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Post by asher on Jul 30, 2015 0:36:42 GMT -8
I know chewing on the bars of their cages could be a sign of stress, and recently, my older gerbil Petunia has picked up the habit again (she used to do it when I needed her in a spare hamster cage for a few weeks...) and I was wondering if something is changing with her? She is I believe 2 and a half years old, and she is slowing down. She has lots of toy in her cage and two other cagemates. Is there anything else that could cause her to chew on the bars? Is it because she is older? And my newer gerbil Rafe, who recently declanned also is chewing on them and climbing on the bars. She will sometimes sit on her water bottle and chew the ceiling too.. Could this be a sign of loneliness? I'm not sure if I want to risk another split cage, and I do not have the money at the moment to get another tank to have a permanent split in, and I would hate to not be using my expensive tank topper  |
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Post by vexorg on Jul 30, 2015 2:19:48 GMT -8
No, many will simply attack the bars or hanging chains for fun, some of our do it non stop, and they are contented little guys. He gets into some awkward positions to chew the bars and chains, seems to me more content the more awkward he's positioned:   He's always done it and never looks stressed. We took his favourite hanging chain off one time, he just sat where the chain should be, staring into space, as soon as the chain went back on he was at it again - clearly he missed it. |
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Post by blanknote on Aug 11, 2015 5:09:31 GMT -8
Do they have enough space and other things to chew, etc? The main worry of the bar chewing, I would say, is that it can damage their teeth.
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Post by vexorg on Aug 11, 2015 7:45:08 GMT -8
It doesn't damage them from our experience.
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Post by leafwhisp on Aug 11, 2015 10:33:50 GMT -8
My gerbils chew bars all the time, noatter what. Doesn't seem to hurt them. The also climb and sometimes we put treats at the top of their climb, the love that of course
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Post by asher on Aug 11, 2015 12:08:54 GMT -8
I think they have enough room. It's a ten gallon tank with an awfully large topper. I give them at least one chew thing every few days too, and they have plenty of boxes. Thanks for reassuring me nothing is wrong!! Always worried about them  |
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Post by blanknote on Aug 11, 2015 16:37:32 GMT -8
It doesn't damage them from our experience. Of course not every gerbil is going to damage their teeth (and I'm not sure how likely they are to do it, but I personally don't want to risk it), but there have been cases where gerbils have broken their teeth because of bar chewing. |
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Post by vexorg on Aug 11, 2015 23:04:36 GMT -8
You can't really stop them chewing the bars, or doing what they want. The white one (well dove one) is a real mad chewer, if you hold him then wave a bit of paper or card in front of him, he'll start chewing through it like mad.
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Post by asher on Aug 11, 2015 23:11:10 GMT -8
I actually ended up just taking the topper off for now, and Im hoping to sell it on craigslist... It was just awfully messy and not appealing to look at. Going to upgrade the 10 gallon to a 20 long asap. Plenty of cardboard in the cage for Rafe to chew on! Maybe she will finally take a liking to chewing that instead?
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Post by blanknote on Aug 14, 2015 3:15:50 GMT -8
You can't really stop them chewing the bars, or doing what they want. The white one (well dove one) is a real mad chewer, if you hold him then wave a bit of paper or card in front of him, he'll start chewing through it like mad. True. Usually the only way to stop them from chewing the bars is to put them in a tank without bars. |
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