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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 1, 2022 4:31:23 GMT -8
After Daisy died at the end of April I got in touch with a lovely breeder and reserved a grey agouti pup called Astra to introduce to Tilly. She arrived last Friday. Unfortunately... Tilly was not having it. She was really aggressive towards Astra (separated by mesh of course), and generally very agitated and even after a few days of swapping sides, it got worse not better. The only time Tilly was calm was when Astra was asleep. I and the breeder both felt that it wasn't fair on Astra to live like this. So today she brought me Astra's sister and they have settled down together, despite 5 days apart. Here are Astra and her as yet unnamed agouti sister. They are 7 weeks old. This breeder names all her pups, and tries to teach them to recognise their names, and I decided to keep Astra's name (she answers to it) but the sister doesn't know her name so I think I will change it. Suggestions are welcome. As for Tilly, she panics easily and hates confined spaces, so I think she isn't suited to the "short and intense" split cage method. I'm going to try a gentler method, involving splitting a larger tank, and giving them deep bedding and enrichment, and not swapping them to begin with. This might take several weeks, and obviously wouldn't be fair on a young pup who needs company to continue developing properly. The breeder was also generous enough to bring me a older female, 9 weeks old, for this purpose. I do hope Tilly will accept her in time. Tilly is really scared and skittish when she's alone, so it would be sad if she had to remain so because she can't accept another gerbil. If it doesn't work out, the new gerbil will be returned to the breeder, so I won't introduce her or name her yet!
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Post by Markpd on Jun 1, 2022 15:59:55 GMT -8
That's a shame Tilly didn't take to Astra, very weird! I hope it works out with the older female. And those sisters are gorgeous , glad they got along again so easily . Afraid I'm not much use with names, especially completely unguided. Although one springs to mind! Seeing as she's agouti, she of course reminds me of Blake, well in Blakes 7 one of Blakes ship mates is a woman called Cally. Take it or leave it
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 2, 2022 5:10:49 GMT -8
It is weird, but then, Tilly is weird.
Hmm... Cally, I'll think about it!
Usually I find I brainstorm lots of names, and one just fits, but I haven't found that name yet.
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Post by Mygerbiliscute on Jun 2, 2022 11:21:22 GMT -8
According to Google, "Astra" is an American launch vehicle company located in Alameda, California. Perhaps it would be fitting to name Astra's companion "Alameda".
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 2, 2022 13:31:21 GMT -8
According to Google, "Astra" is an American launch vehicle company located in Alameda, California. Perhaps it would be fitting to name Astra's companion "Alameda". It's a bit of a mouthful! Maybe Ally for short I love this little agouti so much already. She's bold and dominant, and very friendly with people. I think she will grow into a big personality. Astra will probably be more easy going.
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Post by betty on Jun 3, 2022 6:25:07 GMT -8
In the UK Vauxhall make the Astra - they also make Cadet, Calibra, Mokka, Nova and Viva (amongst others).
Nerdy I know...
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 3, 2022 13:07:38 GMT -8
Little agouti finally has a name! She's called Twiglet.
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Thea
Member
Posts: 1,012
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Post by Thea on Jun 4, 2022 23:46:27 GMT -8
Astra and Twiglet are such beautiful gerbils! They remind me a lot of Storme and Rolo as they were the same colours And the names suit them very well! It's a shame that Astra and Tilly didn't work - fingers crossed that a gerbil does end up working for Tilly.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 6, 2022 7:34:12 GMT -8
Markpd I remember a while ago you said that one of your gerbils tends to run with his head outside the wheel? Little Astra does that too. I started them out with a 17cm wheel since they were so small, and it was getting a bit cramped for them, so at first I thought it was just because the wheel was too small. I've given them a 20cm wheel now which should be ok for the next couple of weeks at least, and she still does it. Maybe it's just something that some gerbils like to do?
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Post by Markpd on Jun 7, 2022 5:40:30 GMT -8
Cute pics, and good name Re running with head out of the wheel, now that you mention it, I'm not sure that Avon does it anymore! Lol, and he has the same wheel still. I'll have to watch him closely and LYK. But yea, maybe some gerbils do just like to do that!?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 7, 2022 14:11:46 GMT -8
Tilly and her new neighbour are doing... ok, I think? I didn't think that Tilly was ready to be next to another gerbil, separated only by single mesh, so soon after the last experience which obviously really upset her, so I put them in barred cages a few centimetres apart. Then I gradually moved the cages closer together, until they were touching, forming a kind of double-mesh split. Tilly managed to calm down enough to tolerate the other gerbil just existing near her, and in the last couple of days actually showed quite a bit of curiosity towards her. She was spending a lot of time waiting around at the side of cage, though I wasn't totally sure whether she was "guarding" her space or whether she was hoping to see the other gerbil, but her body language was less tense than it had been previously. She was still very touchy and wary. They would often greet each other but sometimes Tilly would then take offence to something and give the bars a good rattle. I think this was a warning rather than a genuine attempt to get through the bars, because it never lasted very long. Today I put them in the split 90cm tank, with relatively deep bedding, houses and a wheel on Tilly's side. At first Tilly was very anxious and aggressive towards the mesh every time the other gerbil was near it again. I don't think gerbils necessarily understand that a mesh divider keeps the other gerbil from getting to them, so she probably felt the need to "lay down the law" and firmly warn the other gerbil not to come near her. She does seem to be calming down now. I even saw them touching noses once, and Tilly managed to not rattle the mesh afterwards! Sometimes when she's offended by the other gerbil, she will just run away and hide, rather than attacking the mesh. Sometimes she will run off and sprint on the wheel for a couple of seconds. She never puffs her fur up, swishes her tail, scent marks, or anything like that. She's remarkably disinterested in scents. I've been swapping their sand baths and bits of used bedding between their cages, and she doesn't even care. I feel like I have a reasonably good understanding of Tilly's psyche nowadays. I think she's an incredibly anxious and insecure gerbil, who is very frightened of other gerbils and feels the need to defend herself by being excessively "assertive" (as a pup) or aggressive (as an adult). This applies even when the other gerbil is clearly being non-threatening. I'm not sure, but I think it's possible she has trouble reading other gerbils and therefore assumes they're all being aggressive. Or perhaps she is just so scared she doesn't take the time to read them before reacting. The new gerbil is very sweet, incredibly submissive. She's the least threatening gerbil you could possibly imagine, apart from a young pup (and you know how Tilly reacted to one of those). This evening when they met at the mesh she lowered her whole body to the ground in an obvious display of submission, but Tilly just didn't seem to register it and continued attacking the mesh. The new gerbil seemed rather confused about that. Tilly also seems to be hypersensitive to noise. The birds outside are a big source of stress for her. She just can't cope with the sound of them chirping and singing! She's calmer in the evenings when the birds are asleep. I was thinking that since she was born in November, she probably didn't hear many birds growing up. Baby animals have a window where they learn which things are safe, and anything they didn't experience during that window they are likely to be wary of later in life. Especially if they are already neurotic like Tilly is. But, as she learns that she's safe in the split tank, she does seem to be calming down, so hopefully things are going in the right direction. I'm not going to start swapping sides for at least another two weeks.
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Post by Markpd on Jun 8, 2022 12:05:04 GMT -8
Interesting, quite the drama she is delivering for you! And odd she's bothered by birds, lol. I look forwards to episode 2 of Tilly and Twiglet! (wait, is Twiglet the one with Astra and not with Tilly??)
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 8, 2022 12:19:17 GMT -8
Twiglet is the one with Astra. Tilly's neighbour doesn't have a name yet because I don't want to get too attached to her in case she ends up not staying. Here's a photo of her: Episode 2 is coming soon...
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 9, 2022 8:50:55 GMT -8
Good news, Tilly is being nice! I don't know what happened, but last night she just started interacting nicely and calmly with her neighbour. There were only a couple of times when they met and she took slight offence to something and rattled the mesh a bit, but her whole attitude was clearly better.
I was delighted but worried it might just be a blip, but today she's still being nice and calm.
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Post by Markpd on Jun 9, 2022 11:35:26 GMT -8
Good news in episode 2, great to hear that , fingers crossed it's not just a blip! And that's a very cute photo of the unnamed gerbil!
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