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Post by Jazzable on Apr 14, 2014 12:17:03 GMT -8
Just wondering what everyone does. And why?
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Post by Demonic Hope on Apr 14, 2014 12:19:07 GMT -8
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Post by Jazzable on Apr 14, 2014 12:24:31 GMT -8
I use a permanent structure, too - a wooden nest box meant for budgies. My reasoning essentially is the same as yours.  Where do you put your nest box? Do you have it flat on the bottom of the tank/cage, or on top of the shavings, or on a shelf or something like that? Just wondering  |
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Post by Thelodar on Apr 14, 2014 12:50:56 GMT -8
I just use a tissue or similar type box. I change it when I clean the tank and always put it in the same place. I intended to get a wooden hut like the one demonic hope posted but the pet stores never have the right size, they have the little one and the huge one.
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Post by Shooting Star on Apr 14, 2014 13:12:51 GMT -8
All of the above, and who gets what changes from month to month. Everybody gets cardboard, tubes or boxes, whatever I have on hand. Most groups have at least one wooden bendy-bridge, and some have actual houses/boxes, either wood or tile. I have 13 tanks at the moment, so it just depends on what I feel like doing at cage-cleaning time. I have one group who currently has cardboard, a bridge, and a house-- but they make their own separate nest instead. So I'll probably give their house to another group next time.
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rhianna
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Post by rhianna on Apr 14, 2014 13:18:10 GMT -8
I like to always give them at least one wooden house - just because they seem to prefer to nest inside of walls, and they'll just chew through cardboard. I also usually give them a bunch of cardboard boxes and stuff too. My pair in the 29 gallon tank have probably 20-30 cardboard boxes when I first clean them out, and by the time cleanout time comes around again, there's not a trace of cardboard left in the tank.
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Post by ashtree93 on Apr 14, 2014 14:00:03 GMT -8
I have a tile nest box in each gerbilarium. They can normally be found in there although I do provide other bots from time to tome
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Post by crittercrazy on Apr 14, 2014 16:27:00 GMT -8
I give temporary nest boxes occasionally, as in a cardboard box, but I don't change it regularly because they don't actually nest in it. They make their own nests somewhere else and just chew that. I did used to have a wooden nest box but over time it ended up falling apart because of all the chewing. . . I'm hoping to make them another one soon for the sake of chewing, because they never nested in there either. |
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Post by wolfgirl on Apr 14, 2014 17:36:09 GMT -8
my guy has a wooden house but he tends to make a burrow outside it now.
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Post by lilsmacko on Apr 14, 2014 19:26:19 GMT -8
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Post by woodsmoke on Apr 14, 2014 23:32:52 GMT -8
I use a coconut shell, but they have started sleepign where ever they fancy in the mazes i build them out of carboard. but least its there for them to sit in |
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Post by rennmaus on Apr 15, 2014 3:53:40 GMT -8
So far, my gerbs have always had a wooden house in their tank. However, they don't always choose to sleep in it.
Sometimes they will snuggle up underneath their little 'cave' (Woodlands Playsticks bend to form that shape), or underneath some cardboard (like just now). At the moment, the wooden house forms part of their tunnel structure (it has two entrances).
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Post by Shooting Star on Apr 15, 2014 4:54:08 GMT -8
i use a finch/parakeet wooden nesting box. because they only burrow for a place to sleep. and this the closest artificial burrowing system they can get. this will also eliminate them from digging at corners because they already have a hideout. Gerbils are hardwired to burrow, and not just for a place to sleep. An artificial burrow system needs an entrance that blocks light, like so: Moonstone ABS. Gerbils will display stereotypical corner-digging unless they are raised in a proper burrow (real or artificial), and continue to have access to a burrow throughout their life. Providing a burrow to gerbils not raised in one will not stop stereotypical digging. |
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Post by sarahobw on Apr 15, 2014 5:46:26 GMT -8
I gave my boys a wooden nesting box/hut when I first brought them home in 2010, and they used it for maybe a week when they were working out their new environment. But after that they picked out one corner of their cage under a glass shelf and after every clean out, without fail, have built themselves a nest under there with hay and toilet paper. They mix up the nest location occasionally, but very rarely. Never slept another day in that hut, just chewed it to oblivion! I think perhaps the combination of deep bedding and a low glass shelf created the feeling of a tunnel-like chamber for them.
Similarly, when they declanned and I separated Olly into a new tank he used a wooden hut to nest in for a week or so. After that, he promptly abandoned it for a nesting corner of his own he constructed, and spends lots of time maintaining and fluffing it up to his standards!
They always have stuff they could use in their tank to nest in, should they so wish. Huts, coconuts, cardboard boxes etc which they do use to play in. They've just always, always turned their nose up at it.
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Post by sarahobw on Apr 15, 2014 9:37:58 GMT -8
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