Should I keep my gerbils in my bedroom?

[claudia]

I will be getting my first pair of gerbils early 2018 and I think it would be best I live with my parent, and my mom isn’t a big fan of people keeping pets in their bedrooms. She would like for me to keep them in the living room. Our house has a very open floor plan and if there is a party or a couple of guests it gets pretty loud and also the tv is very large and very loud.

I feel my gerbils might get stressed out with the TV and people coming over a lot. What is your opinion? What room do you keep your gerbils in? And also how could I convince my mom to pet me keep them in my room?

[rs]

I am delighted to know that you are even thinking about protecting your gerbils from noise! It shows that you're really thinking and really care.

We had ours in our living room, but we are pretty quiet. The only thing I can see as a problem in a bedroom is that, if they have a squeaky wheel, that might be annoying to you.

Some people are bothered by the noises of running, digging, and so on, but I actually found them entertaining and soothing.

If they do end up in the living room, you will want to be able to put some sort of sound baffles near their tank, without making them feel closed in. I don't know a lot about this, but maybe you could cover one side of the tank with a towel, so they can look out of the other side, and the top of the open side would let air in well, and then put styrofoam blocks on top of the blanketed side. That way, pieces of styrofoam that might break off couldn't fall into their tank.

That would be a great question to post, and other people could probably give you much better answers.

Good luck with your gerbilbuddies!