>in her nest on the bottom of the cage. She hardly eats
>(when i change the food it is ALWAYS almost full
>still) and she drinks little but she is fat.
Comments about this. How much do you feed her a
day, and what are you feeding her? Did she suddenly
get fat, or very slow and gradually?
A single adult gerbil, I feed about one ounce of a grain
mix a day. Sunflower seeds, peanuts, and pumpkin
seeds, are all welcome and eagerly pounced on first,
but are very high fat and will contribute quickly to a
gerbil getting fat fast.
If it was a very sudden puffing up, you should take her
to a vet to see if there isn't an underlying medical
condition that caused her to suddenly gain fluid.
Perhaps if you can get her addicted to an exercise
wheel to keep her busy, she will slim down again.
Do you have any friends that have an 'obnoxious'
single female gerbil about her size? If you can get
another female about her size and temperment,
then you could try a split cage introduction (at least
two weeks). Anything smaller or meeker would
just be overwhelmed by her, but there is a possibility
there is still a gerbil out there that could/would be
pairable. IF you have a friend that has one, you
could try it under the condition that the friend would
have to take the other one back if the pairing didn't
work. And have a friend handy and both of you
with leather gloves if it seemed you could try a
split cage and took the divider out the first time...
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
