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Gerbil fight

3 replies

squirrel42 · 08/09/2010 21:34

Goodness know if this is supposed to be in "super furry animals" or what, but I just wanted to vent. Sad

I have two female gerbils aged around 2 and half - had them 14 months now, got them from a local breeder/rescuer who had introduced them to each other as adults. In all this time they've had the odd dominance squabble but nothing major until now. But I came home today and they seem to have had a proper fight and injured each other - one has a torn back toe/claw and the other is favouring one of her front legs. The pale one is quite bloody around her neck/shoulders but it's hard to tell if they have any more wounds or if it's from cleaning the injury I can see. I'd imagine toes might bleed quite a bit. They're used to me but still don't like to be picked up by hand and I don't want to stress them any more than necessary to closely examine them.

They weren't actively fighting when I got home but I separated them straight away to be sure, and I've adapted a plastic bin cage as a split cage (with two wire cooling racks - DIY solution on advice of the rescuer I got them from!) to keep them in while I assess the situation. They are both moving about okay and I've seen them eat and drink, and they aren't behaving overtly aggressively towards each other - lots of curiosity and nose touching through the wire. I'm hoping they've just had a spat and it's not a complete falling out of their clan partnership, and that if I switch them around in the split cage for a few days and let them heal up and sort themselves out they can go back in together.

It was just really upsetting to see them all bloody and looking very woeful and sorry for themselves, and now they are sulking quite a bit - their plastic bin cage is quite small compared to their adapated aquarium, and I suppose I should also hope it's partly because they're separated and maybe they actually miss sleeping together and grooming and other gerbilly activities. Fingers crossed they'll be okay after a little time apart.

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fruitshootsandheaves · 09/09/2010 22:48

I had lots of gerbils when I was little and we used to split them up if they had a fight.Mind you we had boys and girls and ended up supplying the local pet shop!
I think they will probably fight again. Could you make a permanent separation so they can see each other but not actually mix?

TheFallenMadonna · 09/09/2010 22:53

I would keep them separate and take then to the vet. We had fighting gerbils and one had to be put down after developing gangrene in a leg wound.

squirrel42 · 10/09/2010 09:06

Well they have been in a split cage since Wednesday and both seem to be fine in themselves - it seems like the injuries were only minor and now they've cleaned themselves up I haven't been able to see anything else wrong. The one who was limping doesn't seem to be having any trouble in walking and bouncing around, and she's using that leg okay now. And the one with the toe injury is as frisky as ever! I've been switching them around every 6-8 hours and they sniff curiously where the other one has been, but aren't doing anything manic or aggressive.

I'm cautious because I never actually saw them fighting, so I can't be 100% sure what happened. The rescuer who I got them from said that it is possible they had a fright and took it out on each other, or a disagreement over some food or both wanting to sit in the same jamjar or something got a bit out of hand. If that is the case then it may be easier to reintroduce them than if they had a major falling out and now hate the sight of each other! I'm going to keep the split going for a few days and monitor the situation, then if all goes well try a supervised reintroduction (with gloves at the ready to separate them if it all goes wrong...)

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