Thumping

Behavior-  thumping


If you've owned gerbils for more then a week or two,  you've no doubt seen them drumming their hind legs on the ground.  We call this thumping.

In the wild,  gerbils thump to warn each other of danger.  It sounds like a steady "thu-dump,  thu-dump,  thu-dump" sound.  
When gerbils thump,  something is scaring them.  Often times its nothing,  but if there is something about their surroundings that is consistently scaring them,  try to fix it.
When gerbils thump,  they may also exhibit these signs:  tail "waggling",  wide eyes,  jerky movements,  suddenly darting from place to place.

As a side-note,  there is also a different type of thumping that gerbils do when breeding,  or that a male will do when a nearby female is in heat.  This thumping sound slightly different,  and is quieter.