|
|
Post by Sklengal33 on Oct 21, 2020 16:50:31 GMT -8
I have a pair of gerbils that I just upgraded into a tank. One side is filled with very deep bedding yo dig and the other side has their food,water and toys. My girls love to kick when they dig. All of the deep bedding gets kicked over into the play side of the tank. What are some ways to keep the bedding on the side it needs to stay on? I realize I can't control it all but it is literally 1/2 the bedding and their water gets covered.
|
|
|
|
Post by betty on Oct 21, 2020 17:48:14 GMT -8
Hello and welcome to the forum.
You ask a question that pains so many a gerbil owner!!! The easy answer is to move the water (nothing will ever stop gerbils kicking substrate about the place...). Many gerbil bury their food anyway - even if it is right up on a ledge so I wouldn't worry about that getting buried - they know where it is (just don't over feed them because you can't see it yourself).
Options for resolving this water issue include but aren't exclusive to:
Hanging the water in a bottle flat on the top with a ledge leading up to the spout. Some people strap it sidways on on to the roof or similar - others make a hole in the mesh at the top and dangle just the spout through.
Adding a topper to your enclosure so that the water bowl is on the highest ledge possible away from the substrate and your food and toys can be up high too. This also allow you to add a suspended wheel and to create a space outside of their tunnels to interact with them more easily.
Gerbils are making their own fun with the substrate - so if you really want them to play with your toys for the reason you bought them to be played with - use these toys only in an external run so that they can have more digging space full time in the enclosure - and still have unburied toys at play time - even if that is only once a week.
I'm not sure how possible it is with your enclosure - but you might be able to create like an overhang on the side of the substrate to stop it going over the divide - like a bus shelter? So this ledge lays flat across the top edge of the divide and covers a good 10 centimetres or so over the 'digging side'. It will also act as a platform for them to walk on to get from one side to the other as long as the level of substrate always allows them to jump up on to it?
Any help?
|
|
|
|
Post by Markpd on Oct 22, 2020 12:08:00 GMT -8
So do you have a barrier in there now? Like this? (5th photo, that's how my tank was), if not you've got no chance!  My gerbils didn't kick too much bedding over that, but I wanted to give them more digging space so I later ditched the barrier, and added a platform in the tank instead, like this (2nd photo, how my tank is now) (is yours big enough for a platform in there?, you didn't say how big it is).
Oh, also I found having the bottle horizontal didn't work, it didn't allow enough vacuum to build up and it would leak.
|
|
|
|
Post by betty on Oct 23, 2020 5:40:43 GMT -8
Ah, I didn't have that issue with my water bottle - perhaps my cage was crooked? Well perhaps sloping it enough to cover the spout will still do?
I see them used all the time in 'racks' and they are not fully upright? Perhaps there is a specific type of bottle that does better on the huh?
|
|
|
|
Post by Markpd on Oct 23, 2020 10:19:18 GMT -8
Yea the latter point I think, I've noticed my Living world bottle is slower to stop dripping (even when upright), whereas my ancient Happy Pet water bottle stops dripping nearly instantly, quite possibly that one would be ok on its side.
|
|
My gerbils didn't kick too much bedding over that, but I wanted to give them more digging space so I later ditched the barrier, and added a platform in the tank instead, like 
), late 70s