One of our gerbils is no more; will the other one be okay?

[Hulababy]

Woke up this morning and little Charlie, the ginger gerbil, had died

We had had them for about a year or so, they were not tiny babies when they came to us. However sadly I don;t think he died from old age.

He has sadly got stuck in a cardboard tube and died by the looks of it. No idea how as they have cardboard tubes of different sizes and thickness in their cage all the time, as well as bark ones, plastic ones and wooden ones. This has never been an issue before. Not sure what he did to get stuck but he did and it was fatal.

DD was not at home as she was on a sleep over. So Dh disposed of the body and we broke the news later (not the details; just the death)- Charlie was her favourite typically. She is fine about it although a tad sad about it.

However the black gerbil, Sammy, seems rather forlorn. He keeps sitting in the spot where we found Charlie and pawing at the hay there. He has also built himself a huge nest in one corner of the gerbilarium.

Do gerbils cope okay on their own?

We had two gerbils - Scott and Virgil (DH is a Thunderbirds fan) Like Charlie, Virgil got stuck in a tube & died - we assumed of a heart attack. Scott did seem a little bewildered at first, but it didn't seem to last long & he seemed happy (as far as you can tell with a gerbil) for at least another year until he finally died of a brain tumour - at least that's what the vet thought - we didn't actually have a post mortem!

I don't feel quite so guilty about the tube knowing another gerbil has died in similar circumstances. We assumed he had suffacated. They had filled the other side full of hay and sawdust stuff.

So Sammy will not die of a broken heart then?

Well, I don't think Scott did - if anything he seemed to appreciate being able to get at the food first & not having his brother sleeping on top of him...

Thanks. I will reassure DD tomorrow.

Poor Sammy is looking very lost still. Hmmm. Just keeps going round the cage sniffing and scratching at where we found the dead gerbil. I need to clean the cage out today, maybe that will work.

AWW, so sorry to hear of your poor gerbil Hula. We've had gerbils, and I remember they really are colony living creatures, so he must be feeling lonely.
Maybe you could ask a pet shop if you can introduce one or two new ones?
But I would think particularly if it's a male there could be problems, but it might be worth finding out.

I think there is a strong risk of fighting. I have googles and it is possible, but takes a fair few days of gradually intrducing them. You need to be able to divide the cage up (ours you def can't) and then lots of swapping cage spaces every 24 hours, etc. I just haven't the time as at work.

Oh crikey, what a hassle. He'll settle I should think. Poor you!

We had 3 gerbils. The final one left lived for about a year quite happily after the others died and I don't think she died of natural causes. My sons friend dropped her when she bit him! Are you sure they don't go in the tube to die rather than suffocate in there?

i too had a pair of gerbils and one died (it seemed to have a stroke and go very limp ahd shaky and died later the same day).

we worried too about the remaining one but after a day or two, he seemed fine.

it may help to give the cage a good clean to take away the smell of death (if there is such a think detectable by gerbils..) as it may be distressing the remaining one?

just a thought, good luck and lavish love on your little grieving gerby!

We narrowly avoided this situation recently. 1 of DS's gerbils was very ill. When we took him to the vet, he gave him some medicine & warned that he might not make it. Fortunately, he survived but we've had to separate him from his mate because he's still having medicine via his water bottle. He's got another week of this, so DS has been reuniting them once a day for half hour. They're always ecstatic to see each other. The healthy one keeps grooming the poorly one. I spent nearly £50 in vet's fees over 2 visits; DP thinks I'm mental.

You should never keep one gerbil alone as they suffer, whether you realise it or not. They live in groups and should always have the company of at least one other. It’s like keeping a person in solitary confinement snd is cruel and wrong . Split caging is not a hassle. You can swap them morning and evening if you work. The well-being of the animal should always come first

Not a hassle. It’s taking care of your pet . Better not to get them if you can’t take basic care

@nettle1 this thread is 13 years old I’m sure OPs gerbil has … moved on

The original post was thirteen years ago, I expect the gerbil’s over it by now

It’s not for this particular person, but for others who come on this forum looking for information as I was today. That particular gerbil has indeed moved on. I hope that others will take note that gerbils do need a mate as it’s recommended