# gerbil killed by sisters.



## red dogues (Nov 27, 2009)

we went out for about 2 hours yesterday and came back to a blood bath. we have 3 female litter mate gerbils in a gerbilarium who get on OK but they turned and killed one last night. they attacked her rear end, legs, face very badly and she died in my hands. i had them all out on Tue night and all were well and running about fine.

any idea why this has happened.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Wow that is horrible...am so sorry hun. Hope the other two are ok. HUGS xx


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## red dogues (Nov 27, 2009)

other two are fine, just dont know why they did it.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

I know nothing of gerbils. But more with mice hammies and rats. Theres a chance she was ill and they knew she wouldnt survive...though that is more a maternal trait. I guess one thing to watch out for is fighting among the other two...it could be just one aggressive one. There is also a slight possibilty that the one who died was a not so well endowed male. I dont know...am just sorry for you have to go through that! xx


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## red dogues (Nov 27, 2009)

thank you for reply


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## Baby British (Jan 24, 2010)

I know that gerbils can declan sometimes for no apparent reason. I'd keep a close eye on the other two just to make sure all is well with them. If you witness fighting between the other two (I think when the pair form a ball is the one to look out for as this often means a fight to the death) then you might need to consider separating them and then possibly trying to introduce them each to a same sex pup for company (using the split tank method)

It might be worth sending Marcia a pm as she knows a lot about gerbils and might have some alternative suggestions or be able to offer further reasoning of why this happened with your group.


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## shadowypsilon (Mar 16, 2010)

About 4 years ago I got my first two gerbils, they were sisters too and got along perfectly, always slept huddled up together.
One day when I got home from school, my mum told me one of them had died, she had bled out from her eye, and had obviously been attacked by the other.

We never did find out why  I was devastated. I'm afraid this post isn't really gonna help you, just that it seems to be a common occurence.

Really sorry about your gerbil though!


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## Loki (Jan 16, 2010)

Gerbils are funny things, they can turn for no apparent reason. Very sorry, don't beat yourself up about it


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

Is there any chance that they may not have been siblings? Sometimes if you get them from petshops they arn't siblings and they will go for eachother. I've only ever had 2 though I can't offer you any better advice.


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## Diction (Jun 12, 2009)

I know from what I have read that female gerbils are more likely to fight especially if in a larger cage as they can take to making seperate clans. I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your poor girl 

Were they all introduced to the cage at the same time? I wish I could be more help to you


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