Gerbils with issues.

[Kim]

I was wondering if you have any advice for a problem I'm having with my gerbils. We got 4 boys from the same litter and they got along wonderfully for the first 4 months. One day we noticed Fluffy was quite angry with Blackie, being very confronting and doing this digging motion repeatedly in front of him. Blackie was very frightened, making very loud squeaks. I do not believe Fluffy ever physically attacked Blackie, though.

So we decided to separate Fluffy for one night. The next day, the tables had turned against him; not only had Blackie taken the upper hand, but Lance and Peter has had turned against Fluffy too. We let all four of them run around together in the apartment, as we ofter do when we are home, and it was three against one, and Fluffy was violently attacked, with one sprained, broken?, front leg and lots of blood. So now we keep Fluffy separated, as all of our attempts over the past 3 weeks to get him back in the group have failed.

It seems he's been permanently ousted. Now I am becoming very concerned about Fluffy's mental health. All though he gets lots of love from us, he is incredibly lonely and mostly just sleeps all day. He even lets me give him little gerbil body massages, but it only seems to brighten him up for a little bit.

Is there anything we can do for poor fluffy? Is he doomed to a lonely life? Should I try to pair him up with a young boy gerbil or two? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

[malabui]

-Put the radio on when he is awake and you are not around
-If you have any other small furrys like a hamster put is cage next to if so he get some company
Fluffy *may* get on with a younger gerbil who isn't dominent, but make sure his leg has healled up fully before trying anything like that.

[meganb52]

I agree Fluffy sounds like he needs a younger companion, and yes you should wait until his leg heals. You can use hydrogen peroxide (just soak a Q-tip) and/or neosporin (very sparingly and play with him for ~10min after so it soaks in properly) to help clean his wounds and heal them faster. One younger male should be good for him, I wouldn't get two new ones, as that could cause more clan issues in the future than just two gerbils. Intro them through a split cage, switching them a few times a day to each others' sides. Hope this helps. You can find lots of info about split caging in the behavior threads going back quite a ways.

-Megan