Should I seperate these gerbils? :worried: (Urgent!)

[Gerbilgirl]

I was playing with two of my gerbils, Paco and Pancho, when I noticed that some of the bedding near their nesting box was a light reddish color. I inspected both of them and saw that the fur behind poor Pancho's ear was also blood red. Pancho and Paco have been together for a few weeks now. Granted, they were never as close as Blondie and Panda are but I thought that was just because they aren't family. I saw them rolling around in a ball a few days ago, but they groomed each other afterwards so I didn't think it was a serious fight. Today Paco was acting twitchy, like my gerbils always do during a playfight. I left them alone for a little while and when I came back I saw the blood. It wasn't from their other fight, because I had changed the bedding since then.
I have seperated them using the split cage method for now. They seem distraught, trying to get to each other between the mesh. They aren't acting aggressively; Paco slipped through to the other side of the cage twice without mishap while I was rigging it up.
Paco, though much smaller and younger, seems to have the more dominant personality. They are not from the same litter but they were from the same cage.
Should they be seperated permanently? I am not sure if my mom can be convinced to allow me to get another two gerbils, and then there's the matter of getting several more covers so I can split up the tank and keep a lid on it. Please help!

[Jakamoko]

The blood doesn't have to be from fighting, unless it is obvious that they have been. ie one won't allow the other anywhere near, fluffing of fur, squeaking etc. It could be that one got injured either by scratching its own ear or whilst grooming the ear was knicked and it is now bleeding.
Plus, when fighting Gerbils don't often go for the ears, injuries are usually on the neck, mouth, bum, tail and back feet. So check for any injuries in these key places.

Gerbils bleed a surprising amount, I had one who whilst scratching caused his ear to bleed and there was blood everywhere, the cut was so small you could barely see it.

If there is still blood on the Gerbil, wrap it up in a towel and lightly pour warm water over to wash the blood away. The towel is to help you hold the gerbil and to make sure it can't bite you. Don't put the Gerbil under the tap... just put your fingers in some water and rub them on the fur, the blood should eventually come off. When the blood is gone, be sure the gerbil is totally dry and try to leave it in a warm place to dry off, also supply some chinchilla sand, it will roll in this until dry too.

If there are no other injuries, then I would be tempted to say it was an accident and that they are not fighting at all.

[Gerbilgirl]

Thank goodness! When I saw the blood I imagined them trying to kill each other...
At the moment they don't exhibit any of the signs you mentioned, but they do seem to squeak a lot. They used to have a little TV for a nesting box. They both tried to squeeze into it at one time and I guess they were bickering over who got to lie in the TV. I took it out but they still do start squeaking sometimes.

[MonoOmoi]

I think Jakamoko has the right idea. If they were really fighting, my guess is the injuries would be a lot more serious by now. Just keep an eye on them, and make sure you get the wound clean. A little Neosporin can help if it doesn't heal up right away, or your vet may be able to prescribe a topical antibiotic... but that's only if it's really bad and doesn't heal in a week or so on its own. It sounds like they really want to be together, even if they do "play fight" a lot. Maybe they are still establishing dominance, in which case they may fight a little but it shouldn't hurt.

I actually have two boys that squeak a lot too, usually when they groom each other. I worried so much when I first put them together because I always thought they were hurt and went running to check on them... But they're fine, and hopefully your gerbils will be too.

[Gerbilgirl]

I forgot to mention that both look like they have small tufts of hair missing around their necks (Pancho more than Paco). Is that something to worry about?

[MonoOmoi]

Hmm... that could be a sign of a fight, as they'll often go for the neck and torso. However, it could also be an allergy of some sort. Are they scratching and/or grooming more than usual? You might want to check for mites, too. (put them in a clean, white cloth and hold them for a minute or so, and then look to see if there are little reddish specks on the cloth). Any changes in the bedding lately, or new toys, or something like that?

[TTGerbils]

Another easy way to check for mites is to line the bottom of a small carrier with a white paper towel, put the gerbil in the carrier for a few minutes, then check for mites on the paper towel. This works well for gerbils who aren't tamed yet or don't like to be held.

[Gerbilgirl]

I don't think they're grooming more than usual, and there weren't any mites on the tissue when I checked both of them (although that may be just because they wouldn't sit still long enough). I did switch from pine to aspen a few days ago, and I gave them half a coconut today, but they'd been missing tufts of fur long before that.
I counted four missing tufts on Pancho today; Paco has had several as well. I really do think that fighting is causing them. But why are they pulling each other's fur out instead of instead of biting skin?

[lizzykins]

umm. ball fighting is often a serious fight.

[MonoOmoi]

Honestly I'm not sure what to tell you at this point... it doesn't sound like they are having serious fights, especially if they haven't drawn blood anymore. But like I said before, just make sure you watch them, incase this is play-fighting that is starting to get serious for some reason... My best guess, though, is that it's some sort of health problem, and so you'd probably be best to talk to a vet. Even if you can't actually go a lot of times you can call and ask them a question and they'll help you out...

Unless anybody else here has ideas?

[Revenge]

How often do these behavior patterns occur when your gerbils our together?