on Aug 5, 2014 9:09:45 GMT -8
I haven't seen any more trouble and they are back to seeming like they get along swimmingly. Guess I just overreacted a bit. I had seen in some old threads a couple people saying that there shouldn't be any boxing or other signs of aggression for a while after a successful intro so got concerned. Thanks for the help again.
|
|