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May 9, 2021 3:03:52 GMT -8
Post by Markpd on May 9, 2021 3:03:52 GMT -8
Lol, my boys do that too, especially cracks me up when they do that after turning away from food offered, if the other accepts it, then he'll suddenly become interested . And here's a weird thing, I've found my boys have been less interested in mealworms lately, at least if offered it by hand, but if I then drop it in front of them they'll pick it up and eat it 9/10! Wth?? lol
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 9, 2021 15:15:20 GMT -8
I love how they flatten themselves against the ground when they do that. "If I go really flat, she won't even notice if I just swipe this treat from her".
Mine will sometimes take a treat from the ground but not from my hand too. I'm not sure why or if I should take it personally. "I do want this treat, just not from you".
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10 000
May 11, 2021 21:05:27 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by yeti218 on May 11, 2021 21:05:27 GMT -8
My guys dont really interact with each other too much as far as I see (I assume they groom each other in the nest but that's private time). They mostly just both go about their business and ignore each other. I do, however, see them sortof touch each others faces as they pass by each other, the face toucher always sortof comes up from underneath the touchee and puts his face in his brothers and touches his face. Realized this isnt the sweet show of affection I thought, pretty sure they're checking if the other one has any food in his mouth.
Despite their indifference towards each other, it's extremely rare that I see any dominance or bullying behaviour, so I think they're well suited.
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10 000
May 12, 2021 7:14:44 GMT -8
Post by LilyandDaisy on May 12, 2021 7:14:44 GMT -8
I've heard that indifference towards each other is a good thing to an extent. It's a good sign if they're at ease in each other's presence and don't feel the need to always react to the other gerbil. Some gerbils can't walk past each other without having a squabble about something.
Some animals taste each other's saliva to work out who they are. Maybe that's what gerbils are doing when they touch faces as you describe, and it's not about food?
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10 000
May 12, 2021 21:45:19 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by yeti218 on May 12, 2021 21:45:19 GMT -8
Oh, yeah, that's very possible. Good insight, thank you.
They do have the odd moment (in the playpen, usually), where they face off like they're about to box but often just lose the nerve and they both back down. Or start a chase but it's over as soon as it begins. Such good gerbils.
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10 000
May 30, 2021 16:50:53 GMT -8
Post by LilyandDaisy on May 30, 2021 16:50:53 GMT -8
Lily gave me a scare this evening. They were free roaming and they had a set of platforms some distance away from my desk shelves. Lily climbed up the platform and jumped onto one of the shelves. I didn't expect her to do that because although she's a good climber, she's never been much of a jumper. Then she tried to jump back down the same way, but she just missed the platform and landed on the floor, and I think she whacked her leg against the platform on the way down. Lily is so adventurous and daring that I've always thought one of these days she will break a bone. I heard a sickening thud and a crack and thought "she's definitely done it this time", followed by "which vets are open on a Sunday evening?". I put her back in the cage to calm down (as adrenaline can mask pain) and she spent the next two hours running around demanding to come back out. I think she's probably ok but will have to check her in the morning in case it swells up overnight. I think the thud and crack were just the force of her leg hitting the platform. So that's another one of her lives gone!
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10 000
May 30, 2021 21:48:15 GMT -8
Post by yeti218 on May 30, 2021 21:48:15 GMT -8
Oh my goodness! That’s so scary. Glad she seems to be doing okay and I hope she’s still fine in the morning.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 31, 2021 4:30:41 GMT -8
When I saw her this morning she was running and climbing around as normal so I think she's absolutely fine. She's made of rubber I think.
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10 000
May 31, 2021 6:41:17 GMT -8
Post by yeti218 on May 31, 2021 6:41:17 GMT -8
God she’s so resilient. That’s good to hear though. I wonder if she’s learned anything....
Gerbils dropping from great height is one of my fears. With my tank lid off, the gerbils could jump onto the rim of the tank. And it’s about a 4ish foot drop to the ground from there. They haven’t tried to get to the rim yet but I see them standing on their hind legs and looking up at it, or on top of a house and considering it when the lid is off. I always supervise when the lid is off, and put it back down even if they’re napping and I just need to refill a water bottle or something, but I worry about forgetting to put the lid down one day....
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10 000
May 31, 2021 7:46:23 GMT -8
Post by LilyandDaisy on May 31, 2021 7:46:23 GMT -8
Well she got away with it unscathed so I'm sure she's learned nothing.
One of my tanks is on a table, with a similar drop to the floor but none of the gerbils who've lived in that tank have ever tried to jump down. They do like to run along the rim though.
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10 000
May 31, 2021 8:13:44 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by yeti218 on May 31, 2021 8:13:44 GMT -8
I've seen a youtuber let her gerbils run along the rim, the gerbils seem to enjoy it. I dont trust my guys though, I think mine might jump, either intentionally or just get startled and jump without thinking.
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10 000
Jun 2, 2021 12:24:03 GMT -8
Post by Markpd on Jun 2, 2021 12:24:03 GMT -8
Glad to hear lily is ok Not that you would want to let them do it, but I think a gerbil could fall from quite a height and not get hurt as they use their tail to flip themselves upright(where needed) and land on their feet, just like a cat. As long as they don't hit anything on the way down or land awkwardly on something. I've no idea what the upper limit is (nor would I want to find out through personal experience!), but I've had 2 gerbils (32yrs apart ) jump or slip from my arm whilst I was standing , which is roughly 4ft high. They were both fine (they both had a clean landing on carpet, for what it's worth). At that height, the worry isn't so much the fall but what they will do afterwards when they get over the shock of falling! Lol. With Blake he didn't move for about a second, maybe 2, after getting over my shock of him jumping off (he tried to get to the tank, but slipped on my jumper), I bent down to pick him up (without rushing to panic him), picked him up, but the little sod stepped off my hand , got him to go into a poster tube a couple of minutes later.
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Mochi
Member
Snickerdoodle and S’more: Adopted on April 9th, 2021
Posts: 199
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10 000
Jun 2, 2021 14:29:33 GMT -8
Post by Mochi on Jun 2, 2021 14:29:33 GMT -8
Haha! Original Post 2007!
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10 000
Jun 2, 2021 16:45:34 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by yeti218 on Jun 2, 2021 16:45:34 GMT -8
One of mine did jump out of my hand once when I was standing. I thought I had him securely enough to move him from the playpen back into the cage but i was wrong. He was fine, but I'm not interested to learn how often they can recover from that fall. Now I always catch them in their teapot for that journey.
But it did mean he was loose in the whole room and took a while to get him back in the cage again.
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Thea
Member
Posts: 1,012
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10 000
Jun 2, 2021 23:55:48 GMT -8
Post by Thea on Jun 2, 2021 23:55:48 GMT -8
Mochi - yes we bring back a lot of older threads with ideas we like so we don't have to make a new one! Last summer when I had Rolo and Storme, Rolo jumped from my hand and hit her side on something but amazingly, she was absolutely fine! She was running and jumping as usual after falling. I was also weighing Mali a couple of weeks ago, and I weigh her in the kitchen and was setting up the scales with her sitting very calmly on my arm (she's a good girl ), but she reached over and put her paws onto the side, let her legs go and slipped down the side! I felt so guilty for holding her so close but she was completely fine, again. That might have been because she slipped down the side more than a proper fall.
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