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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 4, 2022 8:59:51 GMT -8
Most of you will already know this gerbil as the Really Assertive Pup but she actually has a name! Her name is Tilly (short for Matilda). I adopted her on New Year's Day from Gerbil and Rodent Rescue. I think she was their first adoption of the year. She was born at the rescue on 29th November. Any similarity between Tilly and Lily is entirely coincidental, by the way. I only realised how similar they sound after I chose the name!
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Post by betty on Jan 4, 2022 10:20:11 GMT -8
Hello Tilly!!
Can't wait to hear more about you (ie that you stop jumping on Daisy's head!!!).
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Post by elsaandanna on Jan 4, 2022 12:03:51 GMT -8
Hi Tilly!!
Yes, it might be a good idea to stop jumping on poor Daisy's head
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Post by Markpd on Jan 4, 2022 12:31:27 GMT -8
Lovely to meet her Now when will the bolshie little girl learn her place? Didn't know Tilly was short for Matilda! Not come across Tilly much, offhand I can only think of Tilly from Star Trek Discovery, but that's her surname.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 4, 2022 12:48:39 GMT -8
Lovely to meet her Now when will the bolshie little girl learn her place? Didn't know Tilly was short for Matilda! Not come across Tilly much, offhand I can only think of Tilly from Star Trek Discovery, but that's her surname. It's short for several names apparently, as well as being a stand-alone name. I liked Matilda because it means mighty in battle, which hopefully is not a meaning I will regret. The previous name I had picked out (Olive) symbolically means peace, which was completely wrong for her.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 4, 2022 12:53:22 GMT -8
Lol, yes let's hope!
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Thea
Member
Posts: 1,012
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Post by Thea on Jan 5, 2022 2:45:34 GMT -8
I love the name! And she's so cute. Hopefully she calms down a bit and can live peacefully with Daisy!
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 6, 2022 10:32:05 GMT -8
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Post by Markpd on Jan 6, 2022 10:48:00 GMT -8
Lovely pics , were they playing tug of war with the tube? And has Daisy managed to whip her into line?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 6, 2022 10:54:11 GMT -8
They were collaboratively chewing the tube!
According to the camera footage Tilly was good as gold last night. It would seem that Daisy has licked her into shape. Hopefully it continues once she reaches puberty at 8 weeks. The tank I used for the split is not a bad size (a medium Marrakesh - 75cm long) so I'm going to keep them in there until she's 8 or 9 weeks old and just add more bedding and enrichment. After that they'll be going into the large Marrakesh which is 95cm long, and ultimately into the Eco Habitat with the big topper.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 6, 2022 11:02:59 GMT -8
Great to hear That reminds me, re increasing their cage size in stages, how do you gauge when to give them more space? Or do you just do it after a certain amount of time's passed? I'm thinking perhaps we should add guidance like that into 1 of the FAQs (not sure which atm, lol). Perhaps you'd like to reply in the forum feedback thread?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 6, 2022 12:14:04 GMT -8
This is actually my first full split tank (I started another a few years ago but didn't go through with it) but I can answer from what I've read and from more general observations of gerbil behaviour. Most of what I've read says to keep them in the tank you did the split in for the first week at least. After that, you can consider moving them up a size if they seem well-bonded. Well-bonded gerbils are calm in each others' presence. They generally appear at ease around each other, whereas with a pair that's not doing so well, it seems like every little interaction is another power struggle. It's hard to describe, but a pair that's not doing well, generally doesn't seem happy or comfortable in each other's presence. Well-bonded gerbils will be sleeping in the same nest. I would say if gerbils aren't sharing a nest, the split hasn't been successful and moving them to a bigger tank definitely is not something you should be thinking about. Eating side-by-side, relaxed grooming, touching noses are good signs that can indicate happy gerbils. With relaxed grooming, the gerbils look relaxed and grooming will be over the whole body including the head, back and even tummy (the tummy is a very vulnerable area, if a gerbil willingly allows another to groom it there, I think it's a very good sign). There is also tense grooming where one gerbil (the dominant one or one that wants to be dominant) pins the other down and quite aggressively grooms the head and face. This isn't exactly a good thing, although it can happen sometimes even in a pair that's doing fine. If you see it a lot in a newly introduced pair I would think you need to wait before giving them more space though. I'm unsure whether with a newly introduced pair showing negative signs such as general tension, not sharing a nest, tense grooming etc, you would just leave them to sort it out, or put the divider back in and go back to swapping sides? I haven't ever had the situation so I'm not sure what the answer would be there, but it definitely wouldn't be to move them to a bigger tank.
As long as the gerbils continue to seem well-bonded, I think you can move them up a tank size every couple of weeks until you reach your final intended enclosure. Obviously you need to leave long enough between each move for them to settle in and see how they react. It's not just about the tank size either. Adding lots of new bedding and toys all at once could be an issue. In the first couple of weeks after removing the divider, you should add new things one at a time. After that, maybe you can be a bit freer but basically just don't go over the top and take them from a barely furnished split tank to an elaborate new setup. Also move over most of the old bedding whenever you move them to a new tank. You need to preserve their scent with every move.
It's ideal to increase tank size in moderate increments of 30-40cm at a time, but not everyone has tanks of assorted sizes available so some people might need to go straight from a 60cm split tank to a 120cm main tank. If I were in that situation, and I didn't want to make a tank divider, what I would do is move them to the bigger tank, but change nothing else. Move over the old bedding and keep the new to a minimum, which might mean the bedding is quite shallow to begin with but you can build it up after a few days. Move over the old toys and accessories but don't add any new for a few days, and then only one at a time. If there is an excessive size difference (say, going from 60cm split tank to a 160cm detolf), I'd personally feel more comfortable using a tank divider to introduce the space more gradually.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 6, 2022 12:31:03 GMT -8
Thanks for the detailed answer , and certainly worth having something like that in a FAQ. I'll copy our posts into the forum feedback thread so we don't threadjack your Tilly thread (also there's another question there waiting for you from last week ).
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 6, 2022 16:12:41 GMT -8
Daisy, who had got rather overweight when Lily was ill, is fulfilling her New Year's resolution of slimming down. She's gone from 110g a couple of weeks ago to 103g today. She is definitely more active since getting a new friend. It turns out running around after a pup burns quite a lot of calories!
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Post by Markpd on Jan 6, 2022 23:26:20 GMT -8
Lol, I bet, especially after how challenging Tilly was! , good to hear she's getting trim .
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