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Post by suy on Sept 6, 2020 14:11:25 GMT -8
Needed a place to diarise my lessons as a first time gerbil owner. Thought this probably would be a good place.
Adopted a pair of one-year old gerbils yesterday, named Temujin and Ogedei after the first two Great Khans of the Mongol Empire (a play on the fact these are Mongolian gerbils).
Ogedei is definitely the dominant one. He’s bigger and I believed I saw him scent marking, rubbing his belly on the surfaces of everywhere. He shows a lot of stereotypically digging in the corner, which he did a lot on the first day. I left the enclosure reasonably simple, as I’ve read it’s good not to overload them on the first day.
On the second day, I placed in the enclosure stuff I ordered from getzoo.de, first some flax spray, and then some nibble branches. They absolutely destroyed them. Ogedei is always first on the scene. This activity seemed to really calm him down, and I haven’t seen him dig at the glass at all today. They both retreated back to their hide, I presume to sleep after such intense activity.
Temujin is definitely the stronger digger. I removed a large cork bark piece, as he was trying to dig behind it. Now he’s starting to build tunnels at the front.
Tried introducing a wheel today. They didn’t use it. I will need to remove some bedding and find a good place. Thankfully, this wheel is height-adjustable, but will need some bendy bridges to section off a place for it (or cut the cork bark piece in half as it’s too big for this).
They get startled quite easily when I’m walking through the room. Have learned to announce myself. Have also moved furniture so there is more distance between us in the day-to-day.
Dislikes - Tomato (not interested) - Dill, Caraway and Fennel sticks (not interested) - Willow sticks (not interested... maybe too big?)
Likes - Nibble sticks (enjoyed) - Flax spray (enjoyed) - Cheese (Temujin seemed keen)
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Post by Markpd on Sept 7, 2020 13:50:05 GMT -8
Lol, re announcing yourself, yea I had to do the same too for mine, Blake was especially jumpy! Re the wheel, although mine kind of hopped on it occasionally right from when I got them (~1mth ago), it wasn't until about last week that they finally used it properly. Stick with it I say. Btw, my Avon turns his nose up at Sunflower seeds now! Good to hear you got him out corner digging . Both mine started to do it when I temporarily moved the wheel out of the cage (to glue cork in), they also chewed like crazy until it was back! lol What's flax spray?
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Post by suy on Sept 8, 2020 8:15:06 GMT -8
Hey Mark Here’s an example of flax spray. It’s like grass with a big seed on top. They went crazy for them. sg.carousell.com/p/flax-sprays-for-hamsters-259256764/Thanks for the tip re: wheel. Later this week, I’ll see if they are ready to handle, so I can move them and rearrange their enclosure so I can put the wheel back in. Sadly, they’ve both gone back to stereotypical digging. I gave them a huge piece of carton, and chewing it seems to take their mind off of things. It’s a really exciting journey to be learning about what they like and what will help them not dig in corners too much. I’m hoping them learning how to use the wheel will really help with this.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 8, 2020 8:30:35 GMT -8
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Post by Markpd on Sept 8, 2020 10:11:34 GMT -8
Nice one, thanks guys , I'll check that out. [edit] I have a feeling the local Squires garden ctr has that exact one (was their nosing around a few days ago), annoyingly they don't show what they stock online .
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Pim
Member
Posts: 346
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Post by Pim on Sept 8, 2020 11:55:59 GMT -8
Isn't tomato toxic? I though it was! Or at least not good for them because of the acidity.
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Post by suy on Sept 8, 2020 14:27:55 GMT -8
This was the info I read on tomatoes. www.gerbilwelfare.com/are-gerbils-allowed-tomatoes/But I actually found out they didn’t finish the piece of tomato. So I won’t be offering it to them. I’m going to try a few peas next time. I think Ogedei is still pretty stressed at the move, especially after I read this. www.gerbilwelfare.com/signs-of-stress-in-gerbils/He seems a bit skittish when I open and close the tank lid, even though I do announce me being there. I don’t think he likes me looking at him. He also ignored my offer of corn cob (whilst Temujin was literally grabbing and holding onto it for dear life). Also, his nose seems a touch redder than I remember. I’ve read that porphyrin can appear as a result of stress. Of note, he does spend quite a bit of time outside the tunnels and hides, and is active with chewing a lot of carton, so it isn’t terribly bad. I’m thinking it’s just stress from the move. But I’ll keep an eye out for the nose. If it gets worse, I might need to take him to a vet. I also might put some paper up, so they don’t see me looking into the tank from across the room. It is a brilliant distraction for me whilst I’m working from home, but seeing them outside does encourage me to hang out the tank, which might be stressing Ogedei out. Likes: - corn cob (Temujin) - chewing on carton (Ogedei)
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 8, 2020 14:30:13 GMT -8
Tomato isn't toxic if you only feed them ripe and without the green top or leaves.
The acidity thing is a bit odd. On the spectrum of acidic fruits and vegetables apples, grapes and berries are more acidic than both tomatoes and oranges but nobody worries about them. Mine love a bit of tomato (only the fleshy part, not the gel or seeds) or even a tiny sac of juice from an orange occasionally. Vegetables and herbs are much better for them of course.
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Post by suy on Sept 9, 2020 4:03:56 GMT -8
Day 5: Thankfully Ogedei’s red nose cleared up today. But he definitely appears more skittish and nervous around me than before. He just seems really restless. I’m hoping when I introduce the wheel later this weekend, that will help him. Any advice would be helpful.
Tried feeding some millet spray by hanging it above and moving it, and they both accepted it, which is positive.
Wanted to see if Temujin was ready to step on my hand to eat the millet spray, but he wasn’t. I have to remind myself it’s just day 5, so still early days.
I’ve covered the front of the tank with some brown paper, which will stop me staring into the tank, which may have unnerved them.
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Post by Markpd on Sept 9, 2020 11:06:22 GMT -8
I was finding (until very recently) that Blake would bolt the instant I looked round at the tank! Lol, at least if I hadn't looked in a while. Wasn't so much a problem if I been sat near the tank a while or already looking that way, they also didn't like to be 'stared' at. Might help to not hold your gaze on them directly for longer than a second or 2? Also I found after about a week here they became more skittish than at the beginning, took a further couple of weeks or so for them to chill out again, especially Blake! Avon will walk over my hand now, but Blake generally won't, but neither are bothered if my hand is next to them , but they hop away if I try to stroke them, lol. Oh, I've had them for 1 mth and a week (ish).
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Post by suy on Sept 9, 2020 11:41:44 GMT -8
Thanks Mark. Was starting to get concerned I was doing something wrong. I’ll let it all play out for now.
Ogedei has red eyes, and I wonder if his poor eyesight has anything to do with it.
Also, there’s some good threads on here about taming.
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Post by Markpd on Sept 9, 2020 13:55:39 GMT -8
No probs . Yea I need to check them out again myself, still wondering if I should be further along with my babies or not
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Post by suy on Sept 12, 2020 10:31:49 GMT -8
Now had Temujin and Ogedei (now nicknamed Tem and Ogi by my girlfriend) for a week, I decided to rearrange their enclosure to fit their running wheel. I used the large section of bark to section off the high bedding away from the wheel, with a wooden tunnel to help prop it up.
Put them in the playpen so I could make the changes, and they definitely freaked out. Even moving them out of the enclosure was hard (used the bottom half of the carry case). Putting some of their bedding helped calm them down, although they did begin to tear a hole in the playpen. Not sure if I would use again.
Removed some of the bedding to help with taming too, keeping just one section at 8-10 inches.
Their house hide originally had hemp, some paper bedding and hay. I opened it for the first time, and it’s pretty much just paper bedding. I think Temujin was working furiously the get rid of all the hemp and hay, as I didn’t see much of him in the beginning, but now see him quite a bit.
Changing their environment definitely kept them engaged. Haven’t seen Ogedei do any stereotypical digging today.
Likes: - paper bedding only in their hide - banana treats (Temujin)
Hates: - Being moved
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Post by suy on Sept 13, 2020 22:26:54 GMT -8
Just a bit worried after the layout change on Saturday.
Ogedei either seems more settled or more lethargic. I’ve only had him a week, so I can’t tell. Also, the red porphyrin has come back on his nose.
Some behavioural changes.
- I previously observed Ogedei to be the dominant one. Doing a lot of scent gland marking, spending a lot of time up top and lots of chewing. Whilst Temujin was the submissive one, only coming up to really eat and go to the toilet.
- They both used to sleep in the submerged house as their nest. But yesterday and today, Temujin often leaves to sleep alone in the coconut hide, with Ogedei coming to sleep with him, which they do for a bit. And then afterwards, Temujin leaves to go underneath. This cycle repeats. I’ve removed the coconut hide for now to see if that improves the situation.
- I saw them squabble over the sand bath. Nothing vicious. But they definitely didn’t enjoy sharing (maybe I should get one of those big chinchilla sand baths).
- Ogedei doesn’t chew as often as he used to. I can’t tell it’s if because he’s more settled or because he’s ill
- I observed Temujin try to mount Ogedei. Ogedei is still bigger than Temujin, and got away. But is Temujin trying to make a play for dominance because he senses Ogedei is ill, or is it just normal play?
- I can’t say for certain it’s illness because it’s only been a week. I did try to listen for laboured “clicking” breathing in Ogedei, but nothing.
Any advice on gerbil illness or gerbils just becoming more chilled or red noses would be welcomed. Or am I being one of those paranoid parents at the sight of anything possibly wrong?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Sept 13, 2020 23:35:35 GMT -8
Ogedei could have an allergy to the bedding or nesting material. You said you were using hay so that might be the first thing to exclude as others have had issues with it.
It might help to remove all but one of the houses and hides, so they only have one place they can nest. I had a similar issue with Rocket and Storm, when they started sleeping separately so I left them just one large house and they started nesting together again.
What kind of sand bath do you have? If it's a jar with a narrower entrance you could see if an open dish or one of the chinchilla bath houses with two entrances helps.
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