Advice for gerbil novice

[armsandtheman]

I'm planning to get 2/3 gerbils and have never owned them before. I've done a lot of reading and they seem a good option as they are awake some of the day and not too nippy.

I'm looking for some tips about where to buy a decent sized gerbilarium as the options seem to be more limited than for gerbil cages.

I was also wondering about the substrate. Would carefresh mixed with Timothy hay be suitable?

Thanks!

sorry, the only advice I would give it not to get them. They are a pain in the arse; they spend all their time trying to escape,

I've had gerbils, and they liked peat in their tank. They love to burrow. I got a large fishtank from Ebay, and we put a lid on top (with room for air to get in)

Ours had straw from bedding, and also little "hut" type of things from the pet shop - made of dried grass, not plastic, as gerbils gnaw.

What sex are yours? We had 2 males, but after a while they fought and I had to separate them, with a sheet of perspex in the tank, so that they had enough space each and could see each other but not get together

If you're on Facebook there's a closed group called Gerbils where there are lots of experts who'll be able to help.

For 3 gerbils you'll need a really big tank with lots of space for them to dig.
Care fresh and Timothy hay seem fine to me.
(I'm no expert though, I just help my DD with hers)

I got my tank from zooplus, it's the Kerry terrarium I think. Gerbils need space to burrow so need a fish tank sort of house rather than a hamster cage. It then needs filling with bedding material so they can make their burrows, I use fitch bedding. It's similar to carefresh but super cheap 😊 there's loads of good gerbil Facebook groups of you haven't found them yet!

Thanks. I'll have to have a look on Facebook. I haven't considered sex. Would a first timer be better off with girls?

Zoo plus is a great site. Would this cage be ok for 2 gerbils? https://m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/smallpets/hutchesscages/gerbilscages/132235

That cage looks a decent size, but the sawdust/peat/whatever you use, will come out all over the place. I'd get a tank.

I don't know about females getting on together. You need to read up on that

We had 2 boys and they never fought. We used to let them have the run of the bath once a week to really go crazy for a whole day and night.

We had a deep gerbil cage with sawdust and a little permanent bome, but we regularly gave them little boxes and toilet rolls to make their own dens.

I loved them to pieces, very loving and fun pets.

That's the cage we've got. It's pretty good, but can be a bit of a pain to clean. I want to get the Qute hamster and gerbil cage which looks much easier to clean, but it's more expensive - about £80.

gerbils need tanks to dig in

The Qute looks gorgeous but I've read it's too small and older gerbils would struggle with the tube. Loved the look of it though!
I'm rubbish at diy so a bit concerned about adapting a fish tank. Pets Corner do a glass one but I want to be able to move it for holiday care!

We have a gerbilarium from pets at home and it's pretty big

I am aware I am not being very helpful but many moons ago 2 of my children had 2 gerbils each in tanks in their rooms. The gerbils had made yet another successful simultaneous bid for freedom early one morning and had met on the landing. It was gerbil carnage.

We had gerbils as kids, they were great pets. They need to be able to dig tunnels though, it's cruel to keep them in an environment where they can't dig their own tunnels. That means a tank rather than a cage.

Hi OP, I am a new gerbil owner, we got two girls last week, they are lovely. We have ours in the Kerry Small Pet Terrarium, it cost £65 from Bitiba (owned by Zooplus). For bedding we are using megazorb layered with hay, they have started tunnelling in it now and it looks great.

They are lovely pets, awake during the day and although not completely tame, they will already come and sit on my hand if I hold some food in their tank. I’m a bit smitten with ours

I had two girl gerbils when I was younger. They got along great (from the same litter). I had one of those ball things you could put them in and let them run round on the floor. But in all honesty I just used to let them run free on my floor. You have to make sure there's no books and crannies you can get them lost in though.

I used to used pet sawdust and used a cage for them. And some of that fluffy bedding material to burrow into. Plus some wooden toy things in the cage to hide/play in and gnaw at. Be warned, they will chew through most things.

They love sunflower seeds but I think I remember reading not to give them too many as they can be fattening. They make lovely pets, probably live about 4 years and are very lively, quick animals. Don't tend to stay still for long.

Enjoy them, they are brilliant.

I used to give mine cardboard tubes too. They didn't last long though.

Thanks all for the fab advice! I'm hoping they will live together to minimise risk of gerbil carnage. How distressing. We're planning to buy 2 that already live together to minimise risk.
Don't worry I definitely will get a cage with a deep part so they can make tunnels, so a purpose built gerbilarium not a cage. I already have to hoover a lot thanks to pine needles getting in so a bit of sawdust getting out is fine.

We have just today become gerbil owners because DD has been desperate for a pet ever since her cousins got a puppy. We can't have a dog so...gerbils it is. We got two boys (same litter) and they spend a lot of time snuggling up together at the moment (and they rather adorably shared a banana chip earlier, passing it back and forth between nibbles) but no idea if they'll always get along.
I'm already doubting the habitat we chose. It's glass at the bottom with a cage at the top. We got shavings and that fluffy shredded stuff for them to burrow in and it's already all over the floor. They have a little hollow wooden log, a wheel, a little plastic hut and an egg box to play with. The plastic hut is not recommended. They are getting very frustrated trying to burrow out of it and making a heck of a noise. They haven't bothered with the wheel at all.
DD is besotted, and I think they're great fun, energetic little fellas with loads of personality. (One likes to run up and down the ramps and is a bit nosy - stands up on his back legs a lot to see what we're up to. The other is a lunatic - digging frantically, chewing everything and trying to pull the egg box through the window of the little hut.)
So far so good...but I already want to buy a glass tank or a proper gerbilarium.

We used to construct homes made from a lightbulb box laid lengthways with a toilet roll or kitchen roll as an entrance tunnel, cur a hole in the side of the box and slide the toilet roll in. One upstairs in the cage and one downstairs and change frequently. They absolutely loved that.

That's a great idea. Disposable homes are going to be the way to go, I think. Our two are currently trying to chew the roof off the plastic hut. The wooden ramps have little tooth marks up the side, too.

It'll be a nice craft activity for DD - constructing little bolt holes out of cardboard tubes.

That's a fab idea. I'm leaning towards a glass tank after more research and have joined some Facebook groups. I'm just a bit worried about where to attach water. I'm assuming suckers?

We have a tank and bought a wire topper for it, we can attach the water bottle to the wire topper. We only have one boy as we were warned they fight badly so needed to be kept singly.

I had 2 male gerbils from the same litter. Only once I came home saw them cuddled up together and looking quite sheepish - covered in blood. Obviously had a bit of a falling out but had made up.

Thanks pasta. Sounds more sensible than my idea! I'm having some work done to my house at the moment so will have to start buying kit when it's finished!