Help! Brothers drew blood, but now seem fine??

[PollyAnna]

Hey,

So I have 2 gerbils, brothers from Pets at Home, about a year old. They've always been very happy together (cuddling, grooming each other, a bit of playing around) and were cuddled up together yesterday afternoon when I put the cage on the floor of my room to let them out (I leave the cage open with a ladder to the entrance, and my room is gerbil proofed). They were out for a few hours, I was in the living room but popped in every now and then for various reasons. I've done this a number of times before. But when I went to put them away I noticed Joseph had wounds on both sides of his neck, and Newton had wounds on one side, meaning they must have fought.

Once they were back in the cage together Joseph mostly stayed upstairs and Newton downstairs, which is very normal for them, but whenever Joseph went downstairs they'd start tussling again within a few minutes (it wasn't horrific, but definitely wasn't playing) and I'd have to break it up. This happened maybe four times over the course of a couple of hours. I was really nervous about leaving them together overnight because I didn't want to wake up to dead gerbil, but I didn't want to separate them either because I knew that if I did then that would be it forever. I wanted to post on the forum for advice but my account is pending approval and I've only just discovered the guest forum.

I put a bit more bedding and cardboard and paper in for them to play with, and made a bit of a bed on the top shelf for Joseph and, because they seemed alright staying apart that way for the last hour or so of the evening, left them to it overnight.

This morning they were fine. They were both kipping on the bottom when I woke up, although they didn't seem to have slept together. This may be because I put the heating up in case Joseph slept alone on the top shelf. Observing them over the course of today (although I've been out most of the day), they've had a couple of cuddly naps together and are currently quite happily sharing the little wooden house thing that only just fits them both.

So I don't know whether to worry or not. The forum consensus seemed to be if gerbils draw blood, you MUST separate them, because they WILL kill each other. But the pair seem fine now! Am I being naive and optimistic hoping everything is back to normal? (BTW I certainly won't be letting them out like that again any time soon, but why would they have fought in the first place?!?).

Thanks for any advice or information anyone can offer xx

[catnut]

i did have two gerbils that decided not to get along and what I tried was to only keep them together when I was home and then separated them when I went out or slept. That probably wasn't the best and I should've either kept them alone all the time or did a split cage and then try to get them back together. You could always try them in separate cages for a few days to see if they are okay on their own and then build a split cage and switch them back and forth to get used to each others' scents again and then after awhile see if they can be trusted together. Gerbils can be un predicatible and could fight at any time so you do take a chance leaving them together. Did you change anything or add anything that could've had a new smell on it? If you do want to let them out in your room maybe do it for a short time while you are with them to see what happens? I would wait awhile before doing that and make sure they are getting along.

Tammy

[johanne]

When they were out of their home they may have encountered an unusual smell that changed their normal personal smells. A gerbil that doesn't smell like they're supposed to will sometimes be attacked due to mistaken identity. I'm guessing that's probably what happened in this case since they were not aggressive to each other before the fight and are getting along again now. Keep any eye on them but they'll probably be fine.