New Gerbils

popecatapetal

I got a pair of gerbils yesterday, a fater and son. The father's only about four months old, but he seems very wary of me - much more shy than his seven week old son. Will he get better as time goes on, or will he always be a bit wary?

cherrycool

It should get better as time goes on. Be very gentle when picking him up, and if he escapes your grasp give it a couple of seconds before trying again, don't go chasing him round the cage with your hand. I had a hamster that was quite afraid of me once, if you can get down to the level of the cage, as in don't tower over it, they don't feel so threatened.

popecatapetal

That seems to be working quite well, thank you! They're much more comfortable around me today. However, they've been hiding in their bedding a lot - I've given them a tunnelling area, and they can sometimes stay in there for hours. It's a bit tricky to get them used to me when I can't see them... Should I switch to a cage without a digging area for the first few weeks, or will they be okay?

popecatapetal

I'm a bit worried about my gerbils - my roommate has started smoking in the house, and when I mention my worries of them getting cancer to her, she just scoffs and keeps going. Am I being silly - will a couple of cigarettes a day in an open plan apartment hurt them? Or should I be firmer with her? Please help!

alexdenby6

tell her the smoking goes or she goes.

Bainne2

I agree about the smoking thing!!! An experiment was carried out with a hamster and it showed that when the little guy was exposed to the smoke through a vent pipe he treid his best efforts (using hay and straw) to block the hole and thus pervent the polution.

About the taming thing....try holding sunflower seeds at the entrance of the cage. I have had my guys for two months now and I still dont pick them them up because I want to tame them at their own pace. At the moment I can pet him happily and he will walk on to my hand if he is being tempted by sunflower seeds.:D

Kaldorn

hello, you shouldnt be keeping male gerbils together,father and son or brothers as they will become aggresive with each other and eventually you will come in one day and one will be mauled dead in the corner,it happened to me about 3 times...seperate them or get two females is my advice.i dont know why they cant live together but experience tells me they caqnt

hadook

Kaldorn wrote:

hello, you shouldnt be keeping male gerbils together,father and son or brothers as they will become aggresive with each other and eventually you will come in one day and one will be mauled dead in the corner,it happened to me about 3 times...seperate them or get two females is my advice.i dont know why they cant live together but experience tells me they caqnt

With all due respect, I've kept gerbils for 15 years and a pair of male gerbils will live happily together in 95% of cases. I've kept groups of up to 9 males in one tank with no problems.
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Our man in Havana

I agree with Hadook I've had lots of males together & as long as there are no females there are no problems! Females can be nasty at times in larger groups but in pairs or trios are fine.