Jeremy Wheelock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>You've been so kind responding to my previous questions. Now I have
>three more. :-)
>
>1. sand: I've read in a number of places that gerbils enjoy rolling
>about in sand, and that such behavior helps them keep their coats
>healthy. I purchased a small package of sand tonight from a pet supply
>store. The sales person tried to sell me an expensive container of
>chinchilla dust, but I thought the gerbils might have respiratory
>problems if I used that, so I stuck with the sand. I placed the sand in
>a cleaned peanut butter jar with a coat hanger protruding from either
>end so that I could suspend it horizontally from the roof of the cage.
>I carved away the upper half of the lid as an entrance. Both adults
>have been inside the jar now. Do you see any potential problems with
>this arrangement? Would you recommend the chinchilla dust over sand?
>If so, why?
>
Chinchilla dust is better because the particles have no hair edges.
Sharp sand will damage the fine hairs of the fur overtime. Some people
mix sand with chinchilla dust so that the wear and tear is reduced and
the cost is reduced. As you can reuse the sand for some considerable
time I have never bothered using anything other than chinchilla dust. It
is expensive but a small amount will last months.
Don't leave the jar in there. The gerbils will love using it as a litter
tray. Unfortunately this will not stop them using it also as a dust
bath.
It is better to put the bath in the tank about once a month for few
hours. If they want a bath then they will take one.
If you particularly want your gerbils to look their best, say for a
gerbil show or for a visitor, sprinkle a little chinchilla dust on their
backs an hour or so in advance. The gerbils will groom this out and
their coat will come up perfectly!
>2. strange female behavior: As I mentioned in another posting, my
>gerbils now have 7 pups to care for. They'll be a week old tomorrow
>morning (or tonight?). The nest is in a back corner of the cage.
>Tonight, the mother exhibited the stereotypical "burrowing" behavior in
>that corner, but she seemed to have little regard for the safety of the
>pups. Her digging was so vigorous that several pups were actually
>kicked through the air to a distance of 5 inches from the nest! Another
>pup was caught between her and the wall for about 12 seconds and
>squeaked with her every kick. The nest was totally broken apart...pups
>lying about on the bedding everywhere. She ran off to another part of
>the cage without retrieving the pups, but most of them crawled back
>toward the corner. THEN she came back and did the whole routine AGAIN!
>I checked on them about twenty minutes ago and none of the pups seem to
>have sustained injury, but I'm wondering if this is typical behavior.
>If not, what measure do you suggest I take?
Mothers do stupid things like this. Don't worry, it is almost unheard of
for pups to get harmed by this. Michelle posted a cautionary tale about
wheels and it is worth keeping an eye out for dangerous furniture when
you have pups in the tank.
>
>3. labelling conventions: I gather that the word "clan" is commonly
>used to refer to an extended gerbil family. What other names are used
>for gerbils? Are females called "does" and males "bucks"? Or "ewes"
>and "bucks"? "Cows" and "bulls"? etc... Is there any agreement on
>this?
>
We had a discussion some time ago about collective nouns etc that was
unpopular with some people!
Even longer ago we discussed at length whether there were words we could
use to designate male and female gerbils. Nothing has ever taken off. As
the scientific name for gerbils relates to their sometimes violent
behaviour the words Tor and Trix were suggested (short for Bellator and
Bellatrix - Warrior and Warrioress) - but I have never seen anyone use
them.
The bottom line is there is definitely no agreement on nomenclature
other than pup and clan.
--
Julian
************************************************************************
* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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