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Post by geikou on Feb 28, 2004 11:17:25 GMT -8
Just to share and perhaps discuss some gerbil behavior that I don't see written about or discussed.
One of my gerbils has a habit of perching itself on an item in its tank, then in a semi-standing/crouching position, just stand still for a long time. eg a few minutes. This is very similar to what I see Chinchillas do.
This seems to be a resting position of some sort. But why does it rest in this position instead of its usual position of lying flat? I was thinking, perhaps in the wild, some gerbils rest in this position so as to be alert for any signs of predator? In this position, they are semi-alert and can rest, while at the same time keep a lookout for danger?
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Feb 29, 2004 5:17:25 GMT -8
Do you mean this behaviour? When a Mongolian gerbil is afraid it sits straight up, as frozen, with it front paws together like praying. But when he is curious he will sit straight up as in fear, but the gerbil looks relaxed. It snuffles in the air, with trembling whiskers, and moves his head back and forth.
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Post by geikou on Feb 29, 2004 10:31:47 GMT -8
It's not the posture in your picture. It's more of a crouching stance, and it's not alert but almost half-asleep. Like this picture of a chinchilla: But of course my gerbil doesn't do this posture all the time. Just that I've seen it do it couple of times. Like I said, it seems to be sleeping, but why does the gerbil do this instead of just lying down as it normally does?
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Post by queenofthenile on Feb 29, 2004 16:57:47 GMT -8
I would think that it would be easier to flee in that position. Maybe it is a defense in order to avoid predators?
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 1, 2004 4:45:04 GMT -8
Than they are tired, and doze off a bit (or completely). Just resting I think, and maybe indeed because this way they could escape faster when necessary, however I think they won't get to sleep outside their burrow in the wild.
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Post by Igork1 on Mar 1, 2004 18:44:30 GMT -8
My gerbils sleep in a very funny way... I even think they are dead sometimes...
One of them lay on the ground with the belly up looking like dead and the other on top of it... it's scary but I find it cute to see them share so much love for each other (despite the fact that I think they are brother and sister)...
BTW: I wanted to know if gerbils do something my hamster used to do. Whe she was low on food she would put food inside her mouth and store it in there. Her face would get really big and scary... when we put more food she would throw up the seeds and eat them... So anyone seen gerbils do it or is it just a hamster thing?
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Post by queenofthenile on Mar 1, 2004 19:29:15 GMT -8
Yeah, it is really great to see them sleeping all snuggled up. So cute . Gerbils cannot fill their cheeks with seeds. Hamsters have folds of skin called cheek pouches that can be filled with a lot of food. Gerbils don't have these pouches so they can only hold what they can carry between their teeth (1 or 2 seeds).
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Post by geikou on Mar 2, 2004 3:26:04 GMT -8
My gerbils sleep in a very funny way... I even think they are dead sometimes... One of them lay on the ground with the belly up looking like dead and the other on top of it... it's scary but I find it cute to see them share so much love for each other (despite the fact that I think they are brother and sister)... Yes, one of my gerbils enjoy sleeping in this position too. Almost lying on its back with its legs stretched out, as if playing dead. I was worried the first time I saw it too. But it's so cute too!
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Post by butsam on Mar 2, 2004 10:35:18 GMT -8
The gerbils definitely are good at giving us a little bit of a scare Most of their behavior is fairly normal, though. Our gerbils will "tuck each other in" (ie, bring up bedding to place on the other gerbil, by carrying the bedding in the mouth, not by burrowing) when one is asleep and the other isn't, very cute! I have also noticed that one of them is a "morning gerbil" and the other is a "night gerbil"...they both sleep off and on, which is normal from what I hear, so they are active off and on day and night, but just as a generality. One of them (Bosco) is more active in the morning though, and the other (Finch) in late evening. Also, I have the CritterTrail 2 habitat with a lot of added tubes and boxes. They seem to really like sleeping in the "petting area"...probably because it is most like an underground den. There is a tube to a room that is slightly larger, and completely enclosed (the rest of the cage has wire except the top and bottom, which are reinforced plastic; the tubes are the reinforced plastic). I noticed some funny behavior when I changed the bedding though (only had them for 2 1/2 weeks, so I've only had to do this once). I tried placing a lot of bedding in the "petting area" where they sleep so they wouldn't have to bring it all up. Rather than keep the bedding there, they kicked almost all of the bedding out of the "den", then brought the bedding back up. Is this normal? Should I let them do it "their way"? Also, while I'm at it...before their "major" naps (2-3 hours at once), especially late night for both of them, morning for Finch, and evening for Bosco, they make sure they are completely covered in bedding. This seems perfectly natural. However, before their other shorter naps, which are generally a half hour to an hour in length and more sporadic, they either lie out in the open without bedding on them, or only bury their head. Any way to explain this behavior? One final thing they do...when they have new bedding especially, they run around a lot with bedding in their mouths, even if they aren't taking it anywhere in particular. I know they do chew it up to fine fibers quite a bit and use that in their bedding, but it's more than just that. Any recommendations for me to give them to use for bedding? I already give them cardboard, and I'm using Aspen. They have a wooden log to chew on as well, and sometimes take that up. Any other ideas? Sam
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Post by queenofthenile on Mar 2, 2004 20:19:04 GMT -8
I also give my gerbs facial tissue in strips or squares of toilet paper.
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Post by geikou on Mar 2, 2004 21:56:45 GMT -8
I noticed some funny behavior when I changed the bedding though (only had them for 2 1/2 weeks, so I've only had to do this once). I tried placing a lot of bedding in the "petting area" where they sleep so they wouldn't have to bring it all up. Rather than keep the bedding there, they kicked almost all of the bedding out of the "den", then brought the bedding back up. Is this normal? Should I let them do it "their way"? Also, while I'm at it...before their "major" naps (2-3 hours at once), especially late night for both of them, morning for Finch, and evening for Bosco, they make sure they are completely covered in bedding. This seems perfectly natural. However, before their other shorter naps, which are generally a half hour to an hour in length and more sporadic, they either lie out in the open without bedding on them, or only bury their head. Any way to explain this behavior? I think gerbils like to set up their own nests. In the wild, they dig their own burrows. So I guess it's normal that they want to do things their way. After a change of bedding, the scents that they are used to are gone, replaced by new fresh ones. So they will take to the task of making their home theirs again. They will usually be very excited and start to rearrange stuff, digging under the bedding, tearing up the big pieces etc. My gerbils also tend to sleep out in the open without too much bedding over themselves.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 3, 2004 6:03:21 GMT -8
In two of my tanks I have made some kind of artificial burrow with rocks and stones. When I clean those tanks I fill the "burrow" with the bedding material (wood shavings). They start do dig out those "holes" right away! Afted they have dug it out, they start to make their nest!
As nesting material I give them also toilet paper, but also hay! They make a very soft nesting material from hay! It is also great to see them making it. They have one straw of hay between their front paws and than cut it along their incisors!
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Post by butsam on Mar 3, 2004 6:40:54 GMT -8
Thank you Peter, queen! I do have another interesting behavior I have observed. Sometimes I will hand feed the gerbils corn kernels from their dish (to make sure they don't get too many, and still have a balanced diet). Now, most of them time, they run off and eat them. However, some of the time, they run off to where they normally eat (which is in a plastic tube, so they don't bury the food of course), drop the corn kernel, and run back. If I give them another, they do it again...and again and again! I've done it like 5 times in a row with one of them! I have to catch them at the right moment to do this. The funny thing is both gerbils eat in roughly the same spot, so usually the brother steals the food There is no bedding there, and they don't even try to bury it, so it's not that they really want to keep it safe. Again, most of the time they do eat the corn, just sometimes I can catch them full and they build up a stash of corn kernels Any ideas? One more little thing I noticed. If they are hungry and go into their dish, look around, and don't find what they want and get out, sometimes I will reach into the dish and give them the same corn kernel they just looked over, and they act so excited and eat it right away! Sam
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Post by geikou on Mar 3, 2004 8:42:38 GMT -8
In the wild, gerbils store part of their food for winter. I'm guessing this behavior of storing the corn is their instinct. Why corn? Probably because it is hard and keeps better.
Yes, gerbils will take any food you offer, even if you are oicking them from their own food dish. Somehow, they don't realise it's the same food and will accept the treat readily. You can also dap a drop of water from their bottle on your finger and they will also lap it.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 4, 2004 6:17:02 GMT -8
I was first thinking to write here that you would have smart gerbils, this way they obtain a lot of food! But after reading further I must realise as Geikou said that they're not very smart because they don't realise it is the same food. So are they smart or not? Maybe both! ;D
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