Life in a
group
The
gerbil is a rodent that lives in GROUP and it’s very important to know
that! Often, in petshop, the clerk don’t have enough time or just is not
informed enough on animal to tell you how it’s important to buy 2
gerbils instead of only one like hamsters. A lonely gerbil will be more
stressed, will hide more often and its life may even be shorter. They may
also bit more often or gnaw like crazy on their cage bars.
Territoriality
First
of all, you must know that gerbils are very territorial and that they
are even willing to fight and kill to protect their territory from
intruders. If you try to introduce a new gerbil to a group of 2 that
have been together
for some month, it will result in the killing of the new one. They know
each other by sent. If the other doesn’t smell like the group, it will
be attacked and maybe killed.
Declanning
The
declanning is when a group formed a while ago decides to brake. I read a
lot of stories about that but we don’t know the exact cause. It begins
by little fight, then some injuries on the tail and front paws, the day
after, the gerbils sleep in different nest. If they are not set apart
soon enough, it may result in the death of one of both gerbils.
Until
now, we cannot say exactly what is causing this behavior. But here are
some precautions to take to minimize the risk.
Advices
to minimize the risk of declaning
-When
cleaning the tank, always put back a little bit of old bedding on the new
bedding. This provides a sent to help the gerbils know that this territory
is their own to both. You may take the bedding in their nest, as it is
cleaner then the rest.
Never
mix objects or toys from one tank to the other. This will mix the sent.
Wash them carefully before.
Clean
your hand each time you play with gerbils form different tanks. If you
don’t you’ll put an intruder sent on your gerbil.
