Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I first got Felix, he was very friendly and curious. He was reasonably comfortable being picked up and generally easier to handle than Basil, the gerbil I'd had for two weeks. Now that Basil and Felix are in the same cage, Felix has gotten really skittish. He wasn't this way when they were in the split cage. He stays in the nest box most of the time and when he does come out, he moves in a quick jerky way and dashes back to the nest if I make any quick movement--even if I'm several feet from the cage. If I put food in my hand sometimes he will eventually come out to get some, but he seems really scared the whole time. I didn't change anything about the way I handle him and I haven't tried to pick him up since this started. What happened to my friendly Felix?

I would guess Basil is the more agressive one. You may have paired them up a little too early and Felix has gotten the worse end of the deal. His fear may be caused more by Basil than by you but after they get to know each other he should settle down. Keep offering them treats and watch for any fights. Does Felix let Basil come in the nest box? Or does any attempt by Basil to do that lead to alot of squeaking and nipping? If Felix is keeping Basil out of the nest box he's probably feeling intimidated by Basil and you need to watch them closely or seperate them a little longer if they aren't both getting food and water.

Yes, Felix lets Basil into the nest box. They sleep together in there often. I aslo see Basil grooming Felix in there. Basil probably is the dominant one, being clearly larger and almost certainly older, but Felix doesn't get chased around or bitten. I've seen them eating at the same time from the same pile of food and I've even seen them using the water bottle at the same time (very cute), so I don't think there's a problem there.

On a hunch, I decided to pick up Felix and handle him even though he's been skittish. As soon as he was on my lap, he was back to being his calm, friendly self. Then I picked up Basil and had them both on my lap. Felix seemed to stay calm. I'm still puzzled by Felix's skittishness while in the cage, but I'll keep working with him and I think he'll relax.

Thank you for your help. I'm sure I'll be needing it again before too long. I'm just already so attached to these little guys, I don't want to mess anything up!

ciao,
Megan

I believe individual gerbils have their own characters, which may actually change with time.

I have 2 gerbils who are quite tame. When both were younger, they both accepted treats (sunflower seeds) from my hand readily. Now, however, only one of them (named Piglet) is willing to do that. The other one (rather aptly named Eeyore) will ignore my hand-fed treat, unless it's a sunflower seed with its shell REMOVED already! So Eeyore has developed some sort of "attitute", apparently.

So on Felix, his reactions to you may change depending on many reasons, such as the addition of a new tankmate, or maybe a change simply due to him getting older etc.

I'm quite sure you will experience many more changes in your gerbils' behaviour as they grow older. The hand taming (training) skills of the owner of course plays a part too. Some owners are better at training their gerbils than others. I guess I'm not a very good tamer.

You're right to keep working on it! Good luck!

Aidan doesn't like to be caught for some reason but will sneak sunflower seeds or walnut pieces off my hand if Kojo is doing it. He also seems happy once he's out but he's never liked being caught even as a pup. The second you move your hand to lift him out of the cage he scrambles away or if you try to scoop him up he runs off to hide. I just decided to let him have it his way and when I take him out to play I just lift the box he and Kojo are in and set them in the playpen. The rest of my 6 adult gerbils and Rasheeka's 7 pups all sit on my hand and try to run up my arm and out of the cage. I don't know why but Aidan just doesn't like to be picked up every gerbil develops it's own personality. (Gerbils now number 6 adult, 10 weaned pups, and somewhere between 5-8 newborns... I think I need to buy another cage)