HELP!!! What's wrong with my gerbil?

[petlover2626]

I currently own two female gerbils, Roxxie and Foxxie. Lately, when I pick up Foxxie, she bites me. She never used to bite me when I hold her, especially when I walk her around the house. She used to LOVE that. And Foxxie is also gaining alot of weight. She is definitely bigger than Roxxie. Is it possible that she is pregnant? I seriously doubt it. But anything is possible right? PLEASE help me! PLEASE!

[Doom]

First how old is she?
Older gerbils tend to put on wieght, bit like humans.
Second has she been near a male? pregnancy without a male is impossible for gerbils.
Thirdly has she had any sort of fall? A bruise or injury which makes being picked up painful can cause this type of behaviour.
Fourthly has there been a change of dominance in the tank? This can also cause personality changes. Or of course injury gained in an argument might cause pain (see above).

This type of change can be a bit like detective work I'm afraid. Of course you may never know the cause, blow on her face when she bites and be patient with her.

[JennyH]

How long has she been biting for? And is she just nipping you or biting so that it breaks the skin? I'd just keep a close eye on her to make sure she's not injured and try to blow on her face when she bites (which is not always possible if she's biting hard - see the rest of my post!).
I've been having a similar problem so I hope you don't mind me butting into your thread!
My Caramel has recently started biting (very hard!) too, she never used to at all. She's not a very sociable gerbil and doesn't like the be handled much but she always used to sit on my hand to eat sunflower seeds. Now she just sinks her teeth into me. The only problem is that when she bites it hurts so much that, naturally, my hand jolts back which causes her to run off. This all happens so quickly that I never have the time to blow on her face to discourage her from doing it. Does anyone know of anything else I can do to stop her biting?

[petlover2626]

Well, I got Foxxie two months ago. And when I first got her, she kept biting me. And one time she bit me and I bleed. But that was only because she was licking some of her medicine off my finger and bit me. I think it was on accident though. And then she stopped biting me for awhile and she let me hold her and play with her. And she would climb up my legs and arms. I thought that everything was going pretty good. But all of a sudden, she is getting heavy and is biting. An it seems like the bites are getting harder. Sometimes she bites and won't let go. I have heard of people going to the emergency room because of gerbil bites. And I don't want to be the person in the hospital because my gerbil bit me so hard that I need stitches.

[Dr Doughnut]

This happened to me, except she wasnt preggo, although she did gain just a weensy bit (about 5 grams).My sister, who was 6 and dumb at the time, wanted to play with my gerbil (who is a female), and pulled off the tail! Luckily, she knew i didnt do it. Still, she bit me for 2 days.