Gerbil Advice Needed

[SinNyx]

I have to be honest I think I may have already been judged by a few people for having him alone...but as far as I know, he's not been with another, and I don't want to buy him a friend from a pet shop, being a rescue. If it didn't work out I also don't have anywhere else to put a tank at the moment as his is taking up the drawers in the hammy room.

Ideally, I want to find him a good, experienced home, with someone who can work on his personality more than I can, as I'm not overly confident with gerbils.

On a more positive note he has calmed down today. He took a treat from me (even if he did run away straight after!), so that's a start and I'm happy with that.

[Pebbles82]

Anyone who judges like that is silly! You have rescued him and are finding him a good home and have him in a suitable tank. I am sure he appreciates you giving him treats as well! From what the others who've had Gerbils have said, introducing him to another gerbil is a careful thing and could take time and this probably isn't the right time as he is 'in transit' so to speak. He came alone and you can't change that. He is gorgeous!

Maybe an extra toy would get him distracted and happy playing. I just tried reading a bit more about gerbils and they like things to climb and tubes so a big cardboard tube with a couple of holes cut in the side might be fun for him, propped up against one of the shelves - or one of those bendy plastic rat tubes or something.

This site also suggests some diy toys and shows a kind of bread basket thing hanging from the top of the cage (presumably to jump into). And another one shows a popular home made gerbil toy (same sort of thing as for hamsters) where you hide food or treats in a toilet roll then wrap it in paper to look like a christmas cracker and they have to chew it open.

Recycling household items for gerbil toys | eGerbil

[BrainGirl]

Don't let the critics get to you, I hear it all the time with chinchillas too. Thing is, they don't necessarily need companionship and forcing them to live with a partner they don't like can result in stress at the very least and injuries or even death at the most! There's nothing wrong with giving it a try if you think you see signs that he wants a friend but frankly, sometimes they just don't. And you won't know that unless you try. Thankfully, neither will he

[kyrilliondaemon]

He's gorgeous

For what its worth two of our gerbils're alone at the moment and they're ok. Apricot attacked her friends and refused reintroductions at her last owners home and Bubblegum arrived to us with a male then promptly rejected her entire litter when they were a bit over five weeks old. Since they're both girls we will try and introduce them to each other but if they decide they're happier alone we'll be respecting that.

[racinghamster]

SinNyx, for what it`s worth, I would leave him on his own. Getting him a friend could result in trouble. You just don`t know whether he would accept a youngster and even though adult males can be good at accepting baby or young gerbil males, it`s not guaranteed. It`s all very well people saying otherwise, you are a rescue and if an experienced gerbil owner was to take him on, then I`m sure they would have the time and the space to give it a go and accommodate the outcome. I only did one adult/baby male introduction and because I had such a little gem of a male called Grub, he almost fell in love with the rescue baby gerbil I decided to adopt for him to have company, but I KNEW Grub`s personality beforehand and that can count for a lot.

In the end, Grub got a pulled tooth, became ill and thin and his baby adoptee grew up to start attacking him and I was gutted. For Grub more than me as he was such a little darling and it was heart breaking having to remove him from what I though would have been life-long company. It just didn`t happen because the other gerbil was larger and sensed Grub`s weakness.

Carry on as you are and I`m sure if you had been closer to me, I would have considered adopting him, but I`m a one hamster household these days due to pain issues so much as I love gerbils, my energy levels are not what they used to be for gerbil play times! x

[SinNyx]

Thank you all for the information

Will definitely be making some more toys for him, to keep him happy. He's a very active little guy, and has been taking food from me, so at least he isn't feeling as much of a need to run away.

I think he is better on his own for now. I think I would feel different if he was younger, and I knew more about him and his background.

[racinghamster]

Think of him as a cheeky mini-meerkat! x

[fluffydd]

I'm glad he's settling in. He'll be fine on his own. I have 2 loners at the moment - one male and one female. I have their tanks next to each other and they do interact with each other. George is the newest arrival and she was very skittish to start with but she calmed down a lot once she had Allan living next door.

There is quite a lot of pressure to always have gerbils in pairs or trios but they can have happy lives on their own. Allan has been on his own for almost a year now since he fell out with his brothers and he's been very relaxed about it.

Some gerbils really don't cope well on their own e.g. after a cage mate dies And then it can be best to get them a new buddy but it does depend on the gerbil and the circumstances.

[fluffydd]

Don't worry about him running away when he has taken a treat. All of my gerbils do that whether they live alone or in pairs. They like to run off with their treasure. If I give them something delicious like a blueberry then they may sit still and eat it. They can be completely immobilised by a delicious treat allowing you to stoke them even if they wouldn't normally put up with it. Sometimes they don't even take the treat off me and I have to stand there and hold it for them. They can be really daft. But the norm seems to be to run to a corner and eat the treat.

A fun toy for gerbils is to give them a whole toilet roll or a half full or full box of tissues

[SinNyx]

Just to let everyone know, he found his forever home, a more experienced gerbil owner picked him up yesterday and took him home He's now called Bear, and settling in well.

Thanks to everyone that gave me advice in his time here. It was definitely a change taking on a gerbil!