my gerbils have been fighting! one has wounds allover?

Question

she is walking and eatin, drinking but i dont no wa to do i have sapartaed them but will the wounds go bad or infected?

ive had them for four years now i dun c y they are fighting now and yes i have seperated them

sorry 2 years not four

i have got a book but im still unsure what to do
it is surrposed to be ok to have only two females together and i look after them well

Answer 1

Are ur gerbils from the same litter? did they grow up together? as i know that it's more likely that they will fight if they were introduced at an older age.
anyway, i'd strongly suggest that u take her to the vet and get her checked out...as although she may seem fine now.....gerbils can deteriorate and get infections from wounds very quickly, trust me on this, im speaking from experience.
Gently bathing her wounds in some water would help to keep them clean.

i've found this site for u that has a lot of information about gerbil wounds and ailments, i hope it helps

http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gerbils/ailments.htm

also this one, that may help a lot too, u will find gerbils in the "other animals and pets" section,
http://www.cutiecavies.proboards61.com/index.cgi?action=recent

hope these help!! :)

Answer 2

There are two distinct types of fighting: play fighting, and serious fighting. Play fighting goes on frequently among gerbils, especially young ones, it gives them something to do. They may pounce on the other and tussle a little bit and then end up grooming each other. Serious fighting is characterized by "rolling up in a ball" in a flurry of fur with the two gerbils going at each others' throats, and drawing blood. Once two gerbils have drawn blood it is rare they can be reconciled. This type of fighting is usually only seen when two gerbils are first introduced or if the dominance relationship devolves because of instability in the social order of the aquarium. Groups of 3 or more females are notorious for breaking up in this fashion after a period of months, although this doesn't always happen, but it happens in males too. Also, sometimes groups will suddenly turn on each other when they've been playing in unfamiliar territory for a few minutes. In this case, especially with pairs, they can sometimes be reconciled, but with some pairs this happens again and again so the relationship is likely not a stable one to begin with.

Preventing fighting: use the split cage method for introductions. You still may end up with a fight but it's a lot less likely. Keep females in pairs only and use good judgement when placing together males. Keep an eye out for signs of trouble: bite marks on the belly or rump area are also signs that there is a conflict in the making. Separate the pair or separate the group into smaller units, trying to figure out who the bully is.

Mounting and Marking Behaviors

Occasionally people are panicked to discover that their two male gerbils or two female gerbils are mating with each other, even though they've had them together for months and are totally sure they're both the same gender. No, your gerbils are not mixed up as to what gender they are, they are "scent marking" each other. To the untrained eye it can look like mating, but it isn't anything close. This is another way of asserting dominance over the submissive party in a group. It's rather normal and no pups will result ;) However if you have doubts about your gerbils' gender, by all means have an expert examine them! Also male gerbils will often be seen rubbing their bellies over objects in their cage. This is scent marking. Gerbils have a bare patch of skin on their bellies which secretes a marking substance which marks a territory as "theirs".

Digging Madly In The Corner

A lot of people mistake gerbils' habit of digging in the corner of their cages as an urge to get out. It isn't. This is known as "stereotyped digging" and is caused by the gerbils' natural instinct to burrow. It is perfectly normal.

Answer 3

I had 2 female gerbils who had have been given alongside nicely and sometime began to play combat (or so i presumed). Over the direction of a weekend, that they had grow to be enemies and the dominant one would not go away the different one on my own. i attempted a cage separator yet mine could desire to not have been any good as they nonetheless controlled to party. It became into very aggravating. Blood became into drawn and that i'm confident they could have fought to the loss of life had I not have been given yet another cage. Now I even have 3 distinctive women and that they have lived in team spirit for 18 months. i don't think of you may provide up them scuffling with as quickly as they have began.

Answer 4

it is possible that they may become infected. Clean out their cage to ensure the bedding is clean, if poss clean the wounds with a salt water solution and it may be a good idea to keep them separated so it doesn't happen again. If you're worried about the wounds and they're deep/serious then you may want to pop the animal to the vets.

Answer 5

Ok good that you seperated them and yes the wounds could come infected so i would go see a vet right away!

Answer 6

separate them at once. some gerbils just don't like other gerbils. males together with females can cause some pretty bad fights if the female is not a willing participant of the male's advances.

Answer 7

Can you handle them? If not take it to the vet to get it checked out. If you can handle them try using a little warm water on a clean finger to clean the wounds. Don't get bitten. Get a hamster next time!

Answer 8

Punish them by putting a 5 foot red rat sank in the cage. You would name the snake 'long tail'

Answer 9

you can't keep females with other gerbils. Am surprised you haven't got a dead one already. Separate them IMMEDIATELY, then rehome them to someone who knows how to keep them - or at least can be bothered to read a bl00dy book

Answer 10

Rodents do not like to live in the same cage. They like to live a lone. So just seperater them.