Warning about picking cages

[donna2001]

Hey you have probably saw my post of "my poor babe Donna" well I am posting a warning for those of you who are picking a cage. DO NOT GET A PLASTIC CAGE! This may sound crazy but my gerbil ATE IT! literally, I caught her eating her cage! it was not like i did not have anything for her to chew in her cage I woke up one morning and her little house was destroyed and her wheel. I did not no gerbils would eat everything! And the thing that made me wanna scream is the cage had a sticker on it and it said great for hamsters "GERBILS" and mice!!! But anyway........ after that nightmare i thought donna would pass away with all that plastic in her stomache........But she did not i was static my little cutie did not die ;D after that i bought her a brand new STEEL wheel she just loves it ~~~~~-DO NOT GET A PLASTIC CAGE-~~~~~

[brighttreegerbils]

Your gerbil probably did not ingest any of the plastic, she just gnawed it all to bits.

And few people around here would say that you are crazy for saying your gerbil gnawed plastic. Anyone who has had gerbils before knows that all plastic is a potential target for gnawing.

This is why I do not use plastic cages or anything plastic in the cage except the water bottle (which has a protector and STILL gets gnawed at!).

-Matt

[donna2001]

this is my first time to have a gerbil though. And that stupid cage had a sticker on it that said it was perfect! for hamsters gerbils and mice

[brighttreegerbils]

Well, yeah, but they were trying to get your money. Why just settle for the money of hamster owners when you can just add on gerbil and mice and whatnot and make a lot more money. Don't believe everything you read, esspecially when the authors have a bias.

The good news is that an awesome tank is perfect for gerbils and probably cost less than the plastic junk you bought. If you look at Craigslist or other sites, you can usually find very inexpensive tanks, sometimes with screen lids.

-Matt

[johanne]

Sometimes I wonder if we should all write to these companies that mark hamster cages as suitable for gerbils. They're misleading their customers. You'd think loyal, happy customers would be more valuable to them in the long run than the few bucks they make selling inappropriate cages. They all make other products too, not just hamster cages.

Besides, if they labelled aquariums and terrariums for gerbils, they'd more than make up for those few extra hamster cages going to gerbil owners.

It's so frustrating hearing from one new gerbil owner after another who believed what it said on the product label. When I read the packaging on products, I expect it to be truthful.

[brighttreegerbils]

Really? Because when I read the packaging on products, I expect it to be trying to get me to buy it... which doesn't always need to be truthful.

These companies see the profit in this because they can manufacture just one product and sell it to various consumers. They may not feel there is enough individual markets for hmaster cages AND gerbil cages AND mice cages, etc. Better just to make one product and take the whole market.

As for consumer loyalty, I think in most cases, people who buy these plastic prisons are more buying on impulse. I highly doubt they research the product or its manufacturer. And that is what the company wants, an impulse purchase. That is where the money is.

-Matt

[johanne]

Wow, Matt, how very cynical. If you're ever needing to take an open elective on something, I would highly recommend introductory marketing. Of all the classes I've ever taken, it has been the most all around useful in life in general. I can't do justice to the topic right now, but here's a little piece on the history of marketing you might find interesting: www.enotes.com/business-finance-encyclopedia/marketing-historical-perspectives. It's already out of date, and certainly there are many other forces affecting businesses, but the core philosophy of every successful business relates to customer satisfaction. Small pets require ongoing purchases of products; hardly a one-time purchase issue.

If that wasn't enough, there are laws against outright deception. Companies may push the limits with misleading statements, and will of course do what they can to sell more products, but blatant lies are against the law. The Federal Trade Commission states:

What is illegal is the potential to deceive, which is interpreted to occur when consumers see the advertising to be stating to them, explicitly or implicitly, a claim that they may not realize is false and material. The latter means that the claim, if relied on for making a purchasing decision, is likely to be harmful by adversely affecting that decision. If an ad is implicitly false, evidence must be obtained for what consumers saw the ad saying, and for the materiality of that, and for the true facts about the advertised item, but no evidence is required that actual deception occurred, or that reliance occurred, or that the advertiser intended to deceive or knew that the claim was false.

Customers are not required to independently research every product before purchase so they can determine for themselves whether the stated claims are true or false.

[wodesorel]

They can probably get away with labeling them for gerbils since some gerbils will live in them without gnawing them to bits. Back in the day I had two tube-linked SAM cages that were solid plastic. They lived through two years with a Syrian hamster and another three years with a gerbil with very little damage to them. The hamster was strong enough to pop the lids and the doors open, so those did end up getting glued in place after the third time my mother caught her walking across our living room, but otherwise they were secure cages. Stinky, nasty, and very childish, but secure. (Please don't judge me for using them, I was age 9 when I got them, they seemed cute at the time, and no one taught me better!)

We also live in a world of throw-away everything (plates, shoes, cars, pets). Those cages are marketed towards children who's parents are probably very used to having to replace toys on a regular basis. Why would a ruined rodent cage raise any suspicions of being a bad thing? Talk to "normal" people and they'll see having to buy a new cage every year as something that goes with having a gerbil for their kid.

Also, I worked in animal rescue, and the things stupid people would put up with or do is mind-boggling shocking. If the package tells them it's good, they'll believe it, so if the gerbil destroyed a cage labeled "good for gerbils", then they'll just end up thinking that the gerbil is the one that's defective. *grr*

[brighttreegerbils]

I agree 100% with everything wodesorel wrote. Couldn't have said it better myself.

-Matt

[johanne]

Mar 26, 2011 1:24:07 GMT -8 @wodesorel said:

If the package tells them it's good, they'll believe it, so if the gerbil destroyed a cage labeled "good for gerbils", then they'll just end up thinking that the gerbil is the one that's defective. *grr*

That is EXACTLY what bugs me about it, lol!

[webzdebs]

to be honest, plastic or not a cage is not a good environment for gerbils. I use storage tubs (which are checked regularly for knawing) around 100lts/20 gallons or a 2.5ft tank with mesh lid for gerbils.

The other thing thats silly is that these kinds of homes although they aren't as "asthetically pleasing" as the pretty cages you can buy - your gerbils will be much happier in them and you won't spend a fortune on a cage which is not fit for the job it's supplied for.

For example the gerbilarium which is sold at the very well known chain store around the uk costs £45 brand new, it has the capacity of less than 8 gallons and is completely impractical - especially when you could walk around to the fish section and buy a 2.5ft tank for £28.99 and pay £5 for mesh: total saving £10 roughly and you'll have much happier gerbils because of it.

I think maybe the fish tank manufacturers should put their heads together with pet shops and start marketing fish tanks as brilliant homes not only for fishy creatures but also for gerbils/lizards that sort of thing as often people just don't realise what they can do with an item and can't see past its "purpose" for which its sold for

[Krisse]

I'm agreeing with what I am reading here, however the fault does not just lie with the people making these products but also with stores. When I went into my local PetSmart I didn't plan on buying an animal but my nieces talked me into it, (Their mom doesn't allow them to have animals so I figured I'd get them one and let them take care of it under my supervision.)

The oldest picked out Gary the gerbil. However the PetSmart employee knew hardly anything about Gerbils but acted like he did, (I had even picked up a brochure there that didn't help much either) I had him help me pick out what I needed for Gary, he never told me that I should buy two gerbils, he gave me pine bedding for him (he also told me thats what they used in their tanks in that store...) and then when selecting a cage he pointed out the plastic Crittertrail/Sam cages to me.

If I wasn't a responsible pet owner I would have never done my own independent research on them and found out how wrong this guy was and how little he actually knew! (Yes I realize if I was more responsible I would have known all these things before I bought Gary and would have saved myself money)

So I guess my point is, someone needs to start training their pet store employees better, because I know I'm not the only one who has been duped like this before. I also can tell from this forum alone that I'm not the only one who has had to deal with pet store employee mistakes when they mis-sex Gerbils either. I just can't help but to think that a lot of these issues would be solved with better training.

[jgerbil]

Ok, I picked "I have a plastic cage", but my cage also has metal bars. Yes, you guessed it. It's a Crittertrail. I'm not very happy with it, but none of three gerbils has chewed on it yet.

EDIT: My cage is actually a Crittertrail cage with tubes that go into a 10-gallon aquarium. I had forgotten to say that earlier.

[serenitymarie]

Jun 5, 2011 4:34:32 GMT -8 Krisse said:

I'm agreeing with what I am reading here, however the fault does not just lie with the people making these products but also with stores. When I went into my local PetSmart I didn't plan on buying an animal but my nieces talked me into it, (Their mom doesn't allow them to have animals so I figured I'd get them one and let them take care of it under my supervision.)

The oldest picked out Gary the gerbil. However the PetSmart employee knew hardly anything about Gerbils but acted like he did, (I had even picked up a brochure there that didn't help much either) I had him help me pick out what I needed for Gary, he never told me that I should buy two gerbils, he gave me pine bedding for him (he also told me thats what they used in their tanks in that store...) and then when selecting a cage he pointed out the plastic Crittertrail/Sam cages to me.

If I wasn't a responsible pet owner I would have never done my own independent research on them and found out how wrong this guy was and how little he actually knew! (Yes I realize if I was more responsible I would have known all these things before I bought Gary and would have saved myself money)

So I guess my point is, someone needs to start training their pet store employees better, because I know I'm not the only one who has been duped like this before. I also can tell from this forum alone that I'm not the only one who has had to deal with pet store employee mistakes when they mis-sex Gerbils either. I just can't help but to think that a lot of these issues would be solved with better training.

I'm sad to say, we had that exact experience with a pet store that was "experts in rodents".
We already knew someone who had a gerbil and a cat that swore by a tank (to keep the cat out), so we ignored the critter trails. Still, the employees sent us home with a lid for it that the gerbils can open if they push (they liked it, the cat liked it..we didn't), cedar bedding, a slat wheel (why they even carried those things, I'll never know) and hamster food (because 'they're practically the same animal!).
...Yeah, fortunately we bought all that before we brought the babies themselves, and I found out NOT to use most of that stuff before we even used it.
It's just amazing that they can call themselves an expert and be so oblivious.

[akane]

Half those cages aren't suitable for hamsters either. Maybe mice. Not sure how much they chew and space needed. Really 90% of the cages in a pet store are unsuitable for the animal listed whether it's rodents, birds, or reptiles. Take every item and downgrade it by at least 1 size/destructiveness/activity level of the animal (cockatiel cages are good for parakeets, parakeet cages are good for only finches, guinea pig cages are good sizes for hamsters if you watch the bar spacing, etc...). Most don't sell suitable cages for birds between parrot and finch or for guinea pigs and rabbits at all. Many don't sell a cage suitable for a rodent except aquariums if they have the right size lids.