questions about using a bin cage for gerbils

[becki]

Hi,

I have questions about using bin cages for gerbils.  Basically, how safe would a large bin cage be housing gerbils considering their love of chewing?


Thank you in advance for your kind consideration of my question.

[gerbilord]

As long as the inside of the bin is completely smooth, there shouldn't be too much of an issue with chewing because they couldn't get their teeth on anything.

[betty]

Yep - totally agree.

They can be as large as you want - as long as there are no groves or ridges WHATSOEVER on the inside. And curves the same width as a gerbil mouth could also be an issue if they were REALLY determined.

RUBs (Really useful boxes) are a great option as they are totally smooth - come in a range of huge sizes both wide and deep - and are really thick plastic but light enough to move easily too.

[becki]

Thank you so very much!!!! If I understand correctly: bin cages can safely house gerbils, but be diligent watching out for bite marks. The bin I am looking at does have ridges at the top where the top latches to the bottom --- I might reinforce that area with hardware cloth.

Although I am not new to gerbil keeping, I had not previously kept them in bin cages. I have kept fancy mice and hamsters in bin cages without any issues and I have found that bin cages are so easy to maintain and I am now sold on them as a great small animal housing. And, yes, using large bins makes adding a lot of "enrichment" items easier only adds to their appeal. But the two life passions of a gerbil is to dig and to chew.

Admittedly, I have been hoarding various items (toilet paper and paper towel tubes, various wooden houses, wheels, water bottle, and bedding) for several months while searching/waiting for gerbils. All my previous gerbils came from the Humane Society.

Hey, funny story about my first gerbils...

I found a listing at Humane Society for 2 male gerbils at $5 each. Went to see them. The young lady staffer told me that the white one (albino) is tamer than the tan one. To which I replied "maybe because the tan one is blind?" -- he had NO EYES at all -- completely furred over!!!! and the white one only had one eye, and possibly he might also have been blind in the remaining eye. The vet tech, who signed the health certificate, told me she did not know that they were blind. The manager finally came over and said that the gerbils had been at shelter for 3 months and asked if I still wanted them ("yes"), and gave them to me for $5 for both (I did also make a contribution).

How can someone look that them and not know that they were blind? They only had one eye between them! Gerbils have huge eyes, they really are hard to miss.

Honestly, they were the perfect "first gerbils". Being blind, they were a little slower and more cautious than a sighted gerbils would have been. At that time, they lived in a 30wx12dx34h (4 level) wire rat cage with only 2 inches of substrate (I know better now) -- unless you knew they were blind, you would not have been able to tell by their activity and their sped running around their housing. They lived with me for almost 4 years. Only after getting a second group (a sighted trio this time and kept with 6-8" of substrate), did I realize just how bold and fast a gerbil can be.

Again, thank you so much for your input.

[betty]

Hoarding toilet roll tubes - you are certainly ready for gerbils then!!

I think you need to get that vet reported! Jeez - if they haven't even SEEN (the irony) the gerbil - they shouldn't be signing it off - and if they HAVE seen the gerbil - they shouldn't be a vet?

And no - my blind gerbil was no different at all from my others - apart from her attitude!

[Markpd]

Her attitude? lol, sounds like an interesting story there betty?

becki
Maybe the vet tech was blind too!??

[betty]

Yes, Markpd - I have mentioned her before - I believe she was blind due to neurological problems in utero (at least two other siblings died within the first week (as I only saw these 2, I can't be sure if it was a bigger littler initially)) - and she never quite acted like a normal gerbil. So don't think it was linked to the loss of sight - rather her brain wiring.

She seemed to have no idea anyone else needed any consideration on anything at all.

She would block doorways, sit on other gerbils, barge them out the way, move something they had just put in a place, and basically just ignore them if she fancied it - no obvious courtesy at all. No interaction or grooming behaviours that I ever saw from her - although she would sometimes allow it to be done to her (if she didn't just walk off).

She always slept with the other gerbil, but they had to fit around her - like a giant dog in a human bed!

Although I was super worried about re splitting her to another gerbil because of this after her mum passed very young - she was split very quickly to an older gerbil, and when that gerbil passed, she split to another gerbil immediately too. So not sure how it worked - but super glad it did!

[Markpd]

Lol, yea I see what you mean by an attitude! (btw, rubbish memory here, I don't recall you mentioning those details before ).

I bet she got some interesting reactions when she sat on other Gerbils!