Have you seen my gerbil?

February 7, 2006 6:09 AM

Soliciting suggestions for recapturing a pet gerbil.

We've a three-year-old gerbil with a variety of health problems (one leg that broke and permanently set wrong, no front teeth so he must eat babyfood we prepare daily) that managed to get himself wedged into the walls today. Whenever we've taken him out in the past his first act has always been to dive onto the floor (regardless of how high up he is) so that he can run around on it.

For the past month we've indulged him by fencing off the sections of the apartment we knew were dangerous (the kitchen has the fridge and a hole into the walls through one of the cabinets) with boxes and letting him run around to his heart's content.

Today he was playing in the radiators, but then something odd happened. He walked out and started giving the danger signal (thumping his good foot loudly) and so I went to pick him up. He dove back into the radiator and then completely vanished. I knew immediately he must've found a hole into the walls there that we had somehow missed. Sure enough, a flashlight revealed a *very* small hole that he had somehow squeezed into. While the hole appears to open into an internal wall, I'm worried he's not coming back out. Rather significant emotional considerations aside, this does not bode well for our relationship with the apartment complex administration when he dies in about three days and his unreachable corpse smells up the place. Having them tear up the walls now to find him will cost thousands we simply can't spare.

I've put some organic peas babyfood (his favorite) by the hole, but I have a feeling it's a maze in there and he isn't coming out. Any suggestions from fellow pet owners?

posted by Ryvar to pets & animals (12 comments total)

I understand your worry, but it's too early to panic. Give it 24 hours. He's probably just showing off a little now. It might be a maze, but the food will caaaaallll him, and he'll come out. The real PITA is if he decides he likes the new setup.
posted by dness2 at 6:17 AM on February 7, 2006

Of course, he would wait four hours to come out not five minutes after I hit post, (and moved the computer desk, tore the carpet while pulling it up, and pulled apart the radiator) just to make me look like a panicking idiot. Score one for organic peas and the vegan babies who demand them. Please delete this post.
posted by Ryvar at 6:19 AM on February 7, 2006

Well, it must be dark in there. I'd say if he doesn't come out during the day, at least leave the lights on at night and maybe he'll find the hole. Maybe you should leave all your lights on in case there's a hole in another room.
posted by leapingsheep at 6:20 AM on February 7, 2006

I used to live trap squirrels and other rodents out of people's attics when I was young. For bait try some peanut butter mixed with ouzo or any other fennel aroma (seeds, licorice candy.) Rodents go nuts for fennel and they can smell it from an amazing distance. If he is in that wall, remember - he's a gerbil, and inside walls is more instinctually "home" to these burrowing critters than a comfy cage. The only thing that will lure him out is some attractive aroma. Try and set up the bait in a small live trap - you can make one out of wire, or get a small Havahart, or call your local animal rescue agency, if any.
posted by zaelic at 6:23 AM on February 7, 2006

That's a good idea, leapingsheep. I'd keep it in mind for next time but from now on I'm just going to use boxes to make a pen in the spare bedroom.
posted by Ryvar at 6:26 AM on February 7, 2006

You can use Neat Idea Cubes to make a pretty simple, easily collapsable mobile pen for critters to block off key "No!" areas. I have a couple blocking off the wire-filled land behind the TV from our critters and it works great.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:01 AM on February 7, 2006

When I was a kid, we had gerbils. My dad built a pen outside so they could get some fresh air while we cleaned their reeking cages. They regularly burrowed out of the pen and into the garden, but they always came back... because that's where the food was.
posted by clh at 10:09 AM on February 7, 2006

This happened to us a bunch of times, once when one of those rolling balls poped open and my sister's gerbil escaped into a semi-finished basement (tons of places to hide, no chance of just grabbing the little guy).

Anyway, we built a simple pit fall trap with a bucket, a ruler and some peanut butter, and it worked like a charm. All you have to do is rig the ruler so that by the time the gerbil gets to the peanut butter he falls into the bucket, which need be only high enough that he can't scamper back up the smooth plastic/metal. You can put something soft at the bottom of the bucket if you want, but I gather gerbils don't really take falls very hard.

As I remember, he was in the bucket the next morning, looking ugly as ever.
posted by tiamat at 1:45 PM on February 7, 2006

I lost (forever) a friend's hamster in this way. It still makes me sad. However I'd take some advice from the professionals:
http://www.hamsoc.org.uk/husbandry.php#recapture
posted by roofus at 2:19 PM on February 7, 2006

The bucket (or garbage can) and staircase of books trick works well. Patience also helps - I lost a childhood pet gerbil for about a month, then found him one day strolling across the basement floor acting friendly and scooped him up. I had to set the cage back up...

Also, consider a pet rat next time. They LOVE their cages... if a rat's out of his cage, all you have to do is make a loud noise and he'll run straight into the cage.

Anyway, glad he came back.
posted by mmoncur at 10:20 PM on February 7, 2006

We just used to watch the cat.

Seriously.
posted by Dunwitty at 4:30 AM on February 8, 2006

Testing stuff:
posted by 9835;9834;
posted by Ryvar at 6:20 AM on September 1, 2006