Fun fact: Gerbils can shed their tails when caught. It’s called a “tail slip” and it’s very painful to the gerbil. (In reality they don’t lose the whole tail, just the skin)🐹💍🚔 #naturalhabitatshorts #naturalhabitok #naturalhabitat

"They don't lose the whole tail, just the skin." That is not better.

MOOD

😭😭😭

*traumatized wailing* buttt he still gets the slap in tho 😂

fun party trick omg can he teach me how to do that

So that's what happened when I was a kid. A friend's gerbil got loose and I managed to catch it for them by the tail but then the tip just came off exposing blood and bone. I was called a horrible sadistic person by everyone and was psychologically scarred by this incident.

Gerbils have fuzzy tails.

Pretty sure other rodents do this! Just the skin, though, still painful- mice & rats come to mind. That's why they tell you not to pick them up by the tail. You can tell they're going to because they start twirling.

Degloving is fairly common among domestic gerbils, unfortunately, due to improper handling.