pics of my setup

[ecoa]

here is my setup

this is the silent wheel


this is thier igloo house


theese little cuties are my fake ''gerbils''


and the food and alfalfa nibble rings


hope this works, it's my first time using the pictures

Ecoa

[sandy]

Good stuff! There's a couple things to note, though. First the water bottle should hang higher, you might want to use a piece of coat hanger wire and some tougher tape or a suction cup or plastic wall hanger sticker to hang it higher up in a way they cannot chew it off. Gerbils are GREAT chewers. I also assume you will have some sort of bedding in the bottom of the tank? They love to burrow, so make it about 2 or 3 inches thick. The water bottle has to hang higher than the bedding or all the water will just go out onto the bedding, making it smelly and damp. Then, you might want to rethink the igloo, because it will get chewed up, and if they swallow a tiny sharp piece of plastic a gerbil could die. I would really recommend cardboard or wood houses instead. My kids have great fun building cardboard "condos" for my gerbils using old boxes and a bit of tape. Another thing is the food dish, gerbils just dig all the food out and bury it on the floor, so I don't even use one. Also what if a gerbil should flip it over onto himself? Dangerous!

[ecoa]

I am going to raise up the water bottle, I just put it there beacause I was in a hurry to get the pictures ,so I just taped it there. About the bedding, I am going to put some bedding in the bottom. The only reason there isn't any in there is because it might be a few weeks before I get my gerbils. If I put something on the igloo that tasted bad would the gerbils learn not to chew on it? If so, do you have any suggestions to put on it?

Thanks,
Ecoa ;D

[RitzieAnn]

I guess you could try to spray it with some of that dog spray. Since that's the only type of think I can think of that's non-toxic and meant for that sort of stuff... but I'm not so sure it'll work.

Sandy's right about the water bottle. Um... I sue the lid to a pizza box, bend it, and cut it to the exact height of my tank, then tape the top part of the box to the sides of the tank. If you have a twisty tie, then you could just make a little hold, and attach it with a twisty tie. I did that to my tank I used for my little pups right after they were weaned.



You can see the tube coming from the cardboard. I didn't sue the waterbottle hanging from the top, that was in another tank, and is only in the picture because I was cleaning the other cage, and didn't want it to leak on things. I don't have it set up that way anymore, but I do still make the little dividers with pizza lids.

Here are some picts of it. (the 1st 2 picts are the same tank)




These are shots of the other tank.


(Please excuse the calling card! That's Ritzie in that picture, and in the 2nd one, that's her daughter.)


See how the tape is only on the top part? I just don't want them to chew on tape. When they start chewing high up there, I take the tape off and let them shred the wall.

See the area wher eyou could poke your waterbottle in?

Plus, like Sandy said, it's fun to make, and they like to chew it! The little gerbil in the one shot is sitting on 3 inches of shredded cardboard. Her mom goes nuts about it! ;D

Have FUN making little houses!

[sweetie]

I noticed that you have tape??? Do they not chew at it? Ritzie you said you take it off when they get close. What about the tape used to secure the condos?

The igloo will be chewed to bits. I use PVC piping which is really hard plastic and the girls actually chewed through it!! Tough little girls, huh?

[RitzieAnn]

When I make little houses and condos, I cut little tabs and fold it all together! I don't use tape for the condos, Sandy does, ask her.... ;D

I pay attention to the tape so they don't chew it!

[sandy]

just a little scotch tape to hold the cardboard together. It's ok. I also use duct tape as "bumpers" around my glass water tubes so they don't break when my crazy gerbils bounce them against the side of the tank. It gets chewed off, eventually.

[snowydesert]

Ecoa: I noticed you bought a "silent wheel." I've been thinking about getting one myself. Do they spin as well as regular wheels?

[piffthegerbl]

I also have a few silent wheels they work great! and they actually spin probably easier than normal wheels they are tough but mine gets dirty fast! It gets a sticky orange look on the inside after about a week but its easy to clean.

[snowydesert]

Sounds great. I'll have to get some. As much as I love my gerbils, they do get a little annoying when they run in their squeaky wheels at 3 in the morning.