Post by paws on Dec 30, 2005 6:19:29 GMT -8
For gerbil newbies, here are some tips for what to buy in the store. If you want to add to the list, just reply below with a tip, I'll edit the list and give you credit.
1) Don't buy anything made out of soft (bendy) plastic. It will inevitably be swallowed or chewed on, and will last as long as a paper towel tube. No matter how cute it is, DON'T BUY IT!
2) For nesting material, do not use anything but straw, toilet paper, or hay. They can catch their legs in cotton and commercial bedding, or worse, swallow the long fibres.
3) Do not buy a metal wheel with less than a pencil's width of space between the frame and the wheel, the tails can get easily caught in them.
Do not buy fabric covered wheels unless the fabric is somehow chewproof. The gerbs will chew on the fabric and swallow the long fibres.
I suggest a hard plastic wheel, they are pretty much chewproof. Mine are from a company called "Fun and Fit" but you can also buy them from Rody and many other companies. Once again, I stress, DO NOT BUY SOFT PLASTIC !
4) Gerbils love dried corn, this is a good treat, and they will play with it until the whole thing is eaten. You can buy a whole corn rather than the kernels in a package.
5) Obviously, the toilet paper and towel rolls are wonderful toys, and you can experiment with them, leaving half the paper on the roll to make a nest...etc. I tend not to put in egg boxes and cereal boxes in the cages, only because I don't like how they look, but they do enjoy playing with them. As long as the cardboard is not waxy, try anything you want!
6) When purchasing water bottles, ask yourself, "Can they chew through this?" If the answer is yes, put it back on the shelf and continue the hunt! I use this question on every toy that is not wood. [edit by Markpd, plastic bottles are ok if you can mount them outside of the cage].
7) Avoid any fabrics unless in something you know the gerbils will not chew on. I used to have a gerbil swing, its only use in the gerbil world was another species of chew toy!
8) Wooden houses make great dens, with zillions of uses, for sandbath balances, etc. But not every gerbil likes them. My girls never use them. On the other hand, my boys loved the houses. I guess it depends on the gerbil.
9) Sand baths...it is a difficult subject. It can be a great accessory, but also can be victim to suffocation under bedding. Some gerbils every nest in them. If you are thinking of putting one in their cage setup, you should always have it elevated. Everyone's guilty of not doing this once in a while . * [edit by Markpd, sandbaths are just fine if they are elevated on a platform or shelf, then they can't easily be buried and won't fall down].
Here is a sand tip my friend gave me that really works:
If your gerbils kick the sand out, or the bedding in, pour only a little bit of sand in for the first few minutes. Most gerbils will tire of kicking the sand out for that day, so you can add more.
My tips:
Buy a clay rabbit food bowl with edges rounded on the inside. This makes it harder to kick the sand out.
If you have a leaky water bottle, put it over the sand bath, sand is waterproof and quickly dries!
10) Most gerbils will bury their food, if this annoys you because you worry about not finding it, elevate it with the sand bowl. If you don't want to go to the trouble of buying something to put it on, you can just scatter the food around the cage, but this makes it messier.
11) Shanawaz:
You can use used glass jars as sleeping or napping areas for the gerbils ... My gerbils love to jump , scratch , dig and sleep in it ... A small glass jar can also be used for sand baths ...
12) AndreaS15:
Mine love jars also. Just make sure to remove it if there is any sign of stress or cracking on it. If the glass is chipped it can hurt the little guy pretty bad, so remove it and replace it with a new one
Personally, I do not put Sand/Dust baths in my tank, I find it overly messy. I keep a "Bath" tank filled with Bath sand, plus extra dishes in their play pens. This way it your tanks don't get covered in it, the Bath lasts much longer (this stuff's not cheap), and the sand can be sifted of any "leavings" and reused again
13) RW:
If you run short of TP and paper towel tubes, manila file folders cut into strips and rolled, and plain white non-plastic-coated paper plates (the really cheap ones that get soggy, collapse, and dump food all over your clothes) make great chewies. And those thick cardboard tubes at the pet store last a good while. To make them go further, you can cut them into three or four rings. Even with heavy chewers, the rings will usually last a few days.
14)gerbilroo:
1 - Gerbils love tunnels
2 - cheap stores can be a great source for gerbil toys..
3 - Kiddy toys.... [edit by Markpd, but not plastic ones!]
15) RitzieAnn
In the dollar section of our CostCutter grocery store, (or the pet section of it) They sell plastic balls on a elastic string with a bell between each ball (it's a cat toy) It cost me $1, and I just tied the string up so there wasn't space for the gerbils to chew on it, and I gave it to my girls... Little B jumps on it every day and bangs it all over her top balcony and their suspended food dish...
* WARNING- Don't use an upturned bowl for this unless it is firmly on the tank bottom, they will tunnel their way under it, and often it will fall and leave them trapped.
Hope this helps, and feel free to add!
HAYLEY
[Edited for excessive use of capital letters in the topic title ;D-mice] Edit: Added!
1) Don't buy anything made out of soft (bendy) plastic. It will inevitably be swallowed or chewed on, and will last as long as a paper towel tube. No matter how cute it is, DON'T BUY IT!
2) For nesting material, do not use anything but straw, toilet paper, or hay. They can catch their legs in cotton and commercial bedding, or worse, swallow the long fibres.
3) Do not buy a metal wheel with less than a pencil's width of space between the frame and the wheel, the tails can get easily caught in them.
Do not buy fabric covered wheels unless the fabric is somehow chewproof. The gerbs will chew on the fabric and swallow the long fibres.
I suggest a hard plastic wheel, they are pretty much chewproof. Mine are from a company called "Fun and Fit" but you can also buy them from Rody and many other companies. Once again, I stress, DO NOT BUY SOFT PLASTIC !
4) Gerbils love dried corn, this is a good treat, and they will play with it until the whole thing is eaten. You can buy a whole corn rather than the kernels in a package.
5) Obviously, the toilet paper and towel rolls are wonderful toys, and you can experiment with them, leaving half the paper on the roll to make a nest...etc. I tend not to put in egg boxes and cereal boxes in the cages, only because I don't like how they look, but they do enjoy playing with them. As long as the cardboard is not waxy, try anything you want!
6) When purchasing water bottles, ask yourself, "Can they chew through this?" If the answer is yes, put it back on the shelf and continue the hunt! I use this question on every toy that is not wood. [edit by Markpd, plastic bottles are ok if you can mount them outside of the cage].
7) Avoid any fabrics unless in something you know the gerbils will not chew on. I used to have a gerbil swing, its only use in the gerbil world was another species of chew toy!
8) Wooden houses make great dens, with zillions of uses, for sandbath balances, etc. But not every gerbil likes them. My girls never use them. On the other hand, my boys loved the houses. I guess it depends on the gerbil.
9) Sand baths...it is a difficult subject. It can be a great accessory, but also can be victim to suffocation under bedding. Some gerbils every nest in them. If you are thinking of putting one in their cage setup, you should always have it elevated. Everyone's guilty of not doing this once in a while . * [edit by Markpd, sandbaths are just fine if they are elevated on a platform or shelf, then they can't easily be buried and won't fall down].
Here is a sand tip my friend gave me that really works:
If your gerbils kick the sand out, or the bedding in, pour only a little bit of sand in for the first few minutes. Most gerbils will tire of kicking the sand out for that day, so you can add more.
My tips:
Buy a clay rabbit food bowl with edges rounded on the inside. This makes it harder to kick the sand out.
If you have a leaky water bottle, put it over the sand bath, sand is waterproof and quickly dries!
10) Most gerbils will bury their food, if this annoys you because you worry about not finding it, elevate it with the sand bowl. If you don't want to go to the trouble of buying something to put it on, you can just scatter the food around the cage, but this makes it messier.
11) Shanawaz:
You can use used glass jars as sleeping or napping areas for the gerbils ... My gerbils love to jump , scratch , dig and sleep in it ... A small glass jar can also be used for sand baths ...
I too don't put sand in the tank ... I have an extension from the tank to the bath tank* ... So they can have a bath anytime they want ... I remove soiled sand every night and change the sand every week ... Sometimes the dad will sleep in the bath tank while the others sleep in the original tank ...
*[edit by Markpd. A separate section to the tank can be a declanning risk, so isn't advised on a permanent basis at least].
12) AndreaS15:
Mine love jars also. Just make sure to remove it if there is any sign of stress or cracking on it. If the glass is chipped it can hurt the little guy pretty bad, so remove it and replace it with a new one
Personally, I do not put Sand/Dust baths in my tank, I find it overly messy. I keep a "Bath" tank filled with Bath sand, plus extra dishes in their play pens. This way it your tanks don't get covered in it, the Bath lasts much longer (this stuff's not cheap), and the sand can be sifted of any "leavings" and reused again
13) RW:
If you run short of TP and paper towel tubes, manila file folders cut into strips and rolled, and plain white non-plastic-coated paper plates (the really cheap ones that get soggy, collapse, and dump food all over your clothes) make great chewies. And those thick cardboard tubes at the pet store last a good while. To make them go further, you can cut them into three or four rings. Even with heavy chewers, the rings will usually last a few days.
14)gerbilroo:
1 - Gerbils love tunnels
2 - cheap stores can be a great source for gerbil toys..
3 - Kiddy toys.... [edit by Markpd, but not plastic ones!]
15) RitzieAnn
In the dollar section of our CostCutter grocery store, (or the pet section of it) They sell plastic balls on a elastic string with a bell between each ball (it's a cat toy) It cost me $1, and I just tied the string up so there wasn't space for the gerbils to chew on it, and I gave it to my girls... Little B jumps on it every day and bangs it all over her top balcony and their suspended food dish...
* WARNING- Don't use an upturned bowl for this unless it is firmly on the tank bottom, they will tunnel their way under it, and often it will fall and leave them trapped.
Hope this helps, and feel free to add!
HAYLEY
[Edited for excessive use of capital letters in the topic title ;D-mice] Edit: Added!