Advice needed - how can I keep the environment stimulating?

[daisy]

I upgraded my two little guys to a 20 gallon long tank.  It is so much better. They have room to walk around and play.  There are three small wooden house, a wooden tube and a wheel.  I still put them in their playpen where they can chew on cardboard tubes and boxes.  I would appreciate any suggestions on how to keep the environment interesting over time. How often should I add new toys? When I clean the tank, should I put everything back in the exact same position? I only use plain cardboard. Is it harmful to use cardboard with writing or color on it?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Daisy

[crittercrazy]

Cardboard is the ultimate necessity of a gerbil owner. Cardboard with writing or color on it is fine, using that will no doubt increase the amount you have, and I'm sure your gerbils will love it.
Other than cardboard, I don't really add new toys very often, but if you can (I don't really have the money to get more toys, so what toys they do have are homemade) then pretty much as often as you want.
You don't have to, but I kind of think that at least my gerbils like having things rearranged when their tank is clean. Makes it so they can mess it all up a new way.

[qtoffer]

20 gallon long tanks are fantastic - I have two. Do you have a topper? I like toppers because I can put the water bottle, food, potty area, and wheel up there - leaving the entire tank free to be filled to the brim with bedding and cardboard.

The only cardboard boxes that I avoid are those that refrigerated/frozen items came in because of the waxy coating. I also avoid cosmetic and pharmaceutical boxes just in case there's any residue. Other than that, my gerbils get any box that contained dry food in addition to TP and paper towel rolls.

In addition to cardboard, small scraps of untreated, unpainted, unvarnished wood make great toys.

My gerbils enjoy tree branches harvested from a local park. They strip the bark and gnaw them down to little nubs. I bake the branches 200oF for an hour to kill any bugs, and let them cool first. White birch, poplar, sycamore, and apple are all gerbil-safe.
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Arwen (F) and Eowyn (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper
Goldberry (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper

[Jazzable]

I'm sure you already know this, but burrowing is how gerbils probably spend the most of their time. So the best thing you can do to give them a great environment is LOADS of substrate for them to burrow in. Apart from that, they generally take care of the rest themselves!

Cardboard is always the cheapest and easiest toy for them. You can use any cardboard, even if it has stuff printed on it. They don't actually eat the cardboard so there's not much risk anyway. You can put cardboard things (e.g. boxes and tubes) inside their cage as well, and they will chew them up and use them to support their burrows. Adding new toys: as often as you want/can afford! I rearrange things pretty often in my gerbs' cage, because I like watching them exploring and getting used to it all again. I probably move things around once or twice a week on average.

Another good thing for enrichment is pieces of wood. You can buy branches from pet shops (generally in the reptile section), or use wood from a tree yourself (as long as you know it is a safe type and doesn't have anything like pesticides on it). They will chew on it, climb on it, use it to support their burrows, and sometimes eat the bark too.

[mothman]

Great thread, I read with interest. One of our new gerbils is reclusive, and thus far spends much of his time hunkered down in his nest area, so I've tried to have a lot of 'stuff' in the tank to encourage him to move around more so he's getting some exercise and enrichment.

We've got several toilet paper tubes, a couple sections of egg carton, a mid-sized cardboard box with holes cut through it, a couple wood chews, a wood house, a wood shelf, a couple log ramps, and the cage topper (with some cardboard, a hanging coconut, and egg carton up there), but Joey still prefers to just hang out down below.

[daisy]

Thanks for all the answers. My boys were certainly enjoy having more cardboard. I don't have a topper at this point, mainly because I don't want the litter falling around the room, but am considering getting one. How messy are they?

On cardboard - The corners of cardboard boxes, particularly the cardboard trays that sodas come in, are stuck together. Is the substance that sticks them together harmful for gerbils? Should I cut the corners out? (I asked this question in the housing section also, because I am eager to find out. I have some great "trays" waiting for gerbil fun.)

I'm so glad I found this site where there are so many other gerbil lovers.

Daisy

[Jazzable]

Nah, a little bit of glue is nothing to worry about. If you wanted to be super careful you could cut it, but I never do.

[mothman]

Re: the topper being messy, maybe I'm unusual in this (?) but I don't have any litter in the topper. All I have up there right now is a bit of cardboard, a hanging coconut (that is not really used), a couple ramps, and a hanging wood chew (also mostly ignored).

Eventually I want to move the food and water up (once my silly scaredy-cat gerbil gets brave), and I guess some food might occasionally get kicked out. But otherwise, there is no mess.

[qtoffer]

The topper can be messy because gerbils will kick poops and food out onto the floor. They may even bring bedding up into the topper, which also may be kicked out onto your floor.

A quick and simple fix involves attaching 2 inch high strips of cardboard to the outside of the topper - all around the base, where it meets the tank; and along the bottom of any topper shelves. Wire twist ties would work fine. The gerbils wouldn't be able to chew the cardboard, but it would eventually become soiled and need to be replaced.

A more permanent and elegant solution, which I have done, involves hot gluing five inch wide strips of thin plywood to all four sides of the tank along the top edge. The strips are angled outward to create a pocket that catches anything the gerbils decide to kick out. I use the vacuum crevice attachment to clean it out - very convenient.
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Arwen (F) and Eowyn (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper
Goldberry (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper