Re: digging behaviour

[cj.morris]

with regard to compulsive digging, Blanche has been a compulsive digger since the day I had her, I used to watch in horror as she wrecked all Bob's good work with the tunnels etc. So I put a coffee jar in each of the two front corners of the tank, I slightly buried them in the substrate and now she spends most of her 'compulsive moments' in one of the jars leaving Bob to get on with his major construction plans. The gerbils live in a three foot aquarium with a large nest box 6"x6"x8" (a parakeet nesting box on its side) to this I have attached a 12" long piece of 2" pipe. the rest of the aquarium is filled with sandblasted tree roots as sold for aquariums, on top of this I put an ordinary bucket of peat moss and chinchilla dust (sepiolite).  Neither Bob or Shy show compulsive behaviours and tend to leave existing tunnels alone, only tidying them up as they scamper past. Blanche on the other hand just seems to dig without aim or reason. also non of the pups I have rehomed seem to show compulsive behaviours[yet!], they have all gone to live in large aquariums with plenty to dig in and a tunnel attached to their nesting box.   If any body else has any tips on preventing 'compulsive behaviours' please share them.         ----- Original Message ----- From: Steven K. Maldonado To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 26, 2001 11:29 PM Subject: Re: Chinchilla Dust >> >>3rd question. >> >>Another gerbil behavior curiosity. I read many pages on gerbil behavior. >>They all >>mention stereotypical digging thought to be associated with >>burrowing instincts. This indeed appears to be an obvious truth, but what >>about >>digging attributed to line-of-sight? The gerbil views the ground, sees a >>clean spot >>he just made directly in front of him, and perceives this as the beginning >>of the >>borrow that leads deeper? (Just a brain-fart)  ;-) >> >I don't think there is any "thought" about it. Gerbils raised in simple >burrow systems do not do this - > >http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gerbils/burrow.htm   Wrong. Perhaps the word 'thought' should have been more appropriately stated as "...stereotypical digging, with a 'provisionally acceptable observation' that it is associated with burrowing instincts." But your page only gives 1 likely explanation to why they dig compulsively when subject to a thin bedding environment in captivity.   How are you to know if stereotypical digging is exclusively from an instinct to dig burrows, or if it's because of the Gerbils visual perception of its immediate surrounding? How are you to know if the Gerbil perceives the clean spot in front of him as the beginning of a burrow and is trying to get inside of it?   Would a Gerbil exhibit these behaviors in a micro gravity environment? <j/k! thought I'd throw that one in for kicks. But you see my point.>  ;-)   I'd be interested in your ideas.   Me