amura
Member
Learning!
Posts: 56
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Post by amura on Jan 7, 2022 10:09:51 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! I think it's the same with human pups  Tilly is very cute btw! |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 15, 2022 9:21:14 GMT -8
Tilly's still doing well and getting on great with Daisy. She's 6.5 weeks old now. She's more grown up in her behaviour and knows the proper way to behave around an older gerbil. Daisy is very good with her as well (Daisy is just a great gerbil all round - she's equally gentle and laid back with humans). She will steal treats from her, but I think that's just a perk of being a bigger gerbil! Tilly went into heat last night for (presumably) the first time. Daisy looked a bit bemused when Tilly kept presenting her rear end to her so I guess she's forgotten what it was like to be a young female gerbil. Or maybe, like me, she just didn't expect her to grow up so quickly.  |
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Post by Markpd on Jan 15, 2022 9:32:57 GMT -8
Lol, funny and cute  Great to hear they're getting on so well  Have you managed to get any close up shots of her? (bet it ain't easy! lol) |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 15, 2022 9:50:37 GMT -8
It definitely isn't easy! Old gerbils are so much more photogenic. I did get these photos today:   |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 27, 2022 17:38:33 GMT -8
The gerbils have moved into the main cage now, although only the tank part for now and with fairly shallow bedding (5-6 inches). If they behave they'll get new bedding in a few days. I decided to skip the Large Marrakesh step since the footprint isn't that much smaller than the Eco Habitat.   I've been trying to work out whether Daisy is still definitely the boss or whether Tilly might be taking over. Daisy has a very laissez-faire leadership style which makes it hard to detect whether she's actually in charge. The other day I saw Tilly grooming Daisy in what seemed a little like dominance grooming because it was mostly focused on the head, but Daisy seemed completely relaxed and ok with it. And I can tell Daisy has been getting a lot of grooming recently because she's covered in yellow staining (not urine, just porphyrins from saliva I think) which is easy to see against her light coat. Daisy also has a tendency to take the path of least resistance (or path of most peace and quiet) so it would not be out of character for her to capitulate at the first sign of Tilly wanting to usurp her. A peaceful transfer of dominance over to Tilly would probably be the outcome I would most prefer because it would leave no ambiguity for the future (Tilly is only going to get bigger and Daisy is only going to get older). Daisy has already decided that stealing food from Tilly is no longer worthwhile because she's now big enough to defend herself. Now if she sees Tilly eating something nice, she gives her a little nudge to see if she will give it up willingly, realises that the answer is no, and goes "oh ok then" and wanders off looking disappointed, which is so typical of her. |
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Post by Markpd on Jan 29, 2022 7:50:56 GMT -8
Lol, bless, they sound like an interesting match up . And a very cute photo of them together! |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 29, 2022 15:20:12 GMT -8
An interesting match indeed! Tilly seems to have become more assertive again since they've been in the larger tank, including some dominance grooming. She's coming up for 9 weeks old now so it can't be dismissed as pup attention seeking/bad manners anymore. I'll just keep an eye on it for now and hold off on adding anything new to the cage.
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Thea
Member
Posts: 1,012 
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Post by Thea on Jan 30, 2022 6:54:56 GMT -8
Glad it's going well! Hopefully Tilly settles down again now that they're in the larger tank as she did before. The photo of them snuggling together is gorgeous |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 12, 2022 11:08:59 GMT -8
The gerbils have graduated to having access to the first floor of the topper (and Tilly's doing much better as I've written about here) Daisy is a bit confused. She remembers there used to be a second floor to the topper but can't work out where it is! Tilly did something interesting. Lily used to have a particular spot behind the wheel where she climbed up the mesh to get to the second floor. I think one reason it was always that spot was because at first she used to brace herself with one foot against the mesh and one foot against the wheel stand. Eventually she learnt how to climb up using just the mesh, but always she went to the same spot through habit. The other reason was because it was the most convenient place to climb to get up to second floor, but Tilly wouldn't know that. Tilly went over the exactly that spot and starting climbing up the mesh and the wheel stand, so I guess great gerbil minds think alike! Tilly has already shown herself to be a very good climber, probably even better than Lily ever was.   |
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Post by Markpd on Feb 14, 2022 12:33:22 GMT -8
Good to hear Tilly exploring the opened floor and that they're (mostly!) still getting on well  |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 14, 2022 14:25:33 GMT -8
The gerbils were doing so well I decided to give them the second floor tonight rather than waiting another week. This is Tilly descending from the top floor, the unconventional way: imgur.com/oKlK7kAIt was always a source of confusion for Lily, why if she could climb up the mesh, she couldn't climb down the same way? She often used to try, but always backed out when she realised that plummeting down head first probably wasn't a good idea. Tilly isn't so sensible. I think Tilly will be really happy when I've put all the little ledges etc in in a couple of days. She loves climbing and heights. Every toy I give her, she finds a way to climb on top of it. |
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Post by elsaandanna on Feb 15, 2022 12:16:04 GMT -8
Oh wow! I couldn't see her at first, she blends into the background! Anna does the same to get up to the second layer of their cage, but she goes down the normal way |
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Post by Markpd on Feb 15, 2022 13:06:38 GMT -8
Ah yea, I couldn't see her at all until she was on the lower floor.
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Post by gerbilord on Feb 21, 2022 8:44:19 GMT -8
Lovely to meet you Tilly! What a cutie. :D
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 23, 2022 11:26:38 GMT -8
Tilly is 12 weeks old now, so officially an adult! As you can see, she still has lots of growing to do to catch up with Daisy:   Now that they have a fully furnished tank and topper, everything is going really well between her and Daisy. Tilly's behaviour is almost perfect again. I wish I knew what Tilly's mother and siblings were like, whether Tilly's behaviour was something she learnt from her mother, or just an individual thing. |
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