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Post by Markpd on Sept 2, 2020 12:31:11 GMT -8
After betty mentioned we don't hear much about good/fun Gerbil behaviour here I thought I'd post a link to a video I captured of them running together on the wheel yesterday (I might post it to YouTube too), they've only just started running on it together and generally prefer to take turns (very polite their at least! ). But because they're quite new to it their synchronisation isn't great! Avon = Burmese Blake = Agouti They're 3mths old.
The video is ~5mins long, but if you want to skip to the good bits, go to 1:35s (Blake hasn't heard of waiting for the train to stop! ), 1:57s (Blake's holding the brakes on!), 3:59s (acrobatics by Avon! ), these guys crack me up sometimes! Btw, Avon has broken his 15s sprint record now and has managed ~18s (he loves the wheel now! ).
Apologies for any cutesy talk (and laughing at them! But I couldn't help it! ).
As you would have noticed they don't get very good traction on the sold metal wheel (by Tictac), although they've more or less got used to it, I am going to glue on some cork strips (thanks to LilyandDaisy for that idea ), I shall be using non toxic (washable) PVA glue for it. Oh and sometimes they managed to flip themselves!
On a different note, I've noticed for about the past week or so they've started scent marking, and seem to be squabbling somewhat more (hard to quantify how much), is this normal 'teenage' boisterous behaviour?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 2, 2020 13:14:50 GMT -8
So good to see they've worked out the wheel! They're doing better with it than my gerbils. I have a Youtube channel where I post the occasional gerbil or hamster clip. LilyandDaisy You could do the same for your gerbils.
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Post by Markpd on Sept 3, 2020 11:49:21 GMT -8
Just watched the ones I hadn't seen, very cute . I already have a Youtube account (Assimilator1), so I'll just use that. What do you reckon about my gerbils behaviour question?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 3, 2020 12:03:24 GMT -8
I think that behaviour is normal for "teenage" gerbils. If the squabbling looks like boxing it's not really anything to worry about. You might start to see a dominant gerbil clearly emerging, if you haven't already.
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Post by Markpd on Sept 3, 2020 12:33:25 GMT -8
I think possibly Avon, but I'm not sure tbh. Btw, he's obsessed with running on the wheel now! lol.I think he's been mostly on it the past 3hrs! Doesn't look tired!
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Post by Markpd on Sept 3, 2020 13:33:24 GMT -8
Err, he's still running on it! Should I be concerned?? Or is this a typical 5 mile night run that rodents sometimes do?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 3, 2020 13:38:24 GMT -8
Is he running on and off between doing other things, or just solidly running for four hours? If the latter I would probably remove it for a few hours or overnight.
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Post by gerbilord on Sept 3, 2020 13:41:31 GMT -8
hee hee they sound so much like my gerbils - they also run for hours... sometimes they just do it for attention. But four hours... surely they're tired? They might just drop off to sleep on the wheel XD
Maybe they're just exited by it? When Merry first learnt how to use the wheel, she was on it so often and I think it was because of the Adrenalin rush, or the fun of the never-ending path...
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Post by Markpd on Sept 3, 2020 15:16:08 GMT -8
Lol, yea maybe they are just excited , oh, as below, now up to 5 1/2 hrs!! Although Avon has now been on a break for 10mins and allowed Blake to be on it permanently in that time. Funny you mention them just falling asleep on it, Avon didn't quite do that earlier, but he came off the wheel and sat for a bit, and I saw his eyelids droop, I wondered if he was ok which grabed his attention and stirred him, he then jumped straight back on the wheel! So I think he was tired, he was still on the wheel when Blake was sleeping for a couple of hours. LilyandDaisy Hmm, kind of inbetween, so since about 6.30pm (5 1/2hrs now!!), Avon will run flat out for about 5-10s typically, stop, jump off, hop around the wheel (sometimes having a nibble and a quick drink) then jump straight back on it, so often only a 20-30s break I guess. Just in the past hour or so though Blake has been going on the wheel much more ( he wasn't much earlier, and he slept for a couple of hours), so Avon is having longer breaks now (they're still not synching up great when they run together, so they don't run in pairs for long). Btw Blake is ballistically fast on the wheel! He goes so fast (for shorter bursts than Avon) that the slight imbalance in the wheel causes the base to shake slightly, and if he stops dead, he doesn't just flip, he gets spun a full 360+ degrees!! lmao! (man, I've got to film that!). And on one occasion it threw him out! Eek! He seems to be learning to slow down more gradually again since then!
[edit] Avon hasn't been on the wheel since about midnight and appears to have gone to sleep now, I think I'll leave the wheel be for Blake to have his fun .
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Post by gerbilord on Sept 4, 2020 0:24:39 GMT -8
hmm well if it does become excessive then I agree that it would be best to take the wheel out at least for a little while so they calm down, do other things... I've honestly never heard of gerbils so attached to their wheel! -they seem like little children with way too much energy to me... about the flipping, have you ever seen this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGOTIt2wJXs -hamsters also seem to love their wheel...
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Pim
Member
Posts: 346
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Post by Pim on Sept 4, 2020 6:33:22 GMT -8
haha that video is cute sad to see them in such bad conditions at one point there was like 20 hamsters in there
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Post by gerbilord on Sept 4, 2020 6:46:58 GMT -8
I agree, you'd think the bbc would know better huh. They even said in the video "they aren't very sociable" or something, and yet have them all together in a small cage.
(I also felt a twinge of pain for that hamster that was bashed around on the wheel on its back, side... surely that must hurt?)
Still a cute video, needed improvement.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 4, 2020 7:34:28 GMT -8
They aren't Russian hamsters either, they're Roborovski!
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Post by Markpd on Sept 4, 2020 9:48:37 GMT -8
haha that video is cute sad to see them in such bad conditions at one point there was like 20 hamsters in there Yea very cute , didn't see anywhere near 20 hamsters though, only 3 in that clip, are you referring to the full program? (I've not seen it).
gerbilord Yea I winced too, although I bet it was back on soon after! Lol, that said, I think a wheel without a hub sticking out would be better. And that hamster's 5 spins easily beats Blakes 1 and a bit!
Btw, as we speak Avon is back on the wheel, although not consistently as yesterday, I think lol....
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Post by gerbilord on Sept 4, 2020 9:57:59 GMT -8
Apparently the wheels with the front closed off (like the silent runner or trixie one) are specially designed to stop hamsters being flung out while they flip, but I always wonder why that's seen as a good thing, because then they'll be flung against the hard plastic front? Hmm
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