Constructive Cage Criticism

[musical912]

I set up my new 40 gallon aquarium for a pair of gerbils I’ll be getting soon! I’m new at owning gerbils so if you guys can please look at my cage and let me know if there’s anything I should add. 

Info about the cage: 
Sand will be added into the tray, I just haven’t got it yet 
The wheel will be zip-tied to the lid (the lid was ordered but hasn’t come yet) to prevent bedding from getting in the way 
Oat sprays will be added later 
I will be scatter feeding them
There are 14 inches of paper bedding + Orchard grass hay
The wheel is 8 inches but it is only temporary until I can find a 10-12 inch wheel 
ibb.co/Rhj2b4D
ibb.co/VMDB6GF
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ibb.co/92dPv3J
Thanks! 

[yeti218]

I think it looks really nice. I like what you've done with the paper on the back. Is that wrapping paper? How did you stick it on?

I'd say the sandbath possibly doesnt have high enough sides to stop the gerbils from kicking sand out. This isnt a problem for them, but it may bother you.


Also, they are likely going to kick all the deep bedding over to the shallow side and it will get all in the sandbath. Again, I dont think they'll mind.

Overall I think it looks good and theyll have fun redecorating, and you may look into a platform for the bath or something once you see how they settle in.

[musical912]

Thank you! It’s wrapping paper and the four corners are just secured with a small piece of tape. I’ll see if I can get a deeper sand container.

[yeti218]

It might not be too bad, you could always wait and see how it goes before getting something different. I found after putting my gerbils in their tank it wasn’t long until I wanted to make changes based on their behaviour, so I wouldn’t be too worried about getting any more stuff right now because the gerbils will probably have their own ideas anyway.

it does look good. 

[Thea]

It looks amazing! I would say that not only will the gerbils kick out the sand in the sand bath, they will also kick bedding into it for sure. Not sure if this is something you would want to do, but you could use a divider from the deep bedding to the wheel/sand etc.? I do this in my detolf and it works really nicely.

Anyway, they'll love it

[yeti218]

I tried a divider for my tank and one of my gerbils really didn't like going into the shallow area after that.

I'm not sure why, I think the bedding area was "safe", and then since going into the shallower area felt like going into another room, it felt less safe. So I ended up going with a platform and hes happy to roam everywhere now.

I do see a lot of people using dividers like that though so obviously it's a popular solution and likely works well for most gerbils.

[musical912]

Thank you everyone! I’ll wait until I get the gerbils and I’ll see if anything should be changed. It’s quite similar to how I would set up my past hamsters’ cages so I’m glad it looks ok!

[Thea]

Feb 23, 2021 5:17:22 GMT -8 yeti218 said:

I tried a divider for my tank and one of my gerbils really didn't like going into the shallow area after that.

I'm not sure why, I think the bedding area was "safe", and then since going into the shallower area felt like going into another room, it felt less safe. So I ended up going with a platform and hes happy to roam everywhere now.

I do see a lot of people using dividers like that though so obviously it's a popular solution and likely works well for most gerbils.

Yes, it is different for all gerbils. My gerbils love to use both.

[Markpd]

What Thea and Yeti218 said , can't think of anything much else to add.
I look forwards to seeing how your future gerbils redecorate!

Oh btw, I switched from a barrier to a platform (more bedding went in later), the shallow part wasn't a problem for my boys though (when they eventually worked out what the ramps were for! ), I only did that so they had the full digging depth right across the cage.