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cages
Jun 22, 2004 1:03:47 GMT -8
Post by terri on Jun 22, 2004 1:03:47 GMT -8
sry im proberly asking same question whats in the other threads but i just noticed the housing forum.. LOL (here is my question)
I was just wondering as some might of seen that we had a surprise litter at weekend with our gerbils.. My question is what cage is better as the new arrivals of our gerbil clan LOL is that we bought another cage which is not the same one we bought first time around.. We have a wired one which was first and now we have one of those supposed fun gerbils which is plastic container meaning I'm concerned about the little holes on top which is there only vent they have. so which is better the wired bars cages or the plastic ones? I'm also concerned which one would be better for the pups?. All info would be greatly appreciated
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cages
Jun 22, 2004 3:46:11 GMT -8
Post by andrea on Jun 22, 2004 3:46:11 GMT -8
I wouldn't advise wired cages as gerbils have a habit of chewing the bars and making there noses bleed and they are not the easiest things to clean. In an ideal world clearseal fish tanks with wire mesh lids or the cheap lids with no light bulb and lots of holes made in it is the best thing for gerbils. We currently keep our mongolians in Ferplast dunas: Which are a great alternative to fish tanks. As you can see in this piccy they can be stacked on shelves very easily : the small table with the radio on has now been confuscated for use as a fish tanks stand for our persian jirds LOL. We keep our jirds in fish tanks though and if you have perticular "chewy" gerbil I would say fish tanks everytime. Andrea
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cages
Jun 22, 2004 9:05:37 GMT -8
Post by j on Jun 22, 2004 9:05:37 GMT -8
Wire cages suck for gerbils.. It's boring, too small, not natural since they can't burrow in it and they chew the bars. Those plastic "habitrail' type setups with the tubes are a little better.. but they'll just chew the plastic and escape and pee all over the plastic which smells horrible. Glass aquariams. They can dig in it, get enough air, no bars to chew and it doesn't smell. ;D Theres some info about housing here too - www.petermaas.nl/gerbils/indexuk.htm#contents
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cages
Jul 27, 2004 5:43:02 GMT -8
Post by blackie on Jul 27, 2004 5:43:02 GMT -8
Won't gerbils eventually chew holes in a ferplast duna? Peter once mentioned them chewing in the hole for the water bottle. Cages works for 6 of my gerbils and I bet the older ones would have a fit if I put them in a tank now because they have lived in a cage all their lives. They don't scratch in the corners because they have lots of bedding material and a nice sort of "burrow". I only have one gerbil who hasd stereotype behavior, and he has always been a little weird, I wonder if the previous owner dropped him on the floor.
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cages
Jul 27, 2004 5:58:53 GMT -8
Post by andrea on Jul 27, 2004 5:58:53 GMT -8
some people had said this, but we have been using them now for years and never had a problem. I think the problem arises when people lave the bottle out and they can get at the hole.
Like I said in a ideal world fish tanks everytime but thats not always practical and if you have large numbers of gerbils they take up to much space.
We now keep the persian jirds in a Jennie Rat cage which is great as they are not really a chewy specie. the bushy tailed jirds are in a tank as are the cheesman gerbils. but the mongolians seem to do ok in the dunas and they are very easy to clean and lightweight to move around.
There is many NGS (English national gerbil society) members that use Dunas with no problems, the other favourite and cheap way is to use storage tubes with wire mesh on the top.
Andrea
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cages
Jul 29, 2004 19:36:41 GMT -8
Post by crazycritter on Jul 29, 2004 19:36:41 GMT -8
Like I said in a ideal world fish tanks everytime but thats not always practical and if you have large numbers of gerbils they take up to much space. Andrea I think that if you have so many gerbils that you can't keep them in aquariums/Dunas/etc, and you have to keep them in bared hamster cages, then you shouldn't have that many gerbils in the first place. If you can't provide the proper housing, then you shouldn't have the animal. I currently have 27 gerbils, and the smallest cage I have a pair in is a ten gallon, but all of my ten gallons have holes cut in the lid, and the top of a hamster bar cage attached to it. This way, they have two levels ;D I don't know though, maybe I'm just an extremist
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cages
Jul 29, 2004 23:32:08 GMT -8
Post by andrea on Jul 29, 2004 23:32:08 GMT -8
i don't keepthem in bared cages?. i keep them in dunas and aquariums.. the only ones in a wire cage is the persians cos they love to climb they are not a digging species- very much different from shaws.
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cages
Jul 30, 2004 9:10:52 GMT -8
Post by floppy on Jul 30, 2004 9:10:52 GMT -8
I wouldn't recommend either the cage (bars) or the plastic 'fun' type cages. They are more fun for humans rather than gerbils. I especially wouldn't recommend the plastic one for pups...especially if there are tubes attached. Like Andrea, I have tanks and Duna's. (I'm slowly getting around to having only tanks, as it allows for better burrowing!) Anyway, my duna's are quite large and have tubes attached at the top. Once I found several pups in the tubes at the same time. They were all on top of each other and couldn't get out. If I hadn't been there they probably would have all died. I had to take the tubes apart to get them out. They were really frightened. I have since removed the tubes because of this. The best type of housing is a tank...having said that, my tanks are half filled with bedding and have burrows all over the place! If I had pups in one I wouldn't put a lot of bedding in so I could keep an eye on them...
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cages
Jul 30, 2004 12:04:22 GMT -8
Post by crazycritter on Jul 30, 2004 12:04:22 GMT -8
i don't keepthem in bared cages?. i keep them in dunas and aquariums.. the only ones in a wire cage is the persians cos they love to climb they are not a digging species- very much different from shaws. No no, sorry...I didn't mean YOU keep your gerbils in bared cages...I was just saying "you" meaning...people in general, if that makes sense. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I know you keep yours in Dunas!
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cages
Aug 5, 2004 6:54:34 GMT -8
Post by sweetie on Aug 5, 2004 6:54:34 GMT -8
Again people are being offended. This really makes me sad. I think that 1) babies and wire on the bottome are not good. 2) what ever you are currently using and it works. Great for you! 3) the question was which is better. 4) the responses by every one is what workes for them currently. Do not pass judgement on people who comment. Stick to the original question. 6) I use duna cages with the plastic tunnels. I was started on that because when I got my gerbils from the shelter that's all they had. I was not privy to the information that tanks worked better (heck they had no clue either) It currently works for me!!!! The gerbils have all the tunnels they need, there is no wearing of the plastic, yes it does tend to stink quicker but I make sure I clean the tunnels 2-3 times a week and the bedding 1 time a week. The girls love the circle and sleep cuddled up there. The boys take the bedding from the circles and pull it into the main enclosure and stay there. As soon as I can figure out how and have time to put pictures in (Thanks J ) I will add pictures of my duna cage which works for the gerbils and I!! I hope the picture comes out img.photobucket.com/albums/v449/Sweetie4/100_0177.jpg [/img]
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cages
Aug 5, 2004 6:57:23 GMT -8
Post by sweetie on Aug 5, 2004 6:57:23 GMT -8
OOPS I forgot to encourage people to look at the other thread that has pictures of set ups. Queenie has a great one with recycled bagel bins and dryer hoses!! There are pretty creative people in this forum who have offered lots of ideas. Andrea nice set up!!! I have never seen one of those enclosures! I like the appearance, and the convenience (stackable)!!
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