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Cage help
Aug 3, 2021 6:42:42 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 3, 2021 6:42:42 GMT -8
I may be adopting a pair of gerbils on Friday and I only need a cage. I have a zoozone 2 but it has grooves in the side so that is something they could get their teeth into. What are people thoughts on the pets at home gerbilarium? www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/gerbilariumWhat about glass vivariums? Any other suggestions? I can't fin Marrakesh or similar anywhere now.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 7:03:02 GMT -8
The smaller Pets at Home gerbilarium is much too small. The larger one is, in my opinion, not awful, but it's not very big for permanent housing. I think it can actually make a nice taming cage for young gerbils though, due to the big front door. So it could be an option for the first few weeks, but probably not long term. A glass viviarium can work, at least the 90cm ones. Usually the glass below the doors is only about 4-6 inches high, so you would either need to find a way to section off a deeper section of bedding towards the back, or have something in front of the doors so that you can have deeper bedding through the tank. Some people use the wooden Pawhut enclosures for gerbils, and they provide plenty of space and depth for bedding, but as with the Zoozone, you need to keep an eye out for chewing at the rim at the bottom, and at the shelf supports. The other option would be a large secondhand fish tank, or a custom made glass tank from somewhere like Junglepets.
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Cage help
Aug 3, 2021 7:21:11 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 3, 2021 7:21:11 GMT -8
The smaller Pets at Home gerbilarium is much too small. The larger one is, in my opinion, not awful, but it's not very big for permanent housing. I think it can actually make a nice taming cage for young gerbils though, due to the big front door. So it could be an option for the first few weeks, but probably not long term. A glass viviarium can work, at least the 90cm ones. Usually the glass below the doors is only about 4-6 inches high, so you would either need to find a way to section off a deeper section of bedding towards the back, or have something in front of the doors so that you can have deeper bedding through the tank. Some people use the wooden Pawhut enclosures for gerbils, and they provide plenty of space and depth for bedding, but as with the Zoozone, you need to keep an eye out for chewing at the rim at the bottom, and at the shelf supports. The other option would be a large secondhand fish tank, or a custom made glass tank from somewhere like Junglepets. What if (thinking out loud here) I was to block the rim and supports with mesh? So even if they did chew it they couldn't get out. (I have some 13mm glavanised mesh laying about. Lid is already meshed and I have a wooden chew with a washer that fits where the spout of the bottle would go). I could try and fill in the gaps and grooves with something too.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 7:26:37 GMT -8
Are we talking about the Pawhut or the Zoozone here?
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Cage help
Aug 3, 2021 7:34:32 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 3, 2021 7:34:32 GMT -8
Are we talking about the Pawhut or the Zoozone here? Oh sorry, zoozone 2.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 7:44:54 GMT -8
I'm not sure about covering the rim with mesh as I've never seen a Zoozone in the flesh. From photos it looks like it's reasonably smooth inside so it could work temporarily. You would need to fill the blue base to the top with bedding, and probably a bit beyond to get as close to 8 inches as you can. Many people do start with slightly shallower bedding with new gerbils because it can expedite the taming process, but in the long term they really need a minimum of 8 inches, if not 10 inches (plus space above that for toys, platforms, maybe a wheel and for them to stand up), and that's going to be tricky to provide in a Zoozone.
Gerbils can ignore obvious chewing points for months before finding them and chewing out in one night. So with these kinds of things, it's often completely fine, until it's not!
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Cage help
Aug 3, 2021 8:08:24 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 3, 2021 8:08:24 GMT -8
I'm not sure about covering the rim with mesh as I've never seen a Zoozone in the flesh. From photos it looks like it's reasonably smooth inside so it could work temporarily. You would need to fill the blue base to the top with bedding, and probably a bit beyond to get as close to 8 inches as you can. Many people do start with slightly shallower bedding with new gerbils because it can expedite the taming process, but in the long term they really need a minimum of 8 inches, if not 10 inches (plus space above that for toys, platforms, maybe a wheel and for them to stand up), and that's going to be tricky to provide in a Zoozone. Gerbils can ignore obvious chewing points for months before finding them and chewing out in one night. So with these kinds of things, it's often completely fine, until it's not! I also have this 110litre wham box which is an old bin cage. ibb.co/SXZpqg1ibb.co/d4DXdMrHere's the inside grooves of the zoozone. I can mesh over these though or fill them with something. ibb.co/ZHH1ff0(Slightly chewed by my Syrian) Would a barred cage work if I put something against the bars to allow for more bedding?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 8:18:06 GMT -8
You could use something like epoxy resin to fill those grooves so that they're flush with the rest of the base.
The wham box looks like a good size for a pair. As it's not smooth inside there is a risk of the gerbils chewing out, but that's not to say they definitely will. If the room the cage will be in is secure with no access by cats or dogs, it might be worth the risk. In terms of depth, it's more appropriate than the Zoozone.
I've just remembered that some people use Really Useful Boxes for gerbils because they're quite smooth inside. The biggest size, 145l, would be a good size.
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Cage help
Aug 3, 2021 8:52:44 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 3, 2021 8:52:44 GMT -8
You could use something like epoxy resin to fill those grooves so that they're flush with the rest of the base. The wham box looks like a good size for a pair. As it's not smooth inside there is a risk of the gerbils chewing out, but that's not to say they definitely will. If the room the cage will be in is secure with no access by cats or dogs, it might be worth the risk. In terms of depth, it's more appropriate than the Zoozone. I've just remembered that some people use Really Useful Boxes for gerbils because they're quite smooth inside. The biggest size, 145l, would be a good size. I've been told that 15-20 gallons is suitable for 2 gerbils. The pets at home small gerbilarium is 18 gallons. I've been told to stay within this limit because of declanning? The 145l box you've mentioned is ~30 gallons. As I'm used to keeping hamsters where there's no such thing as too much space, being told that too much space for gerbils can be bad is confusing. Can they be kept in barred cages?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 9:12:10 GMT -8
When people talk about gallons, they mean just the tank part. The tank part of the small gerbilarium is about 8 gallons, so very small.
Most people agree than you don't really need to be concerned about too much space for gerbils. Definitely not when we're talking about "normal" tank sizes of around 20-100 gallons. Like with most animal care issues, you'll see different opinions in various places, but this is what most people have found. Lots of people keep gerbils in 100cm or 120cm tanks, or even bigger, with no problems. I have one pair in a 100x55x55cm tank (around 80 gallons) with a large topper, and they're fine. My other pair live in a 120x45x40cm tank (around 60 gallons) and are also fine. My last pair lived happily together in a 33 gallon tank their whole lives. Declanning in a pair is quite uncommon really, regardless of the size of the tank. It's always a risk, but by far most pairs live happily together their whole lives.
If you can work out a way to get 8+ inches of bedding plus space above in a barred cage, then yes, they can live in one. People generally prefer tanks for convenience and visibility but ultimately anything secure that allows them to create burrows and has enough space for them to run around is suitable.
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Cage help
Aug 3, 2021 9:21:17 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 3, 2021 9:21:17 GMT -8
When people talk about gallons, they mean just the tank part. The tank part of the small gerbilarium is about 8 gallons, so very small. Most people agree than you don't really need to be concerned about too much space for gerbils. Definitely not when we're talking about "normal" tank sizes of around 20-80 gallons. Like with most animal care issues, you'll see different opinions in various places, but this is what most people have found. Lots of people keep gerbils in 100cm or 120cm tanks, or even bigger, with no problems. I have one pair in a 100x55x55cm tank (around 80 gallons) with a large topper, and they're fine. My other pair live in a 120x45x40cm tank (around 60 gallons) and are also fine. My last pair lived happily together in a 33 gallon tank their whole lives. Declanning in a pair is quite uncommon really, regardless of the size of the tank. It's always a risk, but by far most pairs live happily together their whole lives. If you can work out a way to get 8+ inches of bedding plus space above in a barred cage, then yes, they can live in one. People generally prefer tanks for convenience and visibility but ultimately anything secure that allows them to create burrows and has enough space for them to run around is suitable. Ah I understand now. Would something like this be suitable if I put something against the bars to allow for burrowing? www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/furet-plus-rat-cage?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&cm_mmc=Google-_-CPC-_-%20google_shopping-_-google_shopping&ita=1976&ito=google_shopping&istCompanyId=7255ccad-a1fc-4729-af31-478f79e5071c&istFeedId=385e6b9a-8b03-4076-a8bb-e4737df8549c&istItemId=itxmxxtqi&istBid=tzwt&gclid=CjwKCAjw0qOIBhBhEiwAyvVcf9BgR24ng9aCEiP8DW-13VZHqJ59mwtQfBEHzRt_qxIRVfYZnjAZJRoCMhMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 9:31:58 GMT -8
Yes, that would work, especially if you can also give them time in a playpen or free roaming in a safe room. You'd need to keep an eye on the plastic base of course.
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Cage help
Aug 4, 2021 2:26:35 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 4, 2021 2:26:35 GMT -8
Yes, that would work, especially if you can also give them time in a playpen or free roaming in a safe room. You'd need to keep an eye on the plastic base of course. Spoken to a rescue and they've mentioned that they've kept gerbils in the zoozone 2. They put washers and bolts in the grooves so there wasn't anywhere to get their teeth into. Would you think that'd be ok? I have gotten 10" of bedding in there in the past. Plus it's 30 gallons so for a pair it's a decent size? Any issues you could see arising from that?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 4, 2021 5:18:06 GMT -8
I certainly think it's worth a try. The floor space is something like 100x50cm which is really good, so you could probably slope the bedding down in about one third of the cage to have perhaps a wheel (gerbils need an 11 inch wheel) and some toys at one end.
Once you get to know the gerbils you can see whether it's working or not. I know some of my gerbils have needed more height for enrichment whereas others would probably have been happy in a Zoozone with 8-10 inches of bedding.
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Cage help
Aug 5, 2021 10:34:54 GMT -8
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Post by engel on Aug 5, 2021 10:34:54 GMT -8
Ok thank you 😊
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