Couple of questions re changing bedding

[seton]

I've read the various posts about how often and how much bedding when cleaning out. I think I read one post whereby it was done after 4 months.....

if you gerbil doesn't have a toilet and goes throughout the bedding, doesn't it smell? Plus if you only do a partial change of bedding, is it ok that some mess is still left behind?

[crittercrazy]

My suggestion would be a full bedding change every month or two. That of course though depends on how much bedding you use. I have about seven inches in there and that's what I do.
A partial change more often is okay too. Yes it leaves some mess behind but gets rid of enough of it that it should help with the smell.
As far as the smell thing, you'd be surprised how long it takes for a gerbil cage to start smelling, especially if you use good bedding.

[Demonic Hope]

My girl Jassie is alone is a 55 gallon tank with over a foot of bedding. I probably will clean out her cage every 5 months though I take out a few good sized handfuls a week from her chewing cardboard. Ethan is in a ten gallon with topper as I decide if I want to attempt to repair him. He gets cleaned out monthly.

A rule I've followed is 1 month per ten gallons. A pair in a ten gallon should be cleaned once a month. A pair in 20 gallon every 2 months. Etc.

Though when you do clean the tank leave a few good handfuls of bedding. Sprinkle this on top or else you could have a fight because of strange smells.

[qtoffer]

I keep my gerbils in pairs in a 20 gallon tank filled with 20 gallons of bedding and cardboard. They have a topper with shelves where they seem to do all their nasty business. Every 5 days or so, the shelves become coated with a stinky mixture of dried pee, scent gland markings, and poop - that's when they get scraped off and wiped down.

I replace the bottom 2/3 of the bedding probably every 6 - 8 weeks. The bedding never smells, but it does get awfully dusty. There's very few poops in the bedding - just what the gerbils happen to kick down from the topper between shelf cleanings. I always put back the relatively clean top 1/3 of the bedding so the cage still smells like home.

[chakotay]

I have a tank with topper. I put ceramic tiles in the topper to protect my girls' feet. I wipe down the ceramic daily and usually remove it and put clean ceramic in at least every couple of days.