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Post by guamisbetter on Jun 19, 2004 23:06:52 GMT -8
Hey guys, so my lil gerbil, Angie which I've had for a couple weeks now (who was alone in her cage at the shop) is acting a bit weird. I thought i was making forward progress with her as shes (about 4x now) actually hopped out of the cage onto my hand, even though shes only stayed for a couple seconds. But shes still really skittish and sometimes when i come around to spend time with her she runs around and hides and in general acts really crazy. I dont know what to do because I thought I was doing well, and I havent done any thing different and am always giving her treats. I finall found a breeder that I can get a companion for her from but the pups are still too small and wont be ready for about three weeks, will she get more social when i bring the little one in? Will her fear rub off on the pup? any tips...? Thanks
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Post by j on Jun 20, 2004 4:32:44 GMT -8
Not much more you can do.
She's acting normal for a lonley gerbil, depressed and skittish. Once you get another one she should act normal.
You could try petshops.. They sometimes have young gerbils around 5-8 weeks...
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Jun 20, 2004 8:30:23 GMT -8
Sometimes gerbils that are kept alone can show strange behaviour. And sometimes a gerbil can get affraid for us again when they are frightened by something, etc. Ik think it will improve when Angie has a new friend! And just handle them a lot! Just do the taming thing again. Let them get used to you again.  |
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Post by guamisbetter on Jun 20, 2004 10:59:47 GMT -8
Thanks for the advice. Also I've been trying pet shops for young ones I've even been going like 45 mins away to stores, but many times they cant even tell me how old their gerbils are (which i think is pretty irresponsible). We dont have too many small family owned stores and the chains arent being too helpful. In fact I'm a little mad at pet shops right now because everytime i explain my situation they tell me that i should leave her by herself and not try to get her a friend, which is kinda crazy. I'm so happy to hear she'll perk up once the pup is with her, I was getting worried. In the mean time I'm not giving up on her so I've been trying to spend extra time with my hand in the cage, etc. Its funny though she seems to be more tame in the late afternoon and night time. Thanks again.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Jun 21, 2004 5:43:08 GMT -8
Maybe she doesn't like the light! ;D Keep us updated on how it goes! We can learn from that too! |
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Post by guamisbetter on Jun 24, 2004 23:31:32 GMT -8
So all of a sudden Angie has COMPLETELY turned around, well at least for one night. She has been very shy since I brought her home and tonight she was practically jumping into my hand from the cage and winking like crazy. It was sooo adorable, but lol now I have another problem. I want her to be ableto climb on me and things when im sitting in a chair but I'm so terribly afraid that she'll fall and hurt herself. I took the cage down from the table onto the floor so it would be less risky, but I put it back eventually because she came out and was running around everywhere, maybe I need to start taking her to the tub when its dry. It was crazy how she just came around, I can't wait to see what she'll be like when the pup gets here. Also I wanted to mention that this happened at night, I'm still wondering why the heck shes so much more adventurous at that time.....
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Post by lizzy on Jul 11, 2004 14:40:57 GMT -8
the reason people at pet shops say that you can't introduce gerbils is because if they say it's possible an inexperienced customer might try and it might not work, and they could complain to management and sue the company or something. i work in a pet shop and i have to say that it's not reccomended to introduce gerbils which is really annoying, because i know it works in many cases.
i'm not really sure how far gerbils can fall/jump without hurting themselves =\
good luck with angie though
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