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Post by cathy123 on Aug 2, 2015 12:55:15 GMT -8
I just went to check on Tom and Jake and I saw Tom sitting on the top platform with blood all over his face and side. Jake had blood on the underside of him. I split caged them in February and they were getting on great. I have put them back into the split cage to recover. So I guess I want to know if they will ever be friends again and are they even likely to survive. Also,Tom is looking a bit thin so is there any type of food that would make him a more healthy weight?
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Post by jumpyspeedyrule on Aug 2, 2015 15:39:45 GMT -8
Good luck! Does your profile pic mean they are buddies? This is why I like to get siblings :/
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Post by cathy123 on Aug 2, 2015 21:56:23 GMT -8
They WERE buddies and now they're not.  I think they will be okay because they are both eating and drinking. |
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Post by jumpyspeedyrule on Aug 5, 2015 17:01:17 GMT -8
Sorry  its always sad to see lone gerbils |
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Post by crittercrazy on Aug 5, 2015 18:45:46 GMT -8
Cathy123- After a declan, its unlikely you'll be able to re-introduce them. I'm guessing they'll both make it though; gerbils are pretty tough! Since its been a few days, are they still doing okay? Jumpyspeedyrule- Are you saying you like to get siblings so that declans don't happen? I don't think it makes a difference whether or not gerbils are related, they can still fight as far as I know. Both friends and siblings can be pretty annoying sometimes, in my experience.  |
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Post by betty on Aug 5, 2015 23:51:45 GMT -8
I would also say it is likely they will never get on again after that bust up. Also even though they are both eating, I would still weigh Tom. Sometimes, if the declan has been brewing for quite a while, it can be really stressful and he may have lost a lot of weight leading up to the fight you saw. Also, by weighing him now, you can check he doesn't lose anymore weight, as weight loss is sometimes difficult to see just by looking.
I have found myself that (proven) sibling gerbils in pairs are most likely to stay together through thick and thin. Also multiple sibling males with their dad seem to last till death too. I have not yet had unrelated gerbils live together for their entire lives. Obviously, the combined effect of my care, my housing and my actual gerbils is unique, so it might be that this is only true for me.
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Post by cathy123 on Aug 6, 2015 0:09:07 GMT -8
Thanks everyone,they're both doing alright now and the bite on Tom's head looks almost normal again. I've bought a new cage now because Jake seems to be trying to attack Tom through the mesh:-(. I think the declan was partly my fault because I have been so busy, I didn't have time to put them in the playpen so their energy and frustration must have built up.
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Post by betty on Aug 6, 2015 0:50:02 GMT -8
I don't think you should blame yourself for their frustration - it may have been that they have been building up to this for some time as only because you were busy you didn't always see the signs. And leaving them so close afterwards was bound to cause more stress between them.
However, some of mine have declanned when I HAVE been there watching them all the time and they gave no sign that I could see - and I am quite good at spotting these things usually.
So it has happened to us all at some point. It's just something in gerbil world that we will never quite understand.
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Post by cathy123 on Aug 6, 2015 1:44:24 GMT -8
Thanks Betty, that makes me feel a bit better about it.  I had no choice but to put the divider in because I don't have another cage (well, I do now because it's arriving today ). |
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Post by crittercrazy on Aug 6, 2015 6:19:52 GMT -8
I have found myself that (proven) sibling gerbils in pairs are most likely to stay together through thick and thin. Also multiple sibling males with their dad seem to last till death too. I have not yet had unrelated gerbils live together for their entire lives. Obviously, the combined effect of my care, my housing and my actual gerbils is unique, so it might be that this is only true for me. Really? That's interesting. Based off the recent post on what usually causes a declan, I wouldn't have thought it would make much difference whether the gerbils were related or not. I've never had any declans and a lot of my pairs aren't/weren't related, so I guess I figured it was random. |
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Post by lsardou on Aug 8, 2015 8:35:31 GMT -8
@ Crittercrazy, Could you link me to the post on 'declanning'? I'm interested in learning what the signs and causes are just in case.
Thank you.
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Post by crittercrazy on Aug 8, 2015 9:10:52 GMT -8
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Post by lsardou on Aug 8, 2015 15:09:02 GMT -8
Thank you!
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its always sad to see lone gerbils 
I had no choice but to put the divider in because I don't have another cage (well, I do now because it's arriving today 