Post by nippy on Jan 26, 2017 5:09:23 GMT -8
I'm painting my walls so my two little ladies moved into the lounge for a couple of nights, where I already have a lovely old gerbil couple of about 3 years called Bill and Tessie. One of the young ladies came into heat that evening but I still really wanted to let my old couple on their evening free-range.
Cue Bill perching on the couch next to the young ladie's tank and trying to find a way up there. He doesn't seem frustrated or distressed so I let him continue while keeping a close eye on him. His 'wife' Tessie gerbil comes into view and immediately Bill stops what he's doing, moves several steps away from the tank and watches Tessie like a hawk until she dissappears under the armchair. As soon as she does, Bill starts trying for a way up to the tank again! That is, until Tessie reappears and Bill once again stops, steps back and watches her until she goes on her merry way! She almost (unknowingly) caught him out a few times and, my, did he jump away super quickly.
This above continued for a while until Bill gave up and now my young ladies are back where they belong in the bedroom. I've heard of wild gerbil mates being unfaithful behind each other's back but I've never seen anything like it before! It was remarkable to watch. I know gerbils are very social animals but until now I only had same sex pairs so perhaps I've been missing out on quite a bit of their range of behaviour.
So, am I alone or does anybody else have sneaky gerbils? I've had a few 'waiting by the door and rushing through it' gerbils (and rats!).
Cue Bill perching on the couch next to the young ladie's tank and trying to find a way up there. He doesn't seem frustrated or distressed so I let him continue while keeping a close eye on him. His 'wife' Tessie gerbil comes into view and immediately Bill stops what he's doing, moves several steps away from the tank and watches Tessie like a hawk until she dissappears under the armchair. As soon as she does, Bill starts trying for a way up to the tank again! That is, until Tessie reappears and Bill once again stops, steps back and watches her until she goes on her merry way! She almost (unknowingly) caught him out a few times and, my, did he jump away super quickly.
This above continued for a while until Bill gave up and now my young ladies are back where they belong in the bedroom. I've heard of wild gerbil mates being unfaithful behind each other's back but I've never seen anything like it before! It was remarkable to watch. I know gerbils are very social animals but until now I only had same sex pairs so perhaps I've been missing out on quite a bit of their range of behaviour.
So, am I alone or does anybody else have sneaky gerbils? I've had a few 'waiting by the door and rushing through it' gerbils (and rats!).