I noticed a couple bald patches on Fitz. His brother's coat is fine.
Fitz is the less dominant one of the pair. Is this bald spot from overgrooming, or a more concerning reason like mites or skin issues? Do I need to get him to a vet asap?
I need ideas desperately.
Like what is small enough since (space wise), but large enough for the hay, bedding, sand, and spray bags? Along with the small items like some hides, enrichment, extra water bottles, food, etc.
Any photos for inspo is much appreciated 🙏🙏
Fake meals are just as interesting as real food 😂
At the beggining of 2025 I've got two gerbils as support pets, since my mental health was declining a lot. Having them with me really helped, and I love my babies. But yesterday I've got home after my shift and one of my babies, little Goffredo, had passed away while I wasn't home. He started giving signs that he was kinda sick since the middle of the week, and I had a vet appointment scheduled for this monday (the only vet who deals with "non-conventional" animals I've found works at a city nearby, and I couldn't get him there early because of my job and uni).
Now hiw brother Lawrence is alone and I don't know what to do. They were born in the same litter, and literally never been appart from each other. Lawrence seems healthy, but I'm worried about him getting sick over loneliness. What am I supposed to do? Should I get another male gerbil and try to make them befriend? If I do so, what can I do to make the chance of them getting along higher? I'm afraid they may not get along, but I don't want my baby to be all alone now that his brother is gone.
For now I'm planning on moving his terrarium to my bedroom so I can spend more time near him, but that surely won't be enough. Please help me guys. I don't want to lose my other son.
(ps: I'll get Lawrence to the vet tomorrow just to be sure he really is healthy).
White one (Alba) and brown one (Amy), both female, about five months old.
About a month ago they had mites, which I treated immediately with selamectin. Unfortunately I recently had a health emergency and had to temporarily move to my parents’ house, where I keep a second enclosure for them.
Because they had only recently recovered from the mites, I didn’t bring much of the old bedding with us. They therefore moved into an enclosure that smells quite different, so I’m wondering whether they’re currently re-establishing their hierarchy.
Since the move yesterday I’ve observed:
frequent chasing (they alternate who chases whom, although Amy has generally been the more dominant one since puberty at around four months),
mounting/humping each other,
occasional boxing,
sometimes ending up gently nibbling each other.
So far I have not seen:
any injuries,
any ball fighting,
prolonged aggressive chasing,
squealing or obvious signs of panic.
They are eating, drinking, and sleeping normally. The only thing I’m unsure about is whether they’re currently sleeping cuddled up together, as I haven’t been able to observe that yet.
I’m watching them closely for any red flags. Would you leave the enclosure as it is and let them work out their hierarchy, or would you make any changes (for example, temporarily removing or reducing hides)? I have not removed any hides yet, most of the hides (except two) have at least two entrances. Any other suggestions?
So yesterday, one of my gerbils decided to gun for my two other gerbils, resulting in one getting many very nasty marks on his tail and drawing alot of blood. I have removed the agressor from the cage and now holding him in a carry case/playpen until i get a new cage tmr, but i don't know what to do with him. I can't keep him alone as gerbils don't live alone, and i don't know whether to do the split tank method with a new gerbil with him. I don't really want to give up this gerbil, as he is very social to humans and is very well loved in my family, but i don't want his quality of life to tank due to the declanning. What should i do in this situation?
three days ago I got these 2 gorgeous girls along with their home and most of their stuff. my partner and I got everything at pets at home with the advice of a lovely worker. unfortunately since then I'm unsure whether their enclosure is suitable for them.
For one it's a cage with not too much space for their bedding to go. I've seen some lovely set ups on social media platforms and a lot of people are saying that cages aren't suitable. the cage came with a little shelf which gives them a large area to hide. on top of their shelf is where their sand bath, water and food is kept.
Another reason why I don't think this cage is working out is that the sand bath doesn't fit through the cage door so we've had to completely take the top half of their home off in order to clean out their sand bath which seems to stress them out. I've been super anxious about them getting somewhere they won't be able to get out from or somehow get injured. while we've been spot cleaning we've been putting them in the carrier and I don't know what else to do considering.
I think it would be better to get a tank for them but I'm completely lost other than that. I'm aware that minimum size in Europe is 100x50x50 cm but when I search for possible enclosures it only comes up with similar enclosures to what I have now.
any advice, tips or criticism is welcome!
got him exactly a month ago. i rescued him from my cousin very bad care even tho i didn't know anything about gerbils. did a lot of research and honestly i think i'm giving him a nice life? anyway. whenever i put my hand in his enclosure (often to change his water because he buries his water bowl all the time so he just doesn't have water – do all gerbils do that?) he runs up to me and tries to bite me.
it doesn't hurt and i understand him id be scared too if some giant put its big hand in my home but how can i make it better? i give him food and treats and he doesn't mind but sometimes he just does that? i don't want him to be scared i want him to be happy :(
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Meanwhile his brother just popped up, sat so nicely for one and went.
A post to celebrate my special lil guy who went to the big wheel in the sky today. I am absolutely devastated, but filled with so much deep love for all that he was and the joy he brought into my life❤️. Bonus pic of cuddles with his beautiful brother Twig who is thankfully still with us. Goblin was so loved and always will be.
This is our colony of Gerbils, which has been growing for several years! The animals are very mobile, so it's hard to photograph them, I apologize for the blurry shots. I hope you like the photos.