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!

This is the homestead we opted for. It would be fine if the glass base was deeper, but as it is a lot of bedding gets flung out through the cage.

They seem to have made their peace with the plastic hut now. We partially buried it in the bedding to make it cosier. They're both asleep in it now.

Do they use the upper layer much? I want to get the right type as they're not cheap!
Work should be finished next week. I'm quite excited about our new additions now.

I bought a standard glass fish tank very cheaply and got the wire clip on on line, it wasn't too expensive. Our gerbil comes up to eat and drink. He has a wire wheel that hangs of the edge as he chewed the plastic one up. He mostly lives in the glass area, chewing up cardboard for fun.

Our two use the upper section a lot. The wheel is there, and their little hollow log thing (otherwise they stuff it full of shavings and shredded cardboard and then can't get in it, the daft critters.) Also, I scatter their food on the topmost platform because it's easy to reach, so they have to come up to eat. (Or to scatter their food far and wide, as the case may be.)

They seem to be settling into it nicely now. I'm starting to think maybe it was the right choice after all. I still could wish the glass tank was a bit deeper, though.

Oh, and one of the ramps in our cage is a bit too steep and not very grippy...so the boys usually stand on their back legs and hoist themselves up the cage bars to reach the top section, then - rather adorably - use the ramp as a slide to get back down.

They sound gorgeous badgers!

They are a bit delightful.

DD finds them mildly amusing and is enjoying her elevated status as a pet owner. DH is largely indifferent. I'm the one who is smitten.

I think that might be my future too!

This is what one of ours loves to do! We scatter their food and only kept the bowl because he loves to sit in it so much!

We used an old fish tank where the sealant had gone so it wasn't waterproof but held sawdust fine. You can often find these on free/sale sites especially if you ask. One with a small crack works too. We just transferred them to a smaller, cheaper cage if we needed to send them somewhere on holiday. That was OK for a few days.

On top of the fisk tank we had a wire topper thing. I can't remember exactly how it worked now, but it worked fine. We were looking to get more gerbils recently and I can't find anything remotely as deep to buy. It's a shame because if you get one with a shallower tank they can't burrow as much, and it makes a mess.

Gerbils are great - we've had quite a few. Better than hamsters because they come out in the day, don't bite and are easy to pick up etc.

We currently have just one girl. We originally had 2, but the other died last week. :( Although we bought them together, they fought terribly from quite early on and had to live separately. Before that, we had 3 boys who lived together happily for almost 3 years.

They need a tank with lots of shaving so they can dig tunnels which are great to see. We always kept the food and water bottle on the higher level and they would come up to eat. We give them lots of toilet roll middles to chew on. We also scatter food in the shavings so they can forage for it.

Gerbils are lovely pets. :)

I've had gerbils in the past. I'm surprised a pp has a lone gerbil most reputable sellers won't sell lone ones as they're sociable animals and hate being alone.

We had 2 girls. Plastic homes are a waste of money as they'll chew right through them quite easily. Learnt that lesson the hard way. We had to be careful as one neighbour had a terrier and another a cat.

Also learnt the hard way that they have detachable tails, and when their companion dies they can succumb to pining to death for them. if I'd known this I'd have got a 3rd once they were getting to that age.

Dd wants us to get them again but she forgets the work involved in caring for them (she was quite little when we had them).

They are adorable though and lots of fun.

Had gerbils and hamsters as a child. Much preferred hamsters (Syrian the best). Unless, of course, the nocturnalness is a deal breaker for you.

Have you considered guinea pigs? They are the best!

We discussed with the shop getting two but they were clear that boys didn't do well in pairs and should be kept as individuals.

We bought from a major us pet shop

I'm planning to get 2 and hope they get on! Still trying to find the perfect cage. Narrowing it down slowly!

I think girls get on much better in groups.