my two females have been very aggressive towards one another. for several weeks they have thrashed through the bars to get at one another and once they had a really bad fight and there was a lot of blood. one of them was pregnant and right after she had the babies the violence died down. i noticed that the young mother accepted the older female gently and they groomed one another peacefully. i thought everything was very idyllic until i saw the older female with pieces of baby in her mouth and blood all over her whiskers and hands. she ate one of the babies. i can understand why the older female did what she did but why did the younger female's behaviour change so much?
2007-07-01 14:53:17 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Rodents
Female gerbils aren't prone to fighting, but I suppose if they weren't kep together their whole lives this is possible. You do keep them in a separate cage, don't you? Place the cages in different areas, not right next to each other. If they fight, this only stresses them out. I'm not positive, but I believe females accept each other's assistance with babies, and this instinct must have over come their need to fight. When the babies grow up, the females will likely start fighting again.
2007-07-01 15:12:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Gerbils are territorial by nature and should be kept singly. Cannabilism is common in incompatable pairs.
2007-07-01 22:11:22 · answer #2 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
that sounds pretty crazy, the younger one could of been scared of the older one or she could of just started adapting the the older one
2007-07-01 22:05:55 · answer #3 · answered by Sean 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋