Buried water bottle

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I adopted two gerbils last week off of someone and they came in what I thought was a 20 long aquarium but have since learned is a 15 gallon! I already got them a used 75 gallon tank that I just need to clean thoroughly before I relocate them. I am hoping to have that done in the next few days.

The issue is the gerbils are constantly burying their water bottle with bedding. Will this impact their ability to drink? Will they know how to still access the spout? Do I need to dig it out every day? Or, reduce their bedding until I get them into the bigger tank? (The bedding is only a few inches but you know how gerbils are.)

Thanks.

[Markpd]

Yea you can't leave the spout buried, the bedding will draw out the water, emptying the bottle (sooner or later) and soaking the bedding.
Can you section off the area around the water bottle? Or alternately, if you have any platforms for food or sandbaths etc, you could place a platform under the water bottle.

[teambenji543]

This is EXACTLY what drove me crazy a few months ago! My gerbils would bury their water bottles making all of their bedding wet. So I would have to change out the wet bedding and dig up the water bottle every morning. My solution: a tank topper. This has been a lifesaver I no longer have to worry about my gerbils not accessing their wheel or water bottles.

I agree with Markpd, If you change to a 75 gallon, then you could get away with adding platforms within the cage to prevent bedding from piling up around the water bottles. I know that pipsqueak just added little wooden platforms to her cage.

Here’s the link to that chat: gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/35295/building-platforms

I also know that some people add barriers to their tanks to add an area for less bedding to put the wheels and water bottles. I’ve tried this before, but I found that my gerbils managed to kick bedding over the wall therefore making it useless, but you could always try! Maybe your gerbils are cleaner then mine! Many people use the bendy wooden bridges intended for guinea pigs and rabbits. Just make sure to stuff the gaps in the bridge with something, as gerbil tails can get stuck in the holes.

[PipSqueak]

I agree, a tank topper would be great. You wouldn’t be able to put platforms in a 15 gallon tank but if you do upgrade to a 75 gallon tank that would be great because you can make platforms.

I used the wrong wood when making my platforms so I had to take them out and I just got a new wood today. Just a tip if you do choose to make platforms, don’t use any woods with layers such as plywood, it needs to be solid wood. I ended up get a solid piece of poplar wood at Home Depot and that was only $12 for a 12” x 24” piece. I haven’t had the platforms for around a week and their water bottle has been leaking a lot. Today I had to remove a few large handfuls of bedding since it was all soaked.

[g]

Thank you everyone!