i agree with you. i have such nippers too, and nobody from them has been
raised at my place. i got them from other owners! but nobody, that i
bred is a nipper.
Spela
------------
ABCgerbils wrote:
> My experience is the same as Kathleen's. I started
> out with a sweet trio and my home breed gerbils are
> extremely tame, and reliable with my young children.
>
> But then...if you remember the gerbil rescue
> incident... (This is a further generation from my
> gerbils). Well the tank of three girls are sweet.
> But the sole surviver boy is a nipper (it doesn't hurt
> or break the skin, but is a bit unsettling to feel
> those teeth make contact). I would not put him in the
> categorie of "fanging" as Deb says. He's not drawing
> blood or hanging on. He just runs up to you and gives
> you a nip if you put your hand in his cage or scoop
> him up to take him out.
>
> I think it is a habit he developed to avoid rough
> handling -- the prior owner say they never take him
> out any more.
>
> What I've been doing in this case is ignoring the nips
> and not pulling away. I've been taking him out about
> 3 or 4 times a day and letting him run in my arms (but
> not constraining him) -- once he's out and moving he
> doesn't nip. Also I've been letting my hand linger in
> the tank when I give him cardboard or food. Last two
> days and six outings no nips.
>
> So, we'll see.
>
> Donna
> ABC Gerbils
> www.abcgerbils.com
>
> --- Kathleen DiMaggio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > I had really good luck with gerbils so far; no
> > fights and no biters...till
> > recently.
> > I foolishly acquired two young gerbils from a pet
> > shop and they turned out to
> > be wackos. Always, buy from a reputable breeder.
> > I've been lucky twice in
> > the past and gotten sweet gerbils from the same pet
> > shop, but why leave it to
> > luck. One of the wackos bit me real hard and latched
> > on to my finger to where
> > I had to pry her off with my other hand. And this
> > was all of a sudden after
> > she'd been living here for two weeks. I did nothing
> > to provoke her or startle
> > her either. After that she always would go to bite
> > and then her companion
> > started doing the same thing. Not knowing what to
> > do, I returned them to the
> > pet shop from where they came, warning the manager
> > about their behavior.
> > No more pet shop gerbils for me. I picked those
> > geribls up for their colors.
> > I don't care if it's a pink gerbil with blue spots,
> > I will adopt from
> > breeders only.
> >
> > Kathleen
> >
>
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