One day, while I spent the night at my friends house, my little sister(5) went into my room to play with my gerbils. She is NEVER allowed to play with them. By the way, this happened like almost a year ago. I had bought my gerbils a hamster ball, which they hated :-(. lol. And it came with a stand so I could put it in their tank. It was in there and it was plastic. My gerbils chew on everything, and they had chewed on the stand, so it was jagged. One of my gerbils, Nibbles, was under the ball, which is fine, when my sis went in to play with them. She didn't want him under there, so she grabbed the tip of his tail and pulled him out. She also started to pull him up in the air. And then he fell back into the cage. But guess what, she was still holding on to about an inch and a half of his tail. She told mom that she cut off my gerbil's tail, and she didn't even use a scissors. I think she was traumatized...jk. Someone said that gerbils can do that, but is that true? Is it for protection?
2007-08-07 08:49:53 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Rodents
My sister wasn't supposed to be in my room. And his tail got cut on the jagged part of the ball. I guess you had to be there to think it was funny. You would have to know my family.
2007-08-07 09:03:38 · update #1
No it's not normal and it's not for protection. I assume you are thinking of what some reptiles do to distract their enemies. It's like having your arm or leg ripped off. You can survive, just as the gerbil will, as long as there is no infection. It should go to the vet unless this did happen a year ago. You should NEVER pick up a gerbil by it's tail. The only animals with strong enough skin on their tails are mice. Even rats should not be picked up by their tails. The tails of gerbils are really delicate and can be injured easily, especially if you have the incorrect type of wheel. You should move your gerbil habitat to a place where your sister cannot reach it or lock your room. I did not find this story funny at all thinking of how much pain that poor defenseless creature was in.
2007-08-07 09:42:08 · answer #1 · answered by erins_kotybear 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what half of you people are talking about when you say that a gerbil's tail falling off is NOT for protection, but it definately is. I'm not saying that it's completely normal, but that does not mean that it is not uncommon.
I don't think that the reason your gerbil's tail fell off was because of the jagged area, but because your sister pulled him by the tail. You should NEVER do this. If you do, the tail will either "deglove" or just break off. This is a defense mechanism (in the wild, if a predator grabbed it by the tail, it would break off in order to get free). Now, I'm not saying that by doing this it is not painful for the gerbil, of course it is! (It's like when you get a cat declawed - which I hate when people do that - it's like taking the cat's fingertips off!)
Anyway, you should probably lock your door the next time you leave. You wouldn't want that to happen again, would you? And I'm also I bit baffled that someone said "age is not an excuse for animal cruelty". Her sister was 5, and I'm sure that she didn't mean to. She said that she was almost traumatized for goodness sake! Anyone who thinks that when a person commits an accident or a mistake is a bad person, or accuses them of animal CRUELTY seriously has their mind mixed up.
Just take more precaution when you leave your gerbils alone again, ok?
And by the way, why are you asking about this now?
2007-08-07 18:31:36 · answer #2 · answered by cookie_lover 1 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Aww that is sort of Sad.
Accidents do happen. Maybe you should consider putting your gerbils higher up so that if your sister does go into your room again without anyone knowing she will not be able to reach them.
As for your gerbil I am sure that he will be fine, just keep an eye an him to ensure there is no infection.
2007-08-07 16:08:35 · answer #3 · answered by PetWoman 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't see anything funny about your story.
No, gerbils don't lose their tails like that - your sister must have cut off his tail with her fingernails or something else.
Childrens tiny nails can be razor sharp if they're too long.
Perhaps she should be supervised in the future if she will be handling any animal. Age is no excuse for animal cruelty.
2007-08-07 16:01:05 · answer #4 · answered by conceptual 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First- If this happened almost a year ago, why would you think he is going to die now?
Second- NO this is not normal for gerbils. It may not kill him , but it it not normal. It would be sort of like saying, "Is it normal for a human to lose his hand" just because a person's hand got cut off? A person can survive the injury, but it is NOT normal!
Third- What about this story could possibly be funny? Would you want us to laugh about it if you got your hand cut off?? Would you say, "I guess you just had to be there?"
2007-08-07 16:33:22 · answer #5 · answered by John P 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your gerbil is completely fine. He will be ok but get him check out by a vet in case he might get infection. He only lost a portion, right?
2007-08-07 15:59:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have never seen it happen but yes I understand they slough their tails as a last ditch defence against predators, and that they recover very well. I knew someone who had this happen and they sellotaped it back on! Isn't that awful?! Of course it rotted and the poor creature was stuck with a lump of rotting meat taped to her tail! Yuk yuk and yuk!
2007-08-07 16:38:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I hope you made her feel bad about hurting your gerbil! He should be fine. I would have him check by your vet just in case.
2007-08-07 16:08:31 · answer #8 · answered by magix151 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read John P's answer, I agree with him.....and you also need to keep the cage higher up or with a tight fitting lid so that your sister can't torture him.....
2007-08-07 16:55:13 · answer #9 · answered by lizard.lover94 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
wow...deppressing
2007-08-07 16:46:36 · answer #10 · answered by Rats Rule! 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋