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Post by RyanF on Nov 6, 2004 10:19:44 GMT -8
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Post by queenofthenile on Nov 7, 2004 6:27:51 GMT -8
RyanF, are you washing your hands really well before handling her? She may smell the other gerbils, or food on your hands. If that isn't the case, then I would try handling her with thick gardening gloves until she is less nippy.
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Post by paws on Nov 7, 2004 7:46:53 GMT -8
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Nov 7, 2004 10:02:47 GMT -8
Are you handling her a lot? Mine stopped biting after a while. And how is she acting? Affraid or aggresive?
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Post by paws on Nov 7, 2004 10:08:21 GMT -8
When mine bite, I blow in their faces It helped with my other gebril though! |
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Post by paws on Nov 7, 2004 10:09:02 GMT -8
When mine bite, I blow in their faces. ( It helps too! |
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Post by j on Nov 7, 2004 20:41:45 GMT -8
Blowing in it's face is just stupid and mean.  She's biting you and pissed because you either smell like another gerbil or something else dirty. She's probably not tame and used to you either. Is is that hard to wash your hands before you pick them up so you at least smell the same to them and they can recognize you? Blowing in it's face just makes them stop because you're scaring them, so they sit there stiff with the ears back and the scared look on their face. But that's ok that she's scared because you're happy and not getting bit. And Ryan, Did you read the replies in your other thread? You can't touch one clan and then another. |
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Nov 8, 2004 1:24:25 GMT -8
gentle blowing in a gerbils is neither harmful not scary to the gerbil
it is mildly unpleasant and they avoid it
if nipping results in a mildly unpleasant blowing in the face they usually stop nipping
a stern 'no' is also successful with some gerbils
None of us would ever condone a cruel or harnful act, nor would any of us continue the practice if it genuinely spooked or upset the gerbil in question
the whole point of the gentle blowing is it doesnt spook the gerbil at all but it does put them of the behaviour
some gerbils nip at first. That's a fact of life. gentle blowig in their faces works for many people.
Of course Ryan should was his hands between cages (its good practice for many reasons)
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Nov 8, 2004 3:22:01 GMT -8
When they start to nip in my fingers I blow also in their face! It works for me too. I don't think it is stupid or mean! It is a good and soft way to let your gerbils know that you don't like that.
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Post by sweetie on Nov 8, 2004 12:30:22 GMT -8
Ryan, Blackie did that to me when I put her from the hartz to the tank. I think that she recognized that she had no tunnel to run in and needed to defend herself. Blackie exhibits that behavior often. I have found that when I put my hand in now, I need to talk gently to her PRIOR to entering her tank. Then I let her sniff me from a far (so she can smell but can't reach to bite). It also helps to hand her a treat when my hand goes in each time. SO it looks like this: I approach the cage, talk softly and positively, put my hand in for a sniff, take it back out, get a treat and then put it in with the treat. When I do that, I never get bit. If I do which is extremely rare, I blow in her face and say NO. I hope this works for you.  |
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Post by j on Nov 23, 2004 15:59:14 GMT -8
gentle blowing in a gerbils is neither harmful not scary to the gerbil it is mildly unpleasant and they avoid it if nipping results in a mildly unpleasant blowing in the face they usually stop nipping Eh. I still disagree. Blowing in it's face or making a loud, weird noise startles them for a minute. Gerbils aren't like dogs where you can actually teach them not to bite. The only thing you can do is tame them better. Simply not doing whatever is pissing the gerbil off makes more sense to me. Some don't like fingers going at them, or they bite.. Some don't like being held a certain way, so they bite.. Some don't like weird smells, especially of a strange gerbil so they'll bite. And if you actually have time to blow in their face, it can't even be that serious of a bite. So you probably just smell like food or something and since they can't see too well, they can't even really tell what they're biting. WHy should a gerbil have to be *punished* with air thrown in it's face because you smell like a strange gerbil? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Do you guys punish wire chewers by poking them in the nose or when they bite wire too? Or when they're being annoying by digging in the corner, do you blow on them through the side/top of the cage? LOL. |
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Post by j on Nov 23, 2004 16:05:59 GMT -8
When they start to nip in my fingers I blow also in their face! It works for me too. I don't think it is stupid or mean! It is a good and soft way to let your gerbils know that you don't like that. I doubt gerbils are capable of understanding what you like and don't like I don't like when my gerbils use certain areas as their bathrooms just because it looks kind of dirty when other people come over and look in their cages. Using that logic, me blowing on their heads will get them to stop and use a different area. |
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