Starvation most often occurs
in environments where the gerbils are overcrowded. When they
are too many gerbils housed together they will often fight
for food. This will cause the weaker or younger gerbils to
not receive enough food and water. Sometimes when a new gerbil
is introduced to a habitat the previous ones will prevent
the new one from receiving food. This is a show of dominance
by the older gerbils.
If overcrowding is the cause you can try to add another dish
of food or monitor them more closely to ensure all gerbils
are receiving a sufficient food supply. If this fails the
only way to eliviate this is by moving some of the gerbils
to another cage.
Young gerbils may have trouble reaching the food or water
supplies. Since young gerbils need a large amount of food
and water to properly develop it will not take long before
serious health issues arise with them. To ensure these young
gerbils have access to food and water you can use a shallower
food dish and place the water bottle closer to the surface
of the cage. |
