Gerbil advice anyone???

[girliefriend]

Hello we have a lovely little gerbil who is about 2yo, he is kept in a tank (converted fish tank!) but I am having ongoing issues with his water bottle.

What do other people use as I can not find one that does not leak. He had a sippi cup which attached to the side of the tank quite well but must of had at least 5 in the last 6 mos all of them have leaked. Am loathed to buy another one as they are quite expensive!

I bought a traditional water bottle today in the hope that in a moment of inspiration I would figure out a way of attaching it to the inside of the tank - I haven't!!!

Also those of you with gerbils, do yours like exercise balls? We bought ours one today and he just sat in it stationary and looked like this [confuse] !!!

or even like this !!!

I used to just use a food bowl for my mices water when i was a kid, and although it gets woodchips in it, I never had any problems, my mice were about 4ish when they passed away. And there was a good few months between the first and last passing away. You can even put loo rolls in their tank to chew and nibble on, and you used to be able to get bottled that attached with suction caps, which youi couls even try using, if you were to tie some string around the bottle etc.

Put velcro on the bottle and the other bit on the tank and stick it! It works a treat!

Okay thankyou as always mumsnet never lets me down

Supermarkets sell it.
Or diy stores.

Same problem with mice in a tank. I solved it by putting an egg-cup (pedestal type) inside a small plastic box. That way, they can't tip over the water, and bedding etc. does not get into the water.

Our gerbil boy loves nothing more than running round the room. He has a ball but hasn't been in it for ages. We have a gerbil playpen, which he goes in but he always climbs out and legs it. The only danger I see, is that he gets trodden on, so children are under strict instructions to walk about carefully. He has a fab time scampering about unrestricted, and he never ventures out of our room and always comes out when called. If he could talk, I'm sure he would be shouting "nah nah can't catch me!!" But we always do in the end :o

Norkypies that is a good idea - will try that, thanks.

Dlady - would be too worried to let him out unrestricted!!!

Thanks for replies

I'm late to this party, but I use double sided velcro for the tank bottle too - and I've tried this before and it works pretty well.

We are thinking of getting our 5 year old a gerbil or hamster - any advice on which is better?

Also she has an allergy to cats, does anyone know if this means that hamsters/gerbils will not be suitable for her?
Thanks