HELP (gerbil question)

[kaitlynmoore2007]

Hi I bought a you and me tank topper from petco for my gerbils and got something to cover the mesh floors with I gave it to my gerbils and the were chasing each other last night I took it off and they were fine. I don't know what to do! Any suggestions.

[tuftsnfluff]

Hey there!

There are some cases with these wire tank toppers, on top of a tank to make it larger, that has caused issues and sometimes de-clanning.

The possible theory is that it causes too much space and, since it has a "floor" - can be considered a whole nother area that a gerbil can make into a "territory".

One claims the upper mesh part, and the other the bottom tank part, but because of gerbils social society, they strive to want to be with each other.

But when they do though,  like one going down to the other or one going up, it causes a territory issue and chasing and possibly fighting occurs.

Many people also have used these though, and they never have a problem.  I personally, have never used them.

I suppose it depends on the particular gerbils.

If this happens the moment you place the tank topper on the tank or cage, it could be that its new and unknown and its startling or frightening the gerbils at first.

It could be causing confusion and so they chase each other around.   They might need to have some time to get used to it.

Try putting the tank topper on and then set the tank where you can glance over easily to watch for a bit.

Do they eventually calm down after the initial surprise or confusion?   Do they continue to chase? 

Are they picking on each other, side arching, or worse case scenario, starting to ball up?

As long as there is no fighting where they roll up into a ball - as this would require instant intervention- then if they don't seem to calm down after an hour, I wouldn't use the tank topper.

Hope this helps!

[oddball]

One thing I've found helped with giving existing pairs a topper is placing similar smells of the bottom to the top. By this, I mean if they have a wheel/hunt/saucer/favorite hide(something they've had that the smell is already familiar to them) and placing it and some bedding on the top. Though I personally don't keep pairs with toppers often (I like to use them for single gerbils for better socialization with them), I've found having the new environment added makes them see it almost like unknown unclaimed territory just like tuftsnfluff said. Hopefully everything turns out well and they like their topper!