What to do if one gerbil dies

Gerbils are often kept in pairs – which is great for them! They’re extremely social creatures and they form a very close bond with their cage mates. So when one gerbil passes on the bereaved cage mate will often grieve the loss, much like we do. It can be difficult to know what to do to help the lone gerbil and honestly, it seems to depend very much on the gerbil personality and strength of the bond. The advice seems to be to get another gerbil (and this how you end up with a very long chain of gerbils!) but my advice is to watch and wait. Here’s a few experiences to help you make the decision based on your grieving gerbil’s behaviour:

Gerbil #1 and her cagemate had a very close bond and when she passed away, gerbil #1 became very withdrawn, looked sick and showed all the signs of dying hamster. She’d sit in a corner shaking and nothing I did helped. This was my first experience of a pair being halved and initially I thought they both got sick and she was on her way out. When I looked more into gerbil behaviour and discovered they grieve, I figured a new friend was worth a shot. We immediately ran out to purchase another gerbil and placed her (in a separate cage) near the grieving gerbil. The change was drastic and immediate and the lone gerbil recovered. I was pretty shocked and I’ve not seen a reaction like this since, so I think this was an extreme case of grief. They never got to the point of being able to live together but being neighbours and extra handling from the humans seemed to be enough.

Gerbil #2 didn’t grieve as extremely when her neighbour died but certainly showed signs of loneliness. She was quieter, more withdrawn and slept a little more. As she was quite young, at the time, we acquired another young pair to introduce. She was initially missold as a young male so the new gerbils were a baby male pair. Obviously, that didn’t go too well but they lived as close neighbours (and occasional accidental cage mates) for years. I think she would have recovered from the grief alone but I definitely don’t regret keeping her in company, it was the right move for this one, particularly as she was so young.

I can’t honestly say if Gerbil #3 showed signs of grief when his brother died. He got on about his business with no issues. If anything, he seemed to enjoy the extra space and not being interrupted. However he did sleep where the other gerbil was found for a while and seemed to enjoy being handled more. Because of the age and that he coped so well we decided not to introduce more company.

Gerbil #4 deserves a mention simply because she never had a cagemate. She was sold as not suitable to live with other gerbils and indeed, hated them. She wouldn’t even tolerate neighbour gerbils nearby. I mention this one just to point out their personalities can be very different and they don’t always follow the rules. Watch your gerbil, see how he or she is coping and make your decision based on what’s right for your individual pet.

Remember to take any gerbil introductions slowly and if your gerbil is remaining alone, give them extra attention. They really do need it.