Help free roaming my gerbils

[cjgirl]

Hi everyone, I need some advice.  I have two gerbils Little Bear and Ollie.  They are in a 55 gallon tank with a topper.  I have had them for about 6 weeks. I have been working to hand Tame them, and Ollie especially is doing GREAT! I really want to let them free roam. The challenge is that I am wheelchair bound.  I am on the floor alot, but climbing into an enclosure with them is not possible for me.  I have them in a room where there isn't much they can hurt if they were to get out.  In the past, before I discovered my major hay allergy, I  have had guinea pigs who I uses to let out to free roam the room, and they would return to their enclosure when ready.  As it is nearly impossible for me to chase my gerbils, would this be an option for them?  Will they return to their cage via an external ramp when done, if I let them loose in the room? Thank you for your help in advance.

[catnut]

a playpen may be safer for them and easier for you to get them afterwards- search on here to see what you can use, i used to use a very large bin cage as it was easy to clean.

[LilyandDaisy]

Yes, I think a playpen would be safer at least to begin with.

Gerbils will sometimes go back to their enclosure of their own accord, but you can never rely on it.

I've had some gerbils who were very confident when out of their cage, so I could sit on the floor with them and they'd climb over me. And when it was time for them to go home, I could just pick them up. But other gerbils will get quite skittish when out in a large area and then they're nearly impossible to catch. I've had to get gerbils out from under furniture a few times.

I let my new gerbil Luna out for a run for the first time the other day, in a small sectioned area of the landing, and she's a very confident gerbil in her enclosure but she did get scared and I had to herd her into a tube to get her back home. Her older tankmate Astra, on the other hand, will happily explore the entire upper floor of the house (fortunately she hasn't figured out stairs yet) and lets me pick her up when it's time to go home.

Then I have Twiglet, who I stopped free roaming a long time ago because the two times I tried it, it resulted in her becoming terrified, hiding somewhere awkward, and refusing to move. Getting her back into her tank was an ordeal for both of us. And my final gerbil Peanut I don't intend to free roam at all as she has a similar temperament to Twiglet and will probably react the same way.

I think when your gerbils are older and tamer, and you know more about their personalities, you could try free roaming, but while they're so young (assuming you got them as pups) I would definitely stick to a playpen/box or enclosed area.

Congratulations on the new gerbils

[tanzanyte]

I agree with using a box to begin with but depending on their personality it is something you can progress on to without having to wait a really long time, providing they are not the houdini type!
I have mobility issues (some days are worse than others). I appreciate that a lot of play pens aren't always large enough to fit you sitting stretched out. I found the use of large cardboard boxes opened up and taped together to create my own playpen to be really helpful in sectioning some of the room off. This meant it wasn't so big and there weren't so many places to hide. Plus it has the added bonus of me being able to open it out to get in and out without having to climb over anything. It also made it easier to reduce the size of the roaming ground when I do want to get them home.
I've also got a permanent outdoor enclosure so they quite often want to go back to that as it's their safe place, which makes it easier.

However if you have enough hides out you can quite often catch them in them. We've found the bendy tubes great as the gerbils use them to get home of their own accord, or catching them in them if they weren't so keen on going back in on their own so you could always try those. I duck tape a couple of them together to make them longer and they work like a charm.

I will say that mine could roam for quite some time once there they were used to it. You might have to be prepared to stay there for a while. I used to do a jigsw on the floor with Max out as he'd spend hours out pottering around and coming up for treats or hiding on me or under me. It's a great bonding process and I miss it hugely. It's not something i've tried with my rescues as they are currently acclimatising and very skittish so I'm giving them more time.
God luck and I hope it gives yo as much joy as it's given me. They really are so interesting to watch.