Post by Markpd on Dec 12, 2021 16:01:24 GMT -8
Firstly, thanks goes to pepandmax who created the original Gerbil Goodies guide in 2007, of which this one is largely based on.
There is so much more to creating an interesting, stimulating habitat for your gerbils beyond a tank and litter! (see the Housing FAQ for info on those). This post outlines what you really need, what you really don't need, and what you should avoid at all costs.
What you need:
1) Water bottle or a small bowl/dish. Though with the latter, gerbils are likely to kick litter into the water, spoiling it if it is not placed clear of the bedding. So if you choose a bowl you'll need to place it on a shelf, ledge, platform or in a topper where no bedding etc can be kicked into it.
2) Burrow. Use a coconut, an overturned, cracked ceramic pot, or a wooden hut. Avoid anything that is plastic—it WILL get gnawed. If plastic is ingested, it can cause intestinal blockages or punctures. If your litter is deep enough, you can set the burrow on the bottom of the tank and let the gerbils create tunnels down into the litter. Your gerbils will love sleeping covered, “under ground!”
3) Things to gnaw on. Gerbils' teeth grow continually throughout their lives, so they need to gnaw to keep their teeth the correct length. The humble toilet paper tube and paper towel tube make some of the best gerbil gnaws! Gerbils also like to gnaw on wood. You can use any of the woods listed here.
What you should get:
1) Wheel.
But avoid 'Hamster' bar-style wheels, like this one!
The bars are difficult to run on, and since gerbils run so fast they can easily get a foot stuck or slip, resulting in injuries like broken bones. In addition, the tail can get caught between the bar across the wheel and the supporting bar, leading to breakage or amputation.
Instead a solid wheel is much better, compared to a traditional bar-style wheel, this type of wheel is much safer. This is the Silent Spinner.
The downside to using this type of wheel is that it is plastic, so it has the potential to be gnawed and broken. As noted above, if plastic is ingested, it can cause intestinal blockages or punctures. In addition, if a gerbil urinates or makes a poop on the wheel, it can't fall through, so the wheel will need to be cleaned regularly.
Alternatives are a wooden wheel, which are safe to chew, but of course if they do, depending how much they chew it, it might not last very long!
This is a Trixie wooden wheel. £15 currently.
Like the wheel below, the running surface should be smooth and have no big steps on it, as that can cause injuries too! (See what happened to a Hamster here ).
And thirdly, a solid metal wheel, made from aluminium, it is light and durable. They won't be able to chew this one! And they're quite safe running on it.
Disadvantages are that because the wheel is so smooth, Gerbils will skid on it, my boys eventually learned to (mostly) moderate acceleration to avoid that, but ultimately I choose to line it with cork model railway underlay (stuck on with non-toxic PVA glue). That gave them much better grip and made it quieter for them to run on it! And when coated with plasticote, is water proof too.
Another disadvantage of these wheels is cost, currently the 10.5" (~27cm) wheel shown below by Tictac is £45, and the stand is an additional £22. That said, you'll only need to buy it once!
Here's my tictac wheel with the cork lining.
An alternative, but not really recommended is the mesh metal wheel (like the one below). The potential problems with this wheel are that a gerbil can catch a toe in the mesh, leading to injury. In addition, running on the rough metal surface can eventually damage the soles of the gerbil's feet. You can get around the potential problems by wrapping the outside of the wheel with cardboard, but that could be chewed off sooner or later. Additionally with this particular meshed wheel, the wheels spokes and support bars can create a scissor action to another gerbil jumping in whilst it's turning, another source of injured limbs!
If you get a meshed wheel, get one with a single bearing support and a solid (or meshed) side on the bearing side.
As for what size wheel to get, we recommend at least an 11"/28cm wheel. Gerbils have long tails, and wheels much smaller than this will cause them to have to lift their tail more so than they naturally would, this at least wouldn't be comfortable for them (and so they might limit their time on the wheel), and possibly in more extreme cases cause back problems.
(In case you're wondering why my own gerbils wheel is just under our minimum, I bought it 1 1/2yrs before creating this thread and learning about the better standards over that time we aim for here. That said, it's only ~1/2" 1cm under 
. A 2nd wheel I bought is 12" ).
. A 2nd wheel I bought is 12" ).2) Playpen. Especially if you don't have a wheel, your gerbil will need exercise. An enclosed play area with plenty of places to hide and things to gnaw on will keep your gerbil entertained and happy. You can put sheets of paper or a towel down on the floor to protect your gerbil from any harmful chemicals or dirt (and to protect your floor from your gerbils!). If you see your gerbils chewing on the towel, however, try a different tactic. The fibres can be ingested and the strings can wrap around a limb, which is bad news (see “Fluffy Bedding” below). Finally, make sure that the walls of the playpen are tall enough to prevent a gerbil from jumping over (gerbils can get over walls that are 18'' high), and never leave your gerbil unattended in a playpen unless your are 100% certain that it is 100% secure.
3) Plain nesting. Your gerbils will appreciate something soft to use to line their burrow. Try plain toilet tissue, plain facial tissues or kitchen paper towels. They'll shred it up themselves into clouds of fluffy whiteness!
4) Chinchilla sand. Many gerbils like to take sand baths. The sand helps to keep their coat soft and not overly oily. Get chinchilla sand and use a food bowl, dogfood bowl or plant bowl (preferably at least 6" across with tall sides to stop the sand being kicked out). Put the bowl in their tank and watch as they have a blast rolling around.
This is the one I use for my boys Avon and Blake 
.
.
What you should be careful with:
Bendy bridges. Whilst these are great used as bridges, and give a nice natural look, if used as a vertical barrier they can cause problems for your gerbil. The narrow gaps between the sticks can trap limbs, and can lead to amputation! This can be avoided by filling the top edge gaps with moss (stuck in), or just with aquarium grade silicone sealant, for more info more about that, see the Fivelittlehams article on it. Fivelittlehams photo showing problem gaps.
What you don't need:
1) Fancy toys. Chances are high that your gerbil won't touch those brightly coloured pieces of wood shaped like hamburgers and hot dogs. Save your money!
What you should avoid:
Just because a product has a picture of a gerbil on the package doesn't mean that it's suitable for gerbils. You should always avoid:
1) Fluffy Bedding. Any type of fluffy bedding is completely inappropriate for gerbils. Arms, legs, and/or tails can become wrapped in the fibres, cutting off circulation and leading to loss of the limb. Also it can block up the digestion system.
Thank you to LilyandDaisy for the following corroborating information.
2) Rope or other fibrous playthings. This is unsafe for the same reasons as "fluffy bedding," above.
3) Run-about balls. While there might be some gerbils out there that like the run-about ball, it seems that the majority do not. And they have many negative points to them.
Run-about balls tend to quickly accumulate urine and faeces, which isn't a pleasant or hygienic environment for your gerbils (especially when they try to run, causing the urine and faeces to fly everywhere!).
The ball could pick up any lint and dust on your floor, making it difficult for your gerbil to see where he/she is going.
They will have difficulty controlling it, in part due to their stature.
It is very difficult for them also to stand upright in them to view their surroundings.
And lastly they have very poor ventilation.
4) SawDUST. This is a very unhealthy substrate/bedding for gerbils (and any rodent) due to the small size of the dust which can easily cause respiratory infections (RIs) (don't confuse sawdust with wood shavings, the latter of which is much bigger than sawdust and can be ok). Additionally some woods, as substrate, in themselves are bad for gerbils. Particularly many pine woods in the USA (less so in the UK and Europe). For very detailed information on that check out this excellent article by Fivelittleham's website on softwood substrate.
5) Scented bedding. Shouldn't be used because :-
- It's completely unnecessary anyway as well-kept gerbils should not smell bad.
- It's unpleasant for gerbils, which have a very sensitive sense of smell.
- To be constantly surrounded by a strong odour could mask a gerbil's own scent, which may cause stress and excessive scent-marking. It could even lead to a declan if gerbils are unable to recognise their tank mates due to an overpowering odour from scented bedding.
- In some cases it could cause respiratory irritation or breathing difficulties (if the scent comes from essential oils).
Photo Credits:
Bar-style wheel from - www.viovet.co.uk/Pennine-Hamster-Play-Wheel-And-Stand-Metal/c63318/ (Vets selling a bar wheel of all people!!)
Mesh wheel photo starring Bel, taken by pepandmax
- It's completely unnecessary anyway as well-kept gerbils should not smell bad.
- It's unpleasant for gerbils, which have a very sensitive sense of smell.
- To be constantly surrounded by a strong odour could mask a gerbil's own scent, which may cause stress and excessive scent-marking. It could even lead to a declan if gerbils are unable to recognise their tank mates due to an overpowering odour from scented bedding.
- In some cases it could cause respiratory irritation or breathing difficulties (if the scent comes from essential oils).
Photo Credits:
Bar-style wheel from - www.viovet.co.uk/Pennine-Hamster-Play-Wheel-And-Stand-Metal/c63318/ (Vets selling a bar wheel of all people!!)
Mesh wheel photo starring Bel, taken by pepandmax
Silent Spinner wheel from - www.exoticnutrition.com/SPINNER.jpg
Tictac wheels - www.tictacwheels.co.uk/
), late 70s