Post by tripleb on Apr 14, 2015 3:47:13 GMT -8
My daughter (18 years old) recently purchased two gerbils. She bought all the supplies herself and had their home set up when they arrived. She went with this cage 
(it's 22"x14"x14")and added the usual items: water bottle (with water), food bowl (with food), wheel, substrate, chew toys, gerbil ‘litter’ box (to do their business, not sure if it really works or not but she figured worth a try), and hideaway.
We put the gerbils in the cage and right away they went exploring, moving items around, digging under everything, throwing the substrate around (and out of the cage)….just having a blast it looked like. Which, in my opinion, was good to see because it seemed like they had great energy and weren’t timid or scared. They had that same behavior this morning as well.
We love the cage because it allows air to flow through it and the gerbils will come stick their noses up to the openings and sniff us and their surroundings. I guess it sort of seems more interactive than if they were behind the glass of an aquarium and the two levels make it a bit more interesting.
However, with that being said, it also seems like: a) they are a bit too cramped (although this cage is a lot bigger than some of the cages I saw in the ‘pet stores’) in there; b) due to the way the cage is set up it doesn’t look like the substrate is deep enough for them to dig like they want to (it seems like they would dig a foot down if given the opportunity); and c) they are throwing their substrate out of the cage.
So that leads me to several questions:
1) Would a 20 gallon aquarium be a better home for them even though there isn’t air ‘flowing’ through it?
2) If so: a) how do you hang a water bottle inside an aquarium and b) what kind of top do you put on it?
3) Would a 10 gallon aquarium with an aquarium topper be a better option?
4) If yes to question 4, can you recommend a very good (but affordable) one? Some of the ones I've looked at are completely open at the bottom (seems like the gerbil would fall) or they get very poor reviews.
5) Is there another home option that you would recommend that would meet our goals*?
* Our goals with their home is an awesome place for them to live (and have fun), relatively inexpensive, no chance of escaping, ease of interacting with them, looks neatly kept in a bedroom (this is my wife’s request), and ease of cleaning.
And one more question:
In your opinion, what is the best way to get the gerbils used to my daughter (even at 18 she’s a bit timid around animals) and have them be calm when she is handling them?
Thank you for any and all help you can give!!!
TripleB
(it's 22"x14"x14")and added the usual items: water bottle (with water), food bowl (with food), wheel, substrate, chew toys, gerbil ‘litter’ box (to do their business, not sure if it really works or not but she figured worth a try), and hideaway.We put the gerbils in the cage and right away they went exploring, moving items around, digging under everything, throwing the substrate around (and out of the cage)….just having a blast it looked like. Which, in my opinion, was good to see because it seemed like they had great energy and weren’t timid or scared. They had that same behavior this morning as well.
We love the cage because it allows air to flow through it and the gerbils will come stick their noses up to the openings and sniff us and their surroundings. I guess it sort of seems more interactive than if they were behind the glass of an aquarium and the two levels make it a bit more interesting.
However, with that being said, it also seems like: a) they are a bit too cramped (although this cage is a lot bigger than some of the cages I saw in the ‘pet stores’) in there; b) due to the way the cage is set up it doesn’t look like the substrate is deep enough for them to dig like they want to (it seems like they would dig a foot down if given the opportunity); and c) they are throwing their substrate out of the cage.
So that leads me to several questions:
1) Would a 20 gallon aquarium be a better home for them even though there isn’t air ‘flowing’ through it?
2) If so: a) how do you hang a water bottle inside an aquarium and b) what kind of top do you put on it?
3) Would a 10 gallon aquarium with an aquarium topper be a better option?
4) If yes to question 4, can you recommend a very good (but affordable) one? Some of the ones I've looked at are completely open at the bottom (seems like the gerbil would fall) or they get very poor reviews.
5) Is there another home option that you would recommend that would meet our goals*?
* Our goals with their home is an awesome place for them to live (and have fun), relatively inexpensive, no chance of escaping, ease of interacting with them, looks neatly kept in a bedroom (this is my wife’s request), and ease of cleaning.
And one more question:
In your opinion, what is the best way to get the gerbils used to my daughter (even at 18 she’s a bit timid around animals) and have them be calm when she is handling them?
Thank you for any and all help you can give!!!
TripleB
