Enrichment for gerbils

[tanzanyte]

Has anyone tried putting living grass/herbs in their cage? Maybe this is something you could do rather than putting the gerbils outside, at least they will feel safe that way.
We're going to be getting some new plants for our window cill as they sometimes climb up there and nibble on the orchids, which from what I've found are safe, however I'd rather they nibbled on something else.

[LilyandDaisy]

I've grown wheat and barley grass in coco coir before for the gerbils. I grow it in little pots and when it's a few centimetres high, put them in the tank. I'm currently experimenting with growing them on damp kitchen roll as well (in a dark cupboard for germination). You can also buy "nibble grass" from Zooplus which is a mix of wheat, barley and oat seeds that you grow in a tray. I wouldn't leave any plants in the tank permanently primarily because they would be destroyed in minutes but also because damp soil or other substrate isn't very healthy for gerbils to live with.

In terms of window sill plants, I know marigold flowers are safe but I'm not sure about the rest of the plant.

[betty]

Someone on another discussion says that spider plants are safe for hamsters so she has given them to her gerbils (so far no instant negative reaction?)

I also grow grasses - but I mainly just use bird seed for it that I have for my harvest mice (finch and canary are more fun and much cheaper than the packs of grow grass) and I seed a few pots at a time all year round. Whenever I want one I either just put the whole thing in (for a short time one and in a soup bowl to contain the mess) or I trim the grasses with scissors like I would with salad cress!

Although, also leave some to grow for AGES if you can as then they seed and the gerbs can have more fun pulling out the seeds too.

Gerbils won't usually pick and choose select pieces of plants to eat if left unattended - they will just destroy anything left in their tank or unsupervised in their run if left in there too long. And they never just chew the leaves and petals - they just go straight for the stem and kill it. So although growing grass is great fun for them (on their terms) I wouldn't assume that an edible plants (grasses, plantain, dandelion, (yes, I grow my own potted weeds), pot marigold, sunflower, nasturtium, parsley, camomile, sage and mints are all fine stems and all) would stop them chewing your orchids if they can get to them still.

[LilyandDaisy]

Spider plants themselves are safe, but the seeds and flowers are poisonous.

[betty]

There is always a catch with any plant.

There are just so many parts, I wonder how we ever remember what is what!

What source was that fact from just out of interest - remember we said we would start chasing down actual facts from now on to weed out the myths from the actual facts. And has anyone ever used spider plants and left the flowers in?

[LilyandDaisy]

Spider plants are often talked about as additions to hamster cages, always with the caveat of the flowers and seeds being poisonous, but to be honest I've always taken that at face value rather than looking into it. Now that I have looked into it, I can't find any sources outside of hamster-related pages saying anything about spider plant toxicity, they're even recommended as non-toxic plants to have around cats and dogs. The only things I can find is that they contain compounds related to opium and are mildly hallucinogenic to cats. So it might one of those myths that gets spread so much that nobody questions it, but the hallucinogenic effect would be enough to put me off putting one any near a gerbil anyway.

[Markpd]

Yes I've read that Spider plants can be toxic to Cats, and as you say have Opium related compounds (although they're apparently unlikely to eat it).
My main Spider plant produces so many runners I plant the offshoots in the garden, one I've kept alive for about 3yrs now, although slugs and snails get it in early spring I've never seen a cat eat any yet, or signs of one eating it.

But yea, I'd be concerned about feeding even Spider plant leaves to my Gerbils, think I'll pass for now unless we find some solid info. I wonder where their native environment is?....... Central and Southern Africa apparently, so not our Gerbils native area.

[edit] Well this is weird, the ASPCA say it's non toxic to cats (and dogs).....

I found this summary of an article about Spider plants and rats, but I can't see a link to the full article.

[betty]

Hmm - seems like we need our own lab and set of scientists just for our gerbil work!

I wish...

[Markpd]

Lol, true!