Hello, I wonder if you could help me…
We used to have 3 female gerbils. Unfortunately one of them died in November last year (she was only about 1.5 years old). We are unsure why but looked like she was ill. And so, we were left with 2 gerbils Nutty and Pinky. Until over a week ago, when Pinky became ill. Antibiotic didn’t help and it was decided it will be better for her to be put into sleep so she won’t suffer any more. It is hard to describe how I felt that day and few days after; I cried like a baby… Now Nutty is alone and we are not sure what to do. I know she shouldn’t be on her own but I worry she will not accept new friend (there were some issues with our gerbils, they had been fighting I think, and also, I know females generally are more likely to fight over a territory). Also as she will be 2 years old in summer and I buy one young gerbil and Nutty dies after some time I will be in same situation after…
I want her to be happy. I see she has changed and I worry she is sad and lonely. I try to give her more attention but I will never be a gerbil, who will sleep with her and play with her… I thought to buy 2 young female gerbils and try to do the spit cage method but I am afraid they will be bad towards her as they would be a pair and she would be on her own.
I also worry why those 2 gerbils died. We tried to give them everything they need and give them new toys, let them out to run etc. I can honestly say I wanted the best for them and really cared for them. Is it possible that as they were probably sisters (however not too sure about it) that they had some ‘bad genes’ that made them for example more likely to have a stroke or something?
Could you advise me what I could do with Nutty, please? I would really appreciate any advice.