Damien - Taming the Beast

Two years ago, Faye (Fairy13), along with others, helped to get a mistreated gerbil all the way from Watford to us here in Dundee. He was the result of a childs pet who was tormented on a daily basis. He also has missing parts on all of his paws due to them being bitten off by the mother gerbil when he was just a pup. Due to the torment he had developed really bad defensive aggression and would attack anything (especially hands) that went in or near his tank.
I hadn't seen anything like it and he would physically latch on with each bite with his teeth sunk deep into flesh! He had been kept previously in a wire cage with different levels. This meant his little stumps kept falling through the wire, making it very difficult for him. Not to mention he felt really insecure in this cage as he had no where to hide.

Once we got him into proper gerbil accommodation he did settle a little. We named him Damien - firstly after the devil :lol: and then secondly as it actually means "to tame". It took us around 7 months to properly tame him and make him handleable with bare hands (for many months we used thick gloves). He is now one of our most easy to handle gerbils and was introduced to two younger gerbils so he wasnt alone.
Unfortunately he had to go to the vets today as he had a scent gland tumour. It was operable and he is now safely back home. Faye hasn't forgotten him and my other thread about asking the gerbilly questions made her remember him

Here are some pics of him for you Faye as we are always so grateful to you and everyone else involved in getting him here

His original cage before he got to us (the toys were added by a person taking part in the gerbil run as he didnt have any)


In the cage



Starting to settle into his new home

that poor boy

good to see he's in good hands now and it's not surprising he's a different gerbil after the way he was treated :evil:

he is lovely, he looks just like my Ellie

he's beautiful. he has a safe home now, thank goodness. on another thread i said i liked 'pretty' gerbils. this is a pretty, pretty gerbil.

Urgh, that cage. :evil: I think it'd be enough to make any little furry aggressive having to live in that.

Damien is absolutely gorgeous; it's touching to see how forgiving animals can be and how the right handling can help them to overcome their fear. Thank heavens he found his way to you.

I hope he's recovering well after his op.

Thank you

Happybun he is a lovely colour. He's a silver nutmeg which is one of my favourite gerbil colours.

Karen he seems to doing ok. Snuggling in to the other two boys who are helping him feel a little better

poor little boy.... im crying for this poor little chap
how lucky you managed to help get him out of that awful place
some people make me sick
having had 4 gorgeous little boys myself for 4 great years i know how fantastic they are..what a very lucky chap

He really was a sorry little thing. Just leapt at anything that moved. He taught me a lot about taming gerbils - and how to move quickly to get out of the way of sharp teeth :lol: Poor boy has been through a lot in his life. Love him

Awwwwww Happybun it was your comment about pretty gerbils that bought him to mind. He is very very gorgeous!
How wonderful of all who helped to get him up to Scotland to his safe, loving, forever home
Minimallow you are a superstar for taking all that time and patience with him. Thank you for posting piccies of the little guy. I hope he recovers well from his op with no complications.

What a lovely we fellow he has become with the right care.