Re: Gerbil

by Peachy Mon 20 Aug 2018, 11:42 am

They sound like so much fun. And too much cute!!! The sweet thing washing her face. Heart Eyes

I like to use cardboard to make a divider between the nest and the rest of the cage. It gives Mom a smaller space and more security, and helps contain the babies if they happen to escape the nest. Kind of like a bedroom! I have no idea how well it would work for gerbils since they destroy everything, but my mice have appreciated it.

by CallaLily Thu 30 Aug 2018, 7:47 am

It’s looking like I have 5 boys and 1 girl. I could have swore at least one of the agouti were female but it certainly doesn’t look that way now. I tried to get pics so I could be doubly sure but they’re way too squirmy. Of course I will be checking a lot until I’m totally sure, without a doubt. I have to pick up some more hardware cloth from the store but as soon as we have that, we’ll be building a divider for the 55g. Baby boys on one side, Oghren and Merin on the other. Emrys and daughter will be moved over to the 40g. She doesn’t look preggo to me but she never did last time either so...

My nephew named the fawn colored girl Cream and the black boy Hershey. Running with that theme, any suggestions for the agouti babies? Though I still can’t tell them apart. Laughing

More videos on my instagram: https://instagram.com/p/BnByTHxHfMR/

by Drago Thu 30 Aug 2018, 8:10 pm

For some odd reason, none of the pics are showing up for me! My phone must be acting up lol

What do you mean by throwing up? Gerbils are incapable of vomiting. If however, I’m misreading this, do forgive me.

Breaking quarantine early is very risky, but that does not mean it cannot be done. Keep a very close eye and be ready to separate if the fighting gets vicious. Good luck with these guys - gerbs are feisty little ones!

by CallaLily Thu 30 Aug 2018, 10:39 pm

Drago wrote:For some odd reason, none of the pics are showing up for me! My phone must be acting up lol

What do you mean by throwing up? Gerbils are incapable of vomiting. If however, I’m misreading this, do forgive me.

Breaking quarantine early is very risky, but that does not mean it cannot be done. Keep a very close eye and be ready to separate if the fighting gets vicious. Good luck with these guys - gerbs are feisty little ones!

Hmm. I’m not sure why. They’re still showing for me. Later in the thread I’ve gotten lazy and started linking to Instagram.

I had to look back in the thread to see what you were talking about. I see on the first page I said something like “Oghren is throwing up a lot of bedding” and wondering if it was territorial. By “throwing up” I meant kicking up/tossing around. Sorry for any confusion. Embarassed

I know it was a risk of possibly spreading an unseen illness. Thankfully nothing like that happened (that was back in May). I did do split cage introductions and only removed the divider once I felt confident they were showing signs of bonding. Oghren, Merin, and Emrys got along extremely well — only trouble was (as I’m sure you’ve seen in later posts) it turned out Emrys is female! Which means I have 6 more gerbils.

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Fri 31 Aug 2018, 7:51 am

No name suggestions yet? You're looking for foody names color-coordinated to agouti fur? Hmm. I'll get the ball rolling.

Cannoli / Crumpet / Churro / Dumpling / Oliebol (What's THAT??? Don't worry - it's tasty.) / Toffee / Truffle / Timbit

Good luck getting more and better suggestions!

by Peachy Fri 31 Aug 2018, 8:58 am

Churro! I sang a song about a churro on my way to the grocery store this morning. Couldn't find any. Sad

Sounds like a good name, though.

by CallaLily Fri 31 Aug 2018, 9:49 am

I like the name ideas! Only trouble now is I can’t tell them apart. Don't Know

All of the agouti babies look exactly the same, all male. And I have a feeling that once they’re grown they’ll all look just like Oghren and Merin. Then I’ll really be lost because as it is with Oghren and Merin now I’m only really sure who’s who when they’re side by side.

Maybe I should just collectively call the baby agouti boys Oliebollen (yes, I googled). Laughing

I’m also wondering if a group of 7 males could even work? In all my poking around on gerbil groups and websites I don’t usually see groups larger than 3 mentioned. Is it worth even trying? Should I just leave all 5 baby boys together and Oghren and Merin stay as they are?

Then there’s the second litter coming. I’m still not 100% sure she is pregnant but I did notice last night her tummy is just the slightest bit rounder than usual. With everything I’ve read I’ve been pretty much planning for a second litter. If it never comes, good. But the chances of that seem slim.

I had one person show some interest in a pair but I’m not sure how serious they were. I’ve known this person since they were a child, so I trust them to care for the gerbils. I guess we’ll see. Based on my experience with those kittens I’m not gonna hold my breath.

by CallaLily Fri 31 Aug 2018, 3:45 pm

I was just rechecking again and I’m confident there are 5 boys and the fawn is the only girl. Of course to be extra EXTRA safe, I’ll keep checking and rechecking. Don’t want another oopsie.

With Emrys slightly rounder tum and how today she’s been acting like she’s maybe uncomfortable....I think more babies soon. I’m hoping she’ll hold off until we get that divider made so I can move her over to the 40 before they’re born.

by CallaLily Sun 02 Sep 2018, 11:38 am

Litter number two was born sometime last night. I see 3 babies.

EDIT: Make that 4 babies!

I think I’m going to end up with them all. I have zero people showing any interest now, unless you count my sister commenting that she was going to puke. Rolling Eyes

I mean, I’ll do it. We’ll be fine. But it would be great if I could find a good home for at least a pair. girl_sigh

I’ve got the Oliebollen Boys and Hershey in their own setup. Cream is with Emrys and helping to care for litter number two (gerbil families are awesome like that!). And of course Oghren and Merin are still getting along great. My middle son (17) wants to pick two babies to care for himself but he wants to wait and see what this second litter brings.

by CallaLily Mon 03 Sep 2018, 3:57 pm

Well turns out there were 5 babies but I just noticed 2 have passed. 3 wiggly healthy looking babes left.

by Blessed Wed 05 Sep 2018, 11:57 am

CallaLily wrote:Well turns out there were 5 babies but I just noticed 2 have passed. 3 wiggly healthy looking babes left.

I'm sorry two of them died. Sad

At least, if you don't/can't find them new homes, that you will provide them with a wonderful home in your house. Hug

by AmyLynn Wed 05 Sep 2018, 2:02 pm

I completely feel your pain. I have an unexpected litter of mice and ended up with 8 boys and 4 girls. You love them and want to care for each of them but it can be a challenge. once you decide what gerbils you want to adopt out let us all know I am sure people will send out stuff on social media. That is how I got two of my boys adopted.

by AmyLynn Wed 05 Sep 2018, 4:20 pm

So I had WAY to much fun with the name game. I found all names for sweets from around the world. They had to be a gerbil like color and somewhat pronounceable for me to add it to the list. I added some girlish names too since you might have some with the new litter. (I have a degree is pastry arts so love to learn about cool deserts.)

Alfajores – Short bread cookies sandwiched with carmel from Argenita
Basbousa - Egyptian cake
Brigadeiro – Brazilian Chocolate Truffle
Castella – Japanese honey sponge cake
Clafoutis – Super thick baked French pancake
Conchas - Mexican sweet breads
Flan – Spanish Custard
Gelato – Italian Ice Cream
Lamington – Dense Australians cake
Mandazi – Africa’s version of the doughnuts
Roti – Indian flat bread
Sernik – Polish Cheese Cake
Strudel – German pastry
Snuour – Icelandic cinnamon roll
Syrniki - Russian breakfast desert
Tteok – Korean rice cakes
Turrón – Spanish nougat treat
Zeendoy – Fried caked balls from China

Ovaltine – I loved this drink when I was a kid and named a turtle this

by CallaLily Thu 06 Sep 2018, 9:00 am

Thank you for the name help! Hopefully I’ll be able to tell the agouti boys apart eventually. But even if I can’t, they’ll most likely need to be split in at least two groups at some point. At least from everything I’ve read it seems larger groups of gerbils rarely work out in the long run.

So I’ll probably have at least 3 boy setups.
•Oghren and Merin
•3 of the boys from the first litter
•2 of the boys from the first litter

The rest depends on the sex of the 3 new little ones. If I have a lone boy there I’ll try introducing him to one of the older boys. If I have two or all three are male, they’ll have their own setup.

Then I’ll have the girls.
•Emrys and Cream

If there’s a lone female in the second litter, I’ll leave her with them and hope like heck it works out. If there’s two or all female, I move them to their own setup.

So in the end, I will probably have at least 5 or 6 gerbil setups. Though technically one will be my middle son’s. Assuming I don’t find anyone interested in adopting any.

by Peachy Thu 06 Sep 2018, 10:02 am

That's a lot of gerbil bedding!!! Thank goodness gerbils don't come close to smelling as much as mice. Laughing

Maybe a shelter could list them as available and let you "foster" them? I thought about doing this with my litters but it's so hard to choose who to let go!

by Sponsored content