At 08:29 PM 8/3/00 -0400, Donna Anastasi wrote:
>Cara, my absolute favorite gerbil, has seemed to have gone through a
>personality change. She was the one who loves to leap onto my hand and
>climb up my sleeve at any opportunity. Now she will only come out after
>my hand/arm is in the tank for several minutes (used to be microseconds)
>and is very tentative about it. There have been many changes in Cara's
>environment, could any of them be causing this change in her behavior?
>
>#1 My sister house and gerbil sat for about 2 weeks, she scrambled up
>my sister like me.
>#2 Then I drove her to our summer house about a 2 hour drive (she's been
>here for two weeks)
>#3 I gave her a hanging wheel which she loves and runs all the time.
>#4 She is on a bureau in a guest room (quiet, not used much)
>#5 She is in front of a mirror (I just covered that)
>#6 She is in a ten gallon tank with 3 of her female pups now 14 weeks,
>10 weeks, 10 weeks
>#7 Cara is 10 months old
>
>Any ideas why my exuberant, people-crazy Cara is acting so different
>now?
Hard to say. It could be all the changes in routine. I know my gerbs get
a bit puzzled sometimes when routine changes. I played with Snowy the
other day at an earlier time in the evening than usual, and he seemed to
think it a bit odd! He kept looking at me in a rather bewildered way. He
was a bit more reluctant to jump to me, but 3 hours later at the normal
time he was his usual spring-footed self. The only other thing that even
slightly rings a bell with me is her being in a quiet room. Some gerbils,
I think, don't do well if they are not around the hustle and bustle of the
household. My Elita is an example, she seems to have stopped squeaking for
attention since I moved her into the living room, and I have to say the
squeaking is also odd behavior ... or was anyway :)
Tana and The Little Rascals
http://thesanctuary.tripod.com
http://gerbils.freehosting.net
http://www.geocities.com/tinypaws68/
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