My gerbils have started chewing through the plastic hideaway

[kim]

I've had my two little gerbils for 2 and a half weeks now and they have just started chewing through there plastic house/hideaway. they've chewed around the door and chewed a hole in the bottom on one side to create a tunnel. I'm just wondering if it is safe for them to do this? Also would you recommend a wooden house instead? 

[nzcage]

Yeah, a good general rule is 'no plastic'! Gerbils chew more than most rodents, and will pretty much chew through anything. It's usually quite harmless, but there's always the danger that chewing plastic will cause sharp edges/splinters, and small pieces of plastic that the gerbils may accidentally swallow. Swallowing plastic (although them actually doing so is pretty rare) can kill them

As for the wooden house, in theory it's a better idea, but you have to be careful there as well. A lot of commercial houses actually have wee metal pins inside them, and these houses have caused a LOT of gerbil pain over the years. Sounds a bit silly, but small cardboard boxes are a perfect substitute. Of course, these will need replaced when they get chewed up, but you can relax safe in the knowledge that they are doing absolutely no harm

As a side note, I've found that my gerbils rarely use the hideaways I buy them for sleeping- they much prefer digging their own little burrows out!

[wolfgirl]

the wooden houses I get for my boys are held together with wooden pegs not metal. i'm not sure of the brand but it has "My Woodland Getaway" burned over the door

[streetwisegerbil]

I thought that my Trixie wooden house was held together by pegs / dowels until I read threads on here and checked and found nails and staples. I removed the house and recently my brother came and examined it and was shocked to think someone could produce something like that for an animal which chewed so much.

I started a warning thread 

gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/27610/trixie-natural-wooden-house-dangerous

Examine very carefully .

Hollowed coconuts make good hidey holes if they don't bury them or stuff them with bedding.

Edit: links contain photos of the long nails.

[eaturbyfill]

My gerbils don't have any plastic for this reason. One of my little ones, Teddy, is a plastic chewer and I don't want him to accidentally ingest plastic. They have wooden hideaways, bricks to keep their nails down, a wheel, and various other toys that are wicker or paper-based.

[riotheoleo]

From Pets at Home I bought a little wooden play frame, they had it for a year! It was held up by wooden stairs and a wooden slide and just clicked into the play frame and it had no pegs, just woof sort of rounded together. The slide and stairs soon disappeared and after many attempts they never managed to chew through the main hideaway. They loved it, I would still have it if I hadnt accidently threw it out while cleaning their cage, it gets filled with bedding!
the link:
www.petsathome.com/shop/climb-and-hide-small-animal-boredom-breaker-by-pets-at-home-31824
another one I havent had but is similar:
www.petsathome.com/shop/wooden-cheese-block-by-pets-at-home-115459