Gerbils- Squeaking

Question
I had 2 Gerbils and 1 died after 2 weeks, I bought 2 more and after introducing them to the original gerbil, the original gerbil has started to squeak. They do not fight and they all seem happy, why is he squeaking?
Also, can you bath gerbils, do they like water or not?

Thanks

Answer
Hi Natalie.

To answer your last question first, no gerbils are animals native to desert regions and never bathe in water.  Doing so would probably stress them out extremely.  They groom themselves and that's all the bath with water that they need.  They do, however, take "sandbaths" to keep their coats in condition, and *love* to do so.  Their antics as they roll around in the sand can be quite entertaining to watch.  You can use very fine play sand in a cat litter box placed in an enclosed area to give them sand-baths, or you can use Chinchilla sand from a pet supply store.

Mild squeaking may be just all in some gerbil-play, but. . .

Intense squeaking is most often a sign of fighting in gerbils (but sometimes fights go down silently, so this is not always a good marker).  Gerbils are usually silent, except for mother gerbils calling babies with an ultrasonic squeak that is too high pitched for human ears to percieve, or a low purr similar to a cat's that is also usually pitched beyond the range of human ears.  If you hear your gerbils vocalizing, chances are there's trouble.  You may be mistaking your gerbils fights as play, which people very often do.  Chasing and squeaking is *not* a good thing.  Neither is one gerbil hiding in a burrow, nest box, or other "hidey hole" while the other hangs around the opening trying to ambush it when it comes out.

Remember, gerbils live in matriarichal societies (in a way, similar to wolves) where there is a dominant pair that is the only pair that breeds, and in that pair, the female is dominant.  Females will have intense fights for the right to breed and therefore I always  recommend that there never be more than one female per cage with casual pet owners.  If you do have to have two females per cage, make sure that one  is either the daughter of the first or at least much younger to try and avoid squabbles (and even then, fights may break out).

If you see blood or scabs, separate your gerbils IMMEDIATELY.  Sometimes in fights, the gerbils will "kiss and make up", but once blood has been drawn there is no chance of them ever being friends again and they will continue to fight until one or the other is removed from the cage or dies, whichever happens first.

Check your gerbils daily for scabs or wounds, and if there are none - I wouldn't worry about the squeaking.