I came home from getting stuff for my new gerbil arrivals that will
be here on Tuesday. I have two female gerbs we call the LL's (Lovely
Ladies would be the politically correct term...my husband has called
them other :} They were called that because when I got them, they
were both really big females and they beat everybody up except each
other. So, they were housed together and seemed quite happy. In fact,
I had even toyed with not breeding them, since they seemed so happy
together. My six year old and I were out getting some bedding and
tanks for our arrivals on Tuesday (we have some being shipped in) and
he saw this black one and thought it would be nice for one of the
ladies. I thought ok, I can put him with the REW or the lilac pied
female (and pair the other one up with one of the boys coming in on
Tuesday.) Well, either I have been lucky or ??? but when I have
introduced two new gerbils to one another, they have all responded
well. (Of course I do it in new neutral territory, etc...but it has
gone very well with the exception of the lovely ladies. (who were not
even cage mates...two different stores!) I need to go out and get
stuff to make cage dividers before Tuesday and was explaining that
the new black one (he is spotted with a WAY cool pattern) would be by
himself until then. The lovely ladies were on the floor under the
kitchen table, because we had them out last night petting them (they
are not very nice...we were working on socialization, a bit at a
time.) Before we left to go shopping I checked on them and they were
sleeping contentedly. (about 9 a.m.) I did notice they were low on
food and made a mental note to feed them tonight. So, after we got
all the other gerbils, cats, dogs, etc settled down, I told my son I
was going to go get the ladies and bring them in his room. I pulled
out the cage, and there was this mutilated dead gerbil. I have NO
idea what happened. I do not know if a cat got its head and hand in
there (doubtful - the screen on top is pretty secure and it did not
look awry), if it got sick and died and the other one started eating
it...or if the white one killed the lilac one (that I find hard to
believe because I think that had they fought, there would have been
blood or at least the whole alive one would have had ONE injury...I
have seen gerbil fights and it does not seem possible for one to come
out completely unscathed. The REW (the non dead one) was trying to
jump out of the cage and doing flips. She was running around as if to
try and find her cage mate. I thought maybe I should put her with
the new male, because she was obviously freaking out, but she
started picking on the male. So, out she came and went back in her
cage. Then I thought if the lilac one had some disease (but what? it
was just burrowing this morning and seemed healthy a s can be last
night) then the white one may have it so I had better keep her
isolated. Anyway, all she is doing is flips and trying to get out of
the cage and acting completely nutzoid. She needs some gerbil valium,
that is for sure. I cannot for the life of me guess what may have
happened.??? There is nothing that she could have gotten into, and it
was really gross. She was on her back and abut half of her head/skull
and neck had been chewed. Most of her belly was intact, although some
of her upper gi organs had been eviscerated. She was cold to the
touch, but rigor had not set in yet. Does anybody have any clue what
could have/ might have happened? They have been together a little
over a month and have done all the grooming, sleeping cuddling etc
that my male/female pairs are doing. I am completely perplexed. What
do I do with the REW female besides leaving her alone to make sure
she is not sick? They had plenty of clean water..I just do not get
it. If I could give her valium, I would, because she is acting like a
maniac right now. I took the centers of three rolls of paper towels
to give her something to do...she will chew for a while, then start
jumping and trying to get out. Any thoughts/ ideas would be helpful.
Cindy
--
Kokopellis Kritters
Red Desert Rodent's
**The Anasazi Clan**
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