gerbil's been in sandbath for like 20 hours?

[tacobagel]

hi so, in my other post i said that one of my gerbils froggy died, and i'm sad to say about a week ago my sister found my other gerbil tadpole dead, i'm not sure how, but i heard that gerbils can die quite suddenly

so yesterday i got three new boys, and at first they were fine, exploring the cage and whatnot, but then, one of them, doodle, found the sand bath, at this point he's been in there for over 20 hours, when i went to sleep last night he was there and when i woke up today he was still there, and he's still just in there, his brothers made a burrow and slept there, and i don't think he's having problems getting along with the other gerbils as they've come up to the level the sand bath is on and got in the sand bath with him, they seem happy together, and as for doodle, he doesn't seem sickly at all, he's just been in there acting normal

i'm not sure if this is bcos of stress from moving or what? is this normal? i'm still very new to owning gerbils so if anyone could help that would be appreciated

edit: he did just get out of it for a second to grab some food but jumped straight back in

[barryozzy]

very sad about Froggy and Tadpole dying 

I do not have much idea, but maybe it is similar to when stressed cats will sleep in the litter box? Does he have tunnels or other hides? If there are other hides maybe you could move them near the sand bath so he will see them and think they are better for staying in. 

[betty]

Hello tacobagel - and looks like it could be one of two things:

As mentioned above it could just be the first few nights of a new enclosure - and he just needs time. Tunnels. tubes and a house up top could all help entice him out and keep him feeling safe - maybe some really easy things to chew like pieces of cardboard and shredded paper aorund him.

Secondly, it could be that he isn't best friends with the other two gerbils for some reason. Were they already a trio before you bought them or were they in larger or smaller groups beforehand? Are they all from the same litter or at least all the exact same age? Do you know anything about where they were before you got them? Sometimes if the pair are already friends and a new one is added - they might not feel safe with them straight away.

Let's hope it is just the first option though...

[Thea]

I remember when I first got my boys, one sat in the food bowl for around 12 hours - not as long, but I think we finally got him down with some food and cardboard. It was definitely stress. Hopefully this is a similar situation to that?

Hope it goes well with your new gerbils