My gerbil is acting strange - Paw Talk

Mheyrune · #1 10-23-2009, 07:25 PM

hey there, i recently bought a new food bowl for my gerbils, i used to use ceramic ones but i dropped one and couldn't affored to replace it so i got a little metal one, it was cute and afforidible and about the same size.

When i put it in the cage, my little gray gerbil Mable started attacking it, she pushes it around the tank with her head, tries to lift it up, bites it claws at it and bangs it against the sides of the tank, she doesn't do it with anything else and seems to really have a disliking towards it. i have left it in there for over 2 weeks now and she still continues to attack the bowl with the same amount of aggression, she even kicks out all the food from it so she can lift it up. is there any reason for this hatred. she has never taken badly to anything else, i even bonded her with me other gerbils and they don't fight or anything. it just seems she has funny feelings with this bowl. none of my gerbils do it either. is there something wrong?

CrWoodyspets · #2 10-23-2009, 07:37 PM

Wait, you said that she is moving it around and stuff? It seems like that is probably normal, you just never experienced that before because the ceramic one is too heavy for her to push around.

Jess · #3 10-23-2009, 07:47 PM

Ditto.
Gerbils LOVE to dig, so just try giving her some extra bedding to tunnel in. It doesnt sound like aggression to me- she just has some energy to burn!

xx Angelica<3 · #4 10-23-2009, 07:50 PM

Gerbils aren't really aggressive, just have too much energy, more that they can handle, LOL. I don't have a food bowl for any of my animals except for our rabbit and one of the mice, & that was only because it came with the cage.

. I don't think theres anyway to stop your gerbil from moving it around, but you could give them paper towl, cardboard, y'know.. stuff to chew on

Mheyrune · #5 10-24-2009, 11:15 AM

they have more than enough things to play with, the cage itself is huge, standing a meter high, a meter in width and two meters in length, (it's made of glass so there are no bars to chew

) its filled almost halfway with sawdust, (aspen and cedar mixed)chewed up card and tissue, they have mountains of toys and logs and little levels to play with, not to mention they get taken out for a few hours a day to play in the outside pen for some fresh air if it's good weather. its just on the top level where there is the food and water, every time she goes up there she bats it around like no ones buisness. i'm just wonering if i should go out and buy a different bowl she tried to chew it too. none of the other gerbils do it, i have 4 of them in there and they all get along pretty well and Mable is the only one who does it. she also does it to the new wheel. its a silent spinner as they used to keep me up all night with their wheel squeaking O.o

CrWoodyspets · #6 10-24-2009, 11:40 AM

I still don't think you have anything to worry about

But you do need to get the cedar chips out of the cage ASAP. They are bad for small animals, just use the aspen or mix it with Carefresh.

xx Angelica<3 · #7 10-24-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrWoodyspets


	I still don't think you have anything to worry about But you do need to get the cedar chips out of the cage ASAP. They are bad for small animals, just use the aspen or mix it with Carefresh.

I was going to say that ;D
Cedar is very hazardous to small animals. For my gerbils I use Aspen and Carefresh, same for the mice. But right now all their cages are full aspen.

Jess · #8 10-24-2009, 12:21 PM

Yup, cedar is a no-no.
You can try not using a food dish, and just putting the food in their bedding. Thats what I did with my gerbil, so there was always a big pile of food and some mixed in with ther bedding that she would have fun finding! You can try hiding some treats in there too!

CrWoodyspets · #9 10-24-2009, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jess


	Yup, cedar is a no-no. You can try not using a food dish, and just putting the food in their bedding. Thats what I did with my gerbil, so there was always a big pile of food and some mixed in with ther bedding that she would have fun finding! You can try hiding some treats in there too!

^And this can keep their weight under control too if you have problems with that (;

TrishB · #10 11-04-2009, 12:25 PM

shes just playing i have many gerbils myself at the moment and der the funniest tings to watch ....topplin her food out of the bowl is normail all gerbils do it...its there nature to hide there food from other gerbils and animals so dont be worried shes not turning into a killer gerbil or anything lol