ok i have a family of gerbils and the mother had babies (5) and so i've had them for a while now but like a few weeks ago the babies and the dad killed the mom and ate her!!! and then 2 weeeks later the babies killed the dad and ate him!!! just today i found out they just killed another baby gerbil and ate part of him. i dont know whats going on i give them food but why are they still eatting one another? im scared to put my hands in.. what should i do plz help me!
2007-03-07 14:34:38 · 6 answers · asked by Pookie! 4 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
That is really bizarre. I have never had a gerbil but I have had hamsters and I've never witnessed a cannibal incident. I would ask a vet. It could be something as simple as a vitamin deficiency.
2007-03-07 14:41:49 · answer #1 · answered by Sue B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With gerbils, you cannot leave the babies in with the parents when they grown up. You also cannot keep gerbils in large groupings.
Separate all the gerbils out into same sex pairs.
Gerbils will eat a dead gerbil if it is not removed right away so it does not contaminate the tank. They may have died of an illness and then were "cleaned up"
Or, they could be fighting due to overcrowding or because there are too many sexually mature animals of mixed gender kept together. Gerbils don't breed in a colony setting. They breed in a one-famale, one-male pair. You need to remove the babies as soon as or shortly before the new litter arrives.
2007-03-07 23:38:41 · answer #2 · answered by ABC Gerbils 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you should take the rest to the vet to see what is wrong with them, but first you should separate the rest so they won't each other before tomorrow.
2007-03-07 22:41:43 · answer #3 · answered by Roxas of Organization 13 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well this can sometimes happen.maybe they fight and someone might comeout bleeding so the other gerbils i dont know they sort of like blood so then they attack the one that is bleeding and the one that is bleeding ends up eaten:(
2007-03-07 23:17:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you should have done when they turned on mom is start separating them... When they tore at dad, then you really should have separated them... The answer.. Separate them.
2007-03-07 23:02:30 · answer #5 · answered by DP 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
put on a glove then you can separate them
2007-03-07 22:38:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋