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Post by devun on Aug 11, 2004 19:27:22 GMT -8
Hello! I've got another question...
I'm leaving this Saturday morning to go on vacation, and my boyfriend is getting back Sunday night, and he will take care of the gerbils. Is it ok to leave them alone for that long if I give them extra food and water?
If you read my earlier post, you know that I just had to introduce a new gerbil to her sister (they're both about 7 or 8 weeks.) They're sleeping together in the nest and seem ok, but today I gave them a sand bath and they both liked it so much that they got in a fight over who got to sit in the sand... If they continue snuggling together, is there still some risk that they could have a serious fight during the day and a half I'd have to leave them alone?
Thanks again-- I'm glad you guys are out there. I spend half my day worrying about gerbils, so it's nice to have people who know what they're talking about to ask questions to!
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Post by queenofthenile on Aug 11, 2004 20:20:54 GMT -8
Hmmm... what do the fights look like? If they are quite serious (ie: lots of boxing or resulting in a ball fight), I would split them with the divider until your boyfriend can watch them. Actually, just for peace of mind, splitting with the divider is probably the best idea. Then you won't be dreaming about gerbils biting each other in your sleep (I have dreams like this pretty often :  . |
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Post by RyanF on Aug 12, 2004 5:20:05 GMT -8
I have dreams about the gerbils escaping from the cage, and me having to find them! ;D
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Post by devun on Aug 12, 2004 11:38:46 GMT -8
I can't tell if it's serious or not... they've definitely never done the ball fight thing. They box occassionally. Sometimes Goat will jump up on Nees and Nees lies still with her eyes shut... I guess Goat's grooming her??? They do sleep together... they just don't seems as lovey-dovey as Nees and her brother were. Seems like typical sister-sister bickering to me, but I'm still a little uneasy. Maybe they just need to establish who is dominant? Goat's weird anyway... doesn't seem so crazy about sunflower seeds or cardboard, but she's not afraid to climb into my hand and be lifted up and I've hardly tamed her at all. She's pretty sassy... I almost want to say b*tchy but I'll say sassy to be fair. Both Goat and Columbia (the brother I had to take back) seem to spend a lot more time sleeping than Nees, who is always out playing with something. I just want to understand their heirarchy-- who's dominant, etc. Glad to have a place to vent my worries... :  |
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Post by j on Aug 12, 2004 20:33:04 GMT -8
If you took the sand out they should be fine. But yeah, instead of worrying about them your best bet would probably be just to split screen them untill someone is there to keep an eye on them. I've seen the sand fights before whenever I put in NEW sand, boxing over who gets to go in it and who doesn't...  It's never been more of a boxing match and dominance issue. Once they start using it as a litter box an hour or so later, theres nomore fights. ;D |
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Post by devun on Aug 13, 2004 15:47:58 GMT -8
They don't only fight when I put the sand bath in. They've been fighting like that for four days, though it never gets more serious. They seem like they tolerate one another but don't particularly like one another, unlike the first two who really seemed to love one another. Do you think they'll eventually work it out or will they be like that their whole lives? And will the split cage method do any good now that they've already lived together for 3 or 4 days? It seems like they'd be used to one another's scents. I guess they're both kind of teenagers, so maybe they'll calm down and stop worrying so much about which one's dominant? |
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Post by queenofthenile on Aug 13, 2004 15:52:36 GMT -8
I just think you should split cage them for the short time that you will be gone. That way you can guarentee that nothing serious will happen.
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Post by devun on Aug 13, 2004 16:02:00 GMT -8
I will split cage them while I'm gone, but I'm asking about long term prospects. Is three days just not enough time to get to know one another? Or might they have irreconcilable differences? |
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Post by queenofthenile on Aug 13, 2004 16:06:07 GMT -8
You may want to try splitting them again. It is never to late for reintroductions. I had a female pair that wound up getting in a ball fight after living together peacefully for 5 months. I used the split cage and now they are living together happily again. Sometimes a really quick intro will mean they haven't gotten enough time to realize that the other gerbil is 'safe'.
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It's never been more of a boxing match and dominance issue. Once they start using it as a litter box an hour or so later, theres nomore fights. ;D