Potential Gerbil Owner needs basic info

[flashbang]

Hello all! I am hoping to buy gerbils in the future, after my hamster passes away, and I need some help. I did a ton of research on hamsters before ever buying one and trying to find information on gerbils is proving difficult.

1. Are mesh wheels really okay? (Not the rung kind that could get tails caught.) Hamsters get bumblefoot from mesh wheels but gerbils don't?

2. What is a proper diet for gerbils?

3. Is there a gerbil and cat proof way to connect two aquariums?

4. How can you tell which gerbils are "better friends" in a petshop? If there are three, I'd hate to split up the closer pair.

5. How deep should bedding be ideally?

I guess I will stop there for now. Thank you all in advance!

[eleda]

have you tried browsing or searching the forum for info on these topics? there is a wealth of it here already. still, i'll throw in my two cents

- I've never heard of a gerbil getting bumblefoot from their wheel. generally mesh or plastic is recommended for wheels. The Silent Spinner (plastic) is very popular. i could be wrong but i suspect bumble-foot-from-mesh-wheels is less common in gerbils because they use their wheels less (generally) and run differently. a hamster's gait is similar to a human's - the feet go forward and back while the body stays mostly still. a gerbil has a bounding gait, meaning they push off with both back feet at the same time and land on their 'hands'. this actually makes wheels harder for them to use in general, and most don't really take to them. I had a gerbil who loved his wheel, but he would only ever use it a few minutes at a time and then go do something else. providing substrate to dig in is the best way to exercise your gerbil. because of the difference in the way they run, a gerbil's wheel should be 8" or more in diameter.

- gerbils should have a diet that contains about 12-15% protein and no more than 5% fat. check the nutrition info on different brands of gerbil/hamster food to see which sounds best to you. some people use seed mixes while others use pellets (some mix them.) Ecotrition and Oxbow are generally seen as good brands. For treats, fruits and veggies are good though I've heard conflicting info on how often you can feed them. Some say too much fresh fruit and veg can cause runny poos and recommend only one serving a week - but it probably depends on the gerbil how much they can handle. Keep in mind that fruits are very sugary and too much sugar is bad for anyone, so keep a variety in the treats. Some gerbils like cheese, but it is fatty and should be given in moderation as a result. Nuts are also very fatty and salted nuts might not be good - could put too much salt in their system. Search the forum for more info about nuts as I don't recall if there are any that are unsafe. Serving size for this type of treats is generally said to be about the size of the gerbil's eye. An alternative to these is sunflower or pumpkin seeds. These are generally seen as a 'healthier' snack, though sunflower seeds can be fatty as well. I always gave several of these as treats per day. Gerbils may be picky in what they like and don't like. My gerbils refused grapes, raisins*, and carrot but liked dry noodles. Only one of them liked cheese. They both loved oatmeal (plain) and peanut butter which i gave them when they weren't feeling well and couldn't eat easily. (very small amount of peanut butter mixed with warm, wet oatmeal)

*a note about raisins - serving size for raisins should be much smaller than you'd give for a piece of fresh fruit. this is because 1 raisin contains all the sugar of a grape in a smaller package

- lucille managed to connect aquariums with plastic tubing and said her gerbil was safe from her cats. you can read about it here: gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/30119/built-burrow - unfortunately, this requires glass-cutting which is not the easiest DIY project out there. You could try putting toppers on the tanks and connecting them with a tube. you just have to be careful the gerbils cant chew the tube at all. I never attempted this myself so thats all I can say about it really

- In my experience, it wasn't even possible to observe them interacting with each other. every time I went the gerbils were in their hut. and i mean every single time i went into the store to get supplies for my pets, i took a look at the gerbils, and they were never out. if you have a pet store where you CAN observe them, try watching them for a while and hopefully they'll interact. you should be able to tell who is bossy and who is meek based on how they interact - their body language and actions don't vary all that much from ours in those respects. Honestly, I'm not sure it will matter much to the gerbils who gets left behind - they'll forget that gerbil ever existed.

- i would say bedding should be at least 6 inches in an ideal set-up, but you can start with 3 or 4 while you bond with them.

[vexorg]

Most gerbils wint runin a wheel, more likely to chew it or throw it round the cage.

What country are you in?