Yay a water bottle. Lets dig up it like a retard.

[annoyedstill]

Just to clarify..Just because I'm not a member and don't have a high postcount doesn't mean I'm new to gerbils.

I've had gerbils for 5+ years. These guys in particular are 3 years old. I'm used to the noise.

They've just never been obsessed with the water bottle. They never dug up it, haven't bothered to chew it in in a while since I found good bottles..

Now the dude in the pic constantly has a wet spot on his head and today he dug a hole under the bottle so they can't reach it now. All the bedding is pushed to the other side, nothing but glass under the bottle. So he's now digging in the corner and one back leg keeps sliding up the glass. It's funny. Dude needs a life. I think I'll let him loose tonight and maybe he'll sleep all day tomorrow and get over the water bottle.

[Guest]

I had thi sproblem with my gerbs a while ago.

My solution was to make a hole in the tank lid and just let the spout of the water bottle stick through.

[Ritzie/Admin]

That is a good suggestion! When gerbils learn something to do, it is hard to get rid of it. Maybe trying something new in the tank. Or try water bowls for a while (not sure what tank you have, and if this would be possible for you).

Do they have a burrow? Or a think layer of bedding where they can dig in. Because to me it sounds much like compulsive corner digging:

Anyone who keeps Mongolian gerbils knows the problem: the gerbils constantly dig in the corners of their cage. This is not just normal digging behaviour, because of its characteristic it can be described as so-called stereotyped digging. There is a simple method that can prevent gerbils from developing this behaviour. Many people hypothesised that this behaviour was influenced by a too small cage size. Christoph Wiedenmayer, a Swiss psychologist, has proven with experiments that this is not the case. Stereotyped digging behaviour was not affected by cage size. The result of his further experiments is quite simple: if gerbils grow up in an environment with a "burrow" they won't develop stereotyped digging behaviour. The essential fact is that the "burrow" must have a tunnel and a chamber connected to it. When the gerbils were only given a shelter without a tunnel, stereotyped digging occurred. All gerbils in his experiments that grew up in a setting with an artificial burrow, a tunnel connected to a chamber, didn't show stereotypes. Vera Brückmann has tried this with one of her gerbil families with an large aquarium, and with 2/3 of the cage filled with wood shavings mixed with hay and some cardboard tubes, so the gerbils were able to dig tunnels and chambers that won't collapse. Her gerbils built up a nice burrow system that changed from day to day. The results of her experiment were indeed that the gerbils that were born in a burrow didn't develop stereotyped digging behaviour. When placed in a cage without a "burrow" they started digging in the corners, but after returning in a cage with a burrow they stopped digging in the corners and never showed any stereotyped digging behaviour. Gerbils that haven't grown up in a burrow will always dig in the corners, but when given a burrow they did do this less. So we can conclude that if you keep your gerbils from birth in a cage with an artificial burrow (a tunnel connected to a chamber) or when you give them the chance to dig their own burrow, your gerbils won't develop stereotyped digging behaviour.

A website that explains how to make such an artificial burrow system with a lot of pictures can be found at: Artificial Burrow System by Eddie Cope. This page is intended to give you hints and tips to help you make your own gerbil accessories and enrich your gerbils environment. Step by step instructions will be given along with photos so you can see exactly how its done.

[gerbillady]

You know, i thought people would have their gerbils in their room and all.. but now that im reading all this.. i feel so dumb...

i have 23 gerbils in my room 7 of them new born babies so they squeak ALOT, and my boyfriend snaps at them all the time because of the noise they make

So every night he takes out the wheels, cardboard, mugs, puts other things in the middle of the tank so that it doesnt bang against the sides, etc . But they still find some thing to do... and THEN the cats come in and start punching and patting at the tanks as if they're interactive TVs or sumthing...

i cant wait to move to a bigger house, cuz my room stinks after a week, the noise, lack of sleep, etc

grrr those gerbils... I love them so much!

[AndreaS15]

I had all 13 gerbils in my room, with my gassy, always licking herself dog LOL
I would take the wheels out just before I went to bed and replaced it with cardboard.
I also found if I played with my gerbils when i got home in the evening, they usually went to sleep when i went to sleep.
As for the gassy dog... ick i still have her in my new room LOL PEEYEEW

[gerblover]

The water bottle problem is has always been an issue with my gerbils, I think they enjoy the racket that they make. And when you get up in the middle of the night and have a look at what there doing they just look at you like "what do you want?". I recently had one of the worst sleepless night of my life due to my two girls (Chops & Chips). At night I hate taking out their toys because I know that at this is when they come out and play. So I took out the wheel first, later on I was awoken by extremely loud banging, so I go downstairs, and remove the offending item, and go back to bed. Then later on I hear the same loud banging again, so I go downstairs again and remove another toy. Anyways, this same thing happens about 4 more times approximately every 90 minutes, and by this point their cage is completely bare, no food no water nothing! So I go back to bed to only be woken up again by a loud banging noise! By now I'm really annoyed, so I go downstairs, again! to see what the problem is and when I get down there, of course they don't make the noise, so I can't tell what it is there doing to make the noise. So I have to resort to standing in the dark with my hand on the light switch ready to catch them in the act. So finally, I find out what it is there doing, they are chewing a part of the lid of the cage that juts outwards, perfect for a gerbil to chew on. By this point I feel like there is absolutely no hope for me having a good nights sleep, as this problem cannot be rectified. So now I have moved by gerbils into the kitchen every night with there own oil radiator were I shut the door, and can now sleep noise free. Well apart from the noisy boyfriend who won't no matter how much I ask, sleep in the kitchen.

[blackie]

Have you tried simply attatching it with velcro? The best way to protect a plastic water bottle is to make a bottle guard of two empty hermetic cans, and making a hole for the spout of the bottle in one can. You file down any sharp edges with a small file (metal nail file) The second bottle has to be a bit wider than the first one. You buy velcro strips at the supermarket and velcro the cans to the inside of the tank in the preferred height. Put the bottle in side the can and cover the top with the other can. They won't be able to chew at it again. It totally works for my gerbils, but they do try to climb onto the top of the can. So be careful so they don't chew through the lid.

[update]

I bought these new water bottles..the kind with the spout that hangs straight down. It attaches to the tanks with a wire you just bend. Instead of bending it, I just poked the wire through the screen cover and folded it over. So now the bottles hang in the middle of the tank. It wobbles, but they figured out how to control it.

Hey Andrea, instead of just dealing with your dog's gas. Just change her food. Some food causes that in some dogs. She probably doesn't even feel all that great all bloated with the gas bubbling inside her. Or at least try some probiotics to help her digest it.

[AndreaS15]

update said:

Hey Andrea, instead of just dealing with your dog's gas. Just change her food. Some food causes that in some dogs. She probably doesn't even feel all that great all bloated with the gas bubbling inside her. Or at least try some probiotics to help her digest it.

LOL.... She's actually not near as bad as she was, it seems lamb based foods do it to her So we're back to the chicken. But when we take her to family dinners, everyone is always sneaking her things (even after i tell them No people food!) and well, then i get to bring home "Stink Dog" LOL (Chicken Nuggets from McDonalds are the worst!)


Glad to hear you've figured something out for the water bottle problem.

[doomgerbiluk]

I love those bottles. I use them 'dangling' and somtimes just inserted through cage tops/mesh.

[lizkiss2010]

I have a short 4oz. bottle in the aquarium. But, my gerbils have never had any digging issues. More just chewing on it from time to time. But, then, I guess they realized it's plastic, and that it has water so its good and they don't need to explore it anymore.

[kimsgerbils]

Yeah, my hamsters are actually the worst with the bottle clunking... I have 2-3 others who will as well, hanging the bottle from the lid in the center prevents this.. (as I see you have done)