Nervous to change the bedding

[wonderz]

My boys cage hasn't been changed in about 2 months. I've just gone in and spot cleaned a bit so it wouldn't smell. I really want to fully change the bedding because of how long its been, but I'm worried that they could declan. I took them out one night to play and saw Dale rubbing his belly on the floor a few times in one corner, at the time I didn't know what that meant. After a few minutes, Tucker made is way in that area and Dale noticed and came over. All of a sudden they got into a ball and started to fight, which I knew wasn't a good sign. I immediately separated them and put them back in their tank. I started looking on the internet to find out what caused that to happen and learned that gerbils will claim territory by rubbing their scent glands on things. They haven't fought since. Only played and groomed so I think their relationship has gotten better but its hard to tell.

I also learned that every pair of gerbils has a dominant one, so I've been keeping my eye on them for a little while now and haven't taken them out since the fight. At night, sometimes I can hear them squeaking when they are by the wheel. When I flick on the light I can tell Tucker wants to be on the wheel but Dale is hogging it so they start squeaking like they're having an argument. One time they were even running together because neither of them wanted to give it up. I could tell that Dale is the dominant one out of the two because of how much time he spends on the wheel, but I feel like Tucker wants to be too. It's only every so often that Dale will let Tucker on the wheel. Is this a bad sign? I actually took the wheel out one night, which helped their relationship, but Dale got so bored we started chewing and climbing the bars. This is because he doesn't really chew cardboard or search for food as much as Tucker does. 

Anyways, since they like to argue I'm afraid they will if I change the cage...what should I do? 

[LilyandDaisy]

Some gerbils will argue outside their tank but be fine in the tank. If it happens a lot you might need to stop letting them out together. You can try letting them out separately but watch them closely for the first few minutes after putting one back as sometimes the gerbil that's been out will be harassed by the other on their return.

It's not necessarily a bad sign that they argue over the wheel. Gerbils are pretty selfish animals and will argue over things like food and toys, and steal from each other. If it ever escalates into something more serious such as chasing or one gerbil pinning the other down you should remove the wheel. You could try giving them a second wheel so they can both run at the same time.

As for the bedding, the main issues are dust and whether the bedding smells. What you could do is go through all the bedding handful by handful, throw away any handfuls that smell and keep any that look clean. Also shake out any dust and clean out the dust and debris from the bottom of the empty tank. Then put back the clean bedding, which will likely be most of it and mix in the new. If bedding is clean and not dusty, it really doesn't need to be changed at all even if it's been in there for months.

[wonderz]

Okay, I'll just take them out together a few more times and if they start fighting, I'll just do one by one like you said.

I was actually thinking of buying another topper with a wheel but was afraid they would each claim one. I think the topper I have now has enough room for a second one though, so I'll have to think about that.

As for the bedding, I'm glad to know that I can still use old clean bedding and that it will last a long time because thats what I've been doing. Grabbing handfuls and throwing away the handfuls that smell and then mixing in new bedding.
How could I shake the dust out of the bedding?

Thanks!

[Markpd]

I think the shaking the dust was meant when fully emptying the tank, so you would store the good old bedding somewhere else, then remove the dust and debris from the bottom of the tank.

If you were to give them a 2nd wheel, and if each one claimed a wheel each, as long as they stick to their own one, they should be find with them then .

[LilyandDaisy]

I meant to shake each handful of clean bedding to get rid of some of the dust but on second thoughts it's probably not worth the effort because most dust sinks to the bottom of the tank!

I'm not sure whether it's good for gerbils in a pair to have individual possessions such as a wheel each (it doesn't exactly promote bondedness) so personally if I gave my gerbils two wheels and they each claimed one, I would probably remove both wheels for a while.

[wonderz]

Oh okay   Thank you!