Help!

[GusandJerry]

Hey! we've had jerry for 3 days now, and we've been holding him and he seemed ok. a couple of nips but nothing serius, until now. Molly was trying to get Jerry out of the cage, when, for no apparent reason he bit her finger, hard!! She lifted her hand out of the cage (rather rapidly) and Jerry clung on for a good 5 seconds! The bite was deep and hard and bled a lot. What is wrong with this gerbil? Has anyone had any similar experiences?? because right now, i dont want this gerbil anywhere near me.

[jewelz1171]

Sometimes gerbils that are not use to being held can take weeks or months to be tamed, especially from a pet store where they may not have been handled at all. Even still, they usually only bite when they feel threatened, and maybe something Molly did frightened him??? Maybe he's on gaurd from the fight he had with gus, too. Either way, he probably needs some time to adjust to his surroundings and needs to be very gradually introduced to being held. Try to just get him use to your hand being in the cage for starters, without trying to pick him up. Do this for a good week I would say. You can offer him treats, like sunflower seeds, from your hand to let him associate you with good things. In the mean time, clean the bite good and make sure your mom knows about it just to keep an eye on it.

[MonoOmoi]

Ah, that's never any fun. I'm sorry. But don't give up on him (her?) yet! I have had bites like this before, and I know they suck. But just give Jerry some time and I'm sure he'll adjust. I agree with jewelz1171, it may take him quite awhile to be tamed, and after a fight he's going to be a bit skittish. Is there any chance your sister had been handling Gus right before this? Since they just had a fight, he might have smelled the other gerbil on her and remembered the fight. You and your sister should probably start washing your hands after handling either one of them. If you're still trying to do the split cage with him and Gus, you might want to wear gloves while switching them back and forth. You'll need to give him time to explore your bare hands, too, but if you have to pick him up for the next few weeks gloves would be safer. In fact, it might even be good to wait until he is a bit more comfortable with you before you try to reintroduce him to Gus, because having to get used to both you and another gerbil would be very stressful for him (this could be part of the reason you had trouble in the first place).

Also, when you put your hand in the cage, make sure you do it very slowly off to the side somewhere, and don't come down quickly above him, because he will feel threatened. Just slowly lower it in and leave it flat, palm up, at a level where he can climb up and explore. Don't trap him into a corner or anything, either. He may nibble at your fingers, but it shouldn't be painful. Try not to panic if he does, because that will frighten him and he may bite harder.

[GusandJerry]

thanks! he, is a she by the way, confirmed. Dont know whether to be happy or not really, gives me a lot more stuff to think over!! all these things happening at once :confused:

Anyway, molly wasnt holding gus before so it cant have been that, and we always wash our hands (hygiene crazy parentals) so im not sure! i think she cornered her, thats what she normally does, and jerry obviously realised he wasnt taking it any more!! :weyes:

Now we just have to pluck up the confidence to actually let jerry near our hands again!!! thats the hard part cos we're all scared now! lol! thanx anyway