Help with my Gerbil who was found on a doorstep

[Bensey]

Hi - can someone please advise.  I have recently (Dec'15) inherited by late Brothers Gerbil.  A year ago he found him on his doorstep and taken him in (he must be around 14ths old now,) My Brother went to Pets aren't us and they sold him an inappropriate cage, however since I have had him, he is now housed in an aquarium with his old cage topper.  I literally spend hours on an evening (as I work during the day) with my Gerbil (Ben) until "he" retires!!! I will not go to bed until he does, no matter what the time is.  Sometimes I have to make him come out by gently shaking at this bed hidden under 10"of megazorb :-) He does come out most times.  Sometimes he can miss a evening altogether, then I panic thinking he is lonely of bored.  I have a further two house in their, one a carrot house and the other I have made out of an old archive box from work, has two windows higher up and a door at the bottom, he seems to like this. It also has two bridges in there.  Everything he gets he covers so his nails are long - any ideas, I thought about putting some Bird sand sheets on his shelf (currently lino is down there) all metal ladders have been replaced with wooden (doesn't chew them either). He also has cardboard selves in each area, he loves to get inside these and chomp away (these are from our coffee machine at work :-).  I get him reluctantly whilst he is in his jam jar and take him into the conservatory for a change of scenery I think he like it for awhile not sure My questions are:

Any ideas how to get his nails down (he doesn't keep still at the vets, tried when I sent him for a check up)?
As he has never lived with a Gerbil will he prefer to be alone in this large 3.5 tank or should I get a male Pup for him?
I arrange his tank everyday, messing up what he has done, is this a bad thing to do (I do it so he has something to do)?
How many nuts should he have in one day?
How many dried Mealworms per week?

I am so desperate to make sure he has a lovely home for the remainder of his life, but want to keep him as long as possible not just two years as some have said if they live alone.

[youps]

Hi,

Only some words : has your friend room enough to have a terracota pot ? I did that for the Girls : I bought different sizes of terracota plants pots with their plates for some, washed them then put them in the oven during 15 mn ( 160 °) in order to kill any germs. Then for the ones with their plates , I did an entrance ( sometimes two) with pliers , big enough for a adult gerbil and for the other ones , I just put them like that, all were filled with hemp. In all the Girls went in to make their poo, dig them , have a kip ...Whatever they were happy with and still is my lonely Steppe.

For introducing to your friend a new gerbil, nobody can take the decision for you. I will say go for it as your gerbil is still young but an introduction needs time ( you have a lot of posts about it on this site) and it can be a fail so you will have to keep your little friends seperated until the end of their life ( less space for every one ) unless you think of giving away the new pup ( some people think gerbils are just a disposable toy) but according to your post , I think you are not this kind of person so keep in mind that an introduction is a delicate thing with consequences.
Do not listen people saying that alone a gerbil can only live two years ...some live in pairs and died after one year. some after having lost their mate, still live one year more...every gerbil is different. Think only about what could make your gerbil the most happy even if it means remaining alone if you have no room enough to give the same life to the two if they can't get along.

[betty]

I have sand sheets down in my gerbil run which can help withe the nails - but actually gerbils nails can look quite long even if they are not overgrown - do you have a picture? They might be the right length for a gerbil and so you won't have to worry quite so much about that at least.

As above, gerbils ages vary and are linked to a whole host of things not simply whether they live alone or not. And pairing him up is a good thing as gerbils really do love their tank mates once settled - so no matter how 'happy' they look to us on their own - they are just actually just being a single gerbil. They no doubt eat drink and chew things like normal - but we all know that staying alive doesn't equal being happy. And once you see 2 together asleep in a heap - you know how happy they really can be. (NB: there are some gerbils who just don't like other gerbils and will fight or get really stressed with company - so they WILL actually be happier on their own - but you won't know this until you have failed at several splits anyway...)

A pair of young same-sex pups is usually the suggested split for a single older gerbil - but another older gerbil could be a perfect match for him actually.

[Bensey]

Oh thank you both for replying. I would never get rid of gerbils if they didn't get on. I love them to bits, too much really. It is very hard to get someone to part with a single gerbil pup and I can understand why as they would be in the same situation when my Ben goes so I guess it would have to be two or as Betty say an older Gerbil. I was worried that they might declan and leave Ben out but with Ben being older maybe not. Looking at his nails and looking at pictures of some, perhaps his are not that long really. His tank is three and a half foot long and 18" high so a pot would easily fit. Ben actually play peekaboo through the windows of the cardboard house, it is so funny, people think he is amazing. He leaves me a piece of straw too in exchange for a pine nut. I adore him. He only has one of two a day is that sufficient or too much? Thanks again for your time in responding. I don't have children, so he is my baby lol :-)

[Bensey]

Sorry the terracotta pots - how do you make the pillars just by cutting arches in the pot? Thanks.

[youps]

Hi Bensey,
I do not know if the picture is good enough to give you an idea. Otherwise I have just taken the measurements (tell me if you need them in inches)
The pots themselves : height : 14 cm , width ( the base ) 14 cm . The hole(s) I made : height 6 cm - width 7 cm.

The favourite one is one with only one hole (with the appropriate plate under) that I fill with hemp and put in a corner in the lower tanks ( you can't see it on the picture).It's still the one where Steppe goes despite she lost her sister 10 days ago and gave up on some other toys or lairs. I also used only a pot ( without the plate) full of hemp laid lie that on the litter. Of course you will have to fill it whatever the solution you chose) regularly to keep Ben busy ;-).

Speaking about that I am not an expert in gerbils but you should avoid checking if Ben is okay when he is asleep. I know we are very worried not knowing if they are okay ( now Dune is gone, it's even worse in my case ) but gerbils do not like being disturbed when sleeping.They do not cope very well with that. . 

About the nails they can look pretty long but if Ben is activ and digs , normally it's fine. You also can put a cardboard box (without ink) on the bottom of your tank, like that when he digs and reaches the bottom, his nails will meet the card board box...and it can participate to get them down. I use carboarboxes (without ink and news...I know but I recycle them either if they are the ones used for the nest or lairs for making toys or if they are dirty to the refusal center) . I order them from a removals company site so I have the choice between different sizes, thickness, it's funny for creating toys, lairs and so on .

I hope it helps. Wish Ben and you lovely moments

[youps]

I forget to tell you that when the pots are dirty, I washed them with water then put some Beapher deep cleaner product, rince them again and let them dry in the open air. You will have to have spare pot as it can take some time to be perfectly dry ( otherwise with hemp, straw, whatever as litter and humidity it could bring germs or muld ).

The other solution is to wash it with a environmentally friendly washing up product, then rince it very well and put it in the oven during 15 minutes ( 150 °C°) to kill germs and let it dry perfectly in the open air. I did that before finding the Beaphar product but I gave up the oven as with heat even well rinced it could have produced toxic fumes ( I am not sure but did not want to have a try)

Good day

[Bensey]

Hi Youps - thanks for getting back to me with good advice - very much appreciated. I worry about him too much and worry whilst at work - I can't wait to get home and see him :-) Gosh I sound like a child :-) I wished people would know how great these creatures are. I went down stairs this morning and he left me some straw again and waited for his nut in return :-) How many "pine nut" not as fattening as peanuts but nevertheless fattening, should he have in one day please? What's the norm. Its hard to say no when he looks at me sat on his shelf waiting :-) I am still thinking about some friend for him, its just hard to find someone to look after them when I am on holiday as the tank is too large for some peoples home and I like to keep him in familiar surroundings so have to get someone to come in and hopefully keep his tank clean everyday and water changed as I do this at least twice a day. I saw on the internet how to create the hole so definitely going to get him one before the hot weather. I can get lots of cardboard from work from the stores dept :-). I can't really have Ben is the lounge in case he goes under my TV unit and bites the cable, or gets under my piano and I can't get him out.. He goes into the conservatory at weekends when it is a nice temperature for him. He is always glad to get back into his own tank though :-) I have a large plastic deep tub I am going to fill with Children's sand and through boxes in whilst I clean out his tank. People at work are making him houses too with safe art glue, but will only have these in the conservatory under supervision :-). So back to the HOW MANY NUTS SHOULD HE HAVE A DAY ha ha ha ha? Also, what is the fleece for to run up or to chew LOL? Oops also I use from the pet shop, pet cleaner.  Wash the tubes houses etc, then spray the cleaner on, leave it for 10 mins and wipe off but not rinse off - hoep this is OK it says to do that on the label, I clean his jam jar out everyday - he love it in there. Soooo questions

how many nuts
Should you always freeze hay
Should you always freeze wooded houses
Should you wash wooded houses
The fleece is that to run up? :-)

[youps]

Hi Bensey,

No you are not a child ...if everyone was as you seem to be, the world would go round better. I could tell you how I acted with the Girls and still act with Steppe but the thread is for Ben .

About treats , well ...;-) Normally, they should not have treats as nuts. Gerbils were taken in labs in the fifties to test cholesterol. They have a natural disposition to get fat. But, if he does some exercise, if you need to tame him more (what I have never done with the Girls haha) and as his life is a lonely one, one a day would be fine. I know it's hard to resist when they look at you with their big sweet eyes but you have to do : it's the health of your companion that is at stake. By the way you could replace the nuts by some jumbo oats (very good to balance the cholesterol) and from time to time ( but in a very small part ( size of one of his eyes ) by a piece of apple , carrot, broccoli ( not more than two/three days a week). All organic if you can afford it as with all the chemicals they put on and in it's then better not to give our companions them if they are not organic. And it's also good for our own health ;-). That said this winter, I gave them more as despite the heat on all day and night , I noticed that Dune felt cold a lot of time and what I did for one I did for the other one. It was  two or three a day but they were free in a room and did a lot of exercise then but still they took some weight. I have never used pine nuts : only pumpkin and their favorite, sunflower seeds. I also used dried beetroots by Beaphar too but after the death of Dune I threw them away. Same with organic apple rice cakes by Organix that I cut in small pieces : years I used them and they liked them but again I threw them away and now I only use the oats, the seeds and the veggies. Their main meal are pellets by Beaphar.They had it for a long time now ( I had started with muesli by Beaphar but when I saw that Dune only picked up what she wanted, I change for the pellets ( every time you change their diet , do it gradually within 15 days).

I have never freeze the hay : I bought Timothy Hay by Oxbow. I did not give a lot of it though. By the way, what I did was not safe, I confess it. So if you do it , keep doing it .

I have never freezed wooden houses. All they have been cleaned with cold water in the tub and then wrapped in a grease paper and in the oven for 15 mn ( 150/160 C°) I am the best cooker of wooden things I guess ;-)

About the fleece ... It was not for this use first and now they have 8 of them. The first one is only a hole with some fleece around ;-) By the way Dune is burried with two parts of it : a small piece ( that she cut by herself) that was her favorite and a piece I cut to make her a good start for her last travel to the High Lands ( nothing to do with Scotland. English she was, in English lands she was burried ( Lake District in UK ) . Blablabla sorry speaking so much about me.
Anyway, one of the fleece is still to give Steppe more intimacy, the other ones were for hidding their "outdoor" playground and help them to go to the top and the other ones are for the floor in my current appartment as except a piece of carpet I put for their "indoors" playground, the floor is wood so not easy for them to run on. I found one picture I took when I was ending the big cleaning (their room , lowers tanks ...I clean the upper tanks appart as it takes me around 6 hours to do the big cleaning and during this time they are in a bedroom with the two upper tanks so less space but still enough not to be too bored) . All that to say that they are from Edinburgh Woollen mill shop but they are not made with wool as the fibers can harm them . These one are not fluffy ( not sure it's the right word. I mean they do not leave fibers all around )and they enjoyed them, especially Dune who was the "nibbler".Steppe is the digger

I hope you will find a mate for Ben.

I am not an expert in gerbils as I said so I hope some other persons will give you advices too. With the death of Dune I had (and still have ) a lot of questions coming to my mind, not sure I did everything in the right way.

I hope you will give news of Ben though .