F
Frida
Thank you for answering my question
September DIY Projects
- Thread starter Daisy
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I am learning so much more about gerbils! And it's lovely seeing videos of them.
M
Member ID2
Very interesting to read more about gerbil dynamics. Do they not hurt each other like hamsters do when kept together and its more a juvenile "play fighting" behaviour?
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It is juvenile play fighting although when it comes to "play fighting" I always like to draw the comparison to children playing role playing games like pretend cooking or looking after dolls. They're playing but they're also practicing skills for later in life and usually the baby gerbils that regularly come out top in play fights will be more dominant as adults. They themselves also don't see it as playing at this age. They take themselves very seriously!
They don't hurt each other because gerbils only bite hard enough to cause damage when they're being properly aggressive, which pups of this age don't have the capacity to be (unless extremely mistreated). The bouncing around/boxing/wrestling looks violent but they're pretty tough and I've never heard of an injury from this type of playing.
Hamsters start out play fighting just like this but then starting from about 6 weeks they tend to (always in the case of Syrians, and very often for dwarfs) start to develop an individual identity and want to live alone and the fighting becomes more real and more serious. It takes an experienced breeder to know the difference with hamsters so they can separate them in time. Conflict can also build up gradually over time which is why people often bring home a pair of dwarfs, and everything seems fine at first but eventually it all goes wrong.
Because gerbils are social, instead of developing an individual identity from 6-8 weeks of age, they start to develop a group (or clan) identity. Before that age, they don't have a sense of themselves as a clan. You could merge two groups of 4-week-old gerbils and they wouldn't care at all because they're not territorial yet. By the time they are 8 weeks old, they will be starting to see themselves as an established clan with its own territory to defend and they'll be resistant to accepting any new gerbils.
Removing any gerbils from a clan of 3 or more can also be risky as you'll be interfering with established power structures and hierarchies (e.g if you remove the dominant gerbil, you'll leave a power vacuum which may cause fighting), therefore, for pet-keeping purposes, breeders will separate gerbils into the pairs or small groups that are intended to stay together for life by 8 weeks old, before the hierarchies and power structures are too well-established.
Gerbils also prefer to live in pairs rather than bigger groups, and a bigger group may start to gradually push out some members beginning from about 8 weeks, but in practice this tends to happen much later when they're a few months old.
Attempting to introduce two pairs of adult gerbils (which a lot of people unfortunately try to do) would essentially have the same effect as trying to introduce two adult hamsters. Both gerbil pairs have a clan identity that excludes other gerbils, and each hamster has an individual identity which excludes other hamsters. And both will almost certainly end up fighting, sooner or later.
M
Member ID2
Thank you for all this interesting information.
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I've finally started one of the biggest projects of this month!
I mentioned in another thread that I had bought a hamster bedding set to make cushions out of the fabric. I actually decided to make a bedspread instead.
The duvet cover is reversible with a different pattern on each side so last night I separated the pieces of fabric using a seam ripper.
Today I took the top piece of fabric and pinned it to a sheet of wadding material. This took a very long time and involved about 400 pins, however it should be the most laborious step.
I will update when I've completed the next step.
I mentioned in another thread that I had bought a hamster bedding set to make cushions out of the fabric. I actually decided to make a bedspread instead.
The duvet cover is reversible with a different pattern on each side so last night I separated the pieces of fabric using a seam ripper.
Today I took the top piece of fabric and pinned it to a sheet of wadding material. This took a very long time and involved about 400 pins, however it should be the most laborious step.
I will update when I've completed the next step.
R
RainbowBrite
Wow, that is a fantastic idea! What could be nicer then a hamster bedspread. You are so creative.
F
Frida
That's a great idea. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result 
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The bedspread is finished!
After pinning the top fabric to the wadding in the last post, I sewed round the edges to hold them together. Then I pinned the bottom piece of fabric over that, with the right sides facing together. I sewed round the edges, leaving a small gap, then turned the whole thing inside out. Then I just sewed all the round once again to finish the bedspread.
After pinning the top fabric to the wadding in the last post, I sewed round the edges to hold them together. Then I pinned the bottom piece of fabric over that, with the right sides facing together. I sewed round the edges, leaving a small gap, then turned the whole thing inside out. Then I just sewed all the round once again to finish the bedspread.
R
RainbowBrite
I love it! I think that was such a clever idea of yours. Your sewing is just so precise and neat.
F
Frida
The bedspread looks beautiful 
M
Member ID2
Wow! You finished your lovely bedspread quickly. It's beautiful.