Greetings list,
> Mixing two clans, except in the case of very young
> pups is a recipe for disaster.
> One-to-one intros are the only safe ones in general
> unless you are dealing with pups.
I wasn't very clear last night...was pretty upset (still am). I put
fuschi (six week old girl) in with Alban (was told a 6 month old
boy). I have never had an adult of either gender try to hurt a young
pup like that ;(. He only "slapped" her away when she tried to
groom him at first, didn't chase her or act agressively. There was
lots of hidey cubbies and tunnels in the cage so I wasn't too
worried, thought "just time' would be fine. It was only when we
checked on them, Fuschi came out to see me and be held - she
loved being held - that Alban lept on her and bit her very badly.
One of the teeth marks severed the spine and the other deeply
gashed her stomach.
Frewin (Alban's brother) and Kalonice (Fuschi's sister) were put
together (in another tank) and are best buds, sleeping together and
grooming and playing.
> When you do an introduction, keep it in a small tank
> (say 10 gallon) and remove all hiding places. A
> gerbil cannot hide for safety and they get more
> defensive and territorial with compartments. Watch
> them constantly until they are nesting/sleeping
> together in a pile and return them to the split cage
> set up temporarily if you need to go out, go to bed,
> etc.
I just don't think I will introduce an older/younger gerbil again. But
if I do, I will certainly do this. I still can't believe it...
> I don't know how serious it is. I'd put her in a tank
> alone with one corner warmed up to about 85 degrees (a
> clamp lamp with a 40 watt grow light six inches from
> the top of the tank would do this.) Even if she is
> paralyzed it seems gerbils go along happily through
> life with such issues (we could learn something from
> them, here!)
> A trip to the vet would be a good idea, I'd think to
> assess how much recovery you can expect.
The vet said that there was no chance of recovery.
Her spine was severed and the other puncture caused internal
bleeding. She was dying slowly. We euthanized her.
I am so ashamed of my stupidity that cost such a sweet baby her
life. I have never seen anything like this before...and she was just
a baby...
So much for being an advocate for responsible keeping of gerbils,
eh ;(
In tears,
Deborah
