Question about lonely Gerbils biting

[iamteela]

I've had some seriously crappy gerbil luck recently that has left me with two lone female gerbils. Benji is 8 months old and Dusty is 3 months old. I intend to introduce them to eachother very slowly in a split cage, but first they are being treated with antibiotics for respiratory infection. I have definitely learned my lesson about pet store gerbils.

Since they both lost their cage mates (Dusty lost hers about a week after I finally removed the divider between them), they have started biting. Dusty was a little bit bitey to start with, since she probably wasn't handled much as a baby, but Benji has always been very friendly. Now every other time I put my hand in the cages I get nibbled on. They aren't breaking the skin and it barely hurts when they do it, but I'm wondering if it is something I should be concerned about or something I should let the vet who is treating them know. Are they just lonely and trying to get me to play with them more?

[gerbilsrgreat]

I know my gerbils can tend to nibble a little when I have food on my hands. If they smell anything yummy, then they try to figure out if it's my skin

Of course, when I first got my gerbils they nibbled on me, but after handling them for a while, they almost never do.

-Jeremiah

[meganb52]

both of my gerbils were a bit nibbley when they were little. The nutmeg in my avitar on the left still is occasionally, but she was also a pet store gerbil. I handle minea lot, so they are pretty used to people. washing any "food" scents off you rhands before handling them might help, as well as just handling them more often. Hope you get to the bottom of it all!

-Megan