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Post by marcrox247 on Jun 17, 2008 1:16:41 GMT -8
Can gerbils be potty trained? If so how and what will I need? Thanks
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Post by SilverGerbil on Jun 17, 2008 2:14:21 GMT -8
Well you cant really potty train gerbils, they tend to find one place to go to the toilet. But you can help them with that.
I have a perfecto tank (one with 3 glass shelves) and my girls go on the 2nd shelf to the toilet, and i put some sand on their for them to go to the toilet in.
1) they can roll in it for a dust bath 2) they can use it for a loo, sand dries quick n you can easily get it out and clean it.
What sort of tank do you have? or cage? Beacuse you could put some sand in a bowl for them to use.
xoxox
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2008 10:51:43 GMT -8
Why is it that some go in one area of the tank and some, like mine, go everywhere?
Uhura
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Post by rachel24 on Jun 17, 2008 13:34:13 GMT -8
In my older girls cage i have put a ceramic dog bowl in with some wood shavings. They use this to go to the toilet in.I've also doe this with my previous gerbies and they al done te same.
In the past I've seen them climb out of bed, run up to the toilet, use it and run back down and gone back to bed.
Also the food pot is on the same level at the side of the cage, they have also grabbed some food and jumped in to the toilet and eaten their food.
so yep i do think that gerbils can be potty trained but it does depend on your gerbies.
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Post by rheasmythe on Jun 18, 2008 8:51:49 GMT -8
Mine picked a certain place (in a corner on a shelf) as the designated toilet, so they pretty much trained themselves. I just put a ceramic dish there with some sand to make it easy to clean up, and they like it fine. Mine, at least, don't seem to like to mix...yucky stuff...and bedding stuff; they take great care to ONLY go in the toilet area, even if it means running across the entire tank like a lunatic.
If it were me I'd watch them to see if there's a particular spot they gravitate to, and stick some sand there in a dish and see what happens. Just be careful if it's a cage rather than a tank, because they tend to flick the sand all over when they're getting used to it, and it could make a mess.
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Jilly
member
My Gerb!
Posts: 39
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Post by Jilly on Jun 18, 2008 10:12:51 GMT -8
I just bought my gerbil a small house for him to sleep in and chew on and he seems to like to go to the bathroom on top of it hah!
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Post by marcrox247 on Jun 22, 2008 5:50:19 GMT -8
Ok thanks for the help, i actually bought a 'hamster toilet' and they use it! somtimes they make some mistakes but it works! I hear u can use unscented cat litter, is that true?
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Post by gerbillover2000 on Jul 3, 2008 10:54:42 GMT -8
plastic should not be put in gerbil tanks, as if they chew it and ingest a peice of it, it can kill them. Plastic dosn't digest and the sharp peices can tear up their insides. I assume that it's plastic because I have only ever seen ones like that that come in plastic.
Mine like to go on the top of their house, because it's a flat, smooth surface. like the other's suggested, I think sand in a little ceramic dish would do very well, HOWEVER; I have heard that some people do not like to leave dust in the tank becuse it could be harmful to their lungs. The best bet would be to try to find a house with a flat surface you can just clean off every few days.
I would stay away from cat litter, because I don't know what sort of side affects could occur, and when you know that sand/dust could work, there is no need to risk it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2008 15:53:38 GMT -8
I just bought one of those "Critter Bath" things that are meant for them to use as a bathroom with the litter. So far all they've done is throw out all the bedding and use it to hide in.
Uhura
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teenie2468
Member
Always work with what you've got
Posts: 487
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Post by teenie2468 on Jul 6, 2008 16:01:19 GMT -8
My boys don't poop alot. When they pee, they stop and then do their thing, and bury it. My girls didn't do that, they didn't stop to pee and jsut left it there. Teenie
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Post by goudajack on Jul 6, 2008 16:29:56 GMT -8
I think my gerbils are confused about which bowl is which LOL. They started out using the bath bowl as their potty.. which worked well. now i think Gouda gave up and decided to sit in his food bowl so he can eat and poop at the same time in their LOL!
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teenie2468
Member
Always work with what you've got
Posts: 487
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Post by teenie2468 on Jul 6, 2008 16:42:41 GMT -8
Ha! That's funny, I have never gotton a potty for my gerbils. Teenie
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Post by goudajack on Jul 6, 2008 16:51:19 GMT -8
I didn't even intend for them to use that as a potty, it was supposed to be a bath.. oh well..
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Post by RitzieAnn on Jul 6, 2008 20:56:06 GMT -8
I don't even use litter in my gerbil potty. I just put in a glass jar, and they usually turn it into a potty. I just rinse it out in the sink (over the disposal) as needed, and then I do "animal dishes" about once a week in my dish washer.
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Post by lostie on Jul 7, 2008 0:04:29 GMT -8
I do that for my hamsters!
If your gerbil picks a spot to pee/poo in put a litterpan there and see if your gerbil goes in it. If not and they move to a different spot then try putting pee and poo in the litterpan. Thats all I had to do to train my hamsters.
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