Is giving gerbils a hot water bottle safe?

[gerbilowner7]

Hi, I found a picture on the internet of a gerbil sleeping on top of a small hot water bottle (not sure if I can post it since I lost the source) and I'm wondering if this is a good idea for warming gerbils and if anyone here has tried this. Since winter is coming I'd like to try keeping them warm by using one too but I'm a bit nervous about them chewing on the rubber and I'd like to hear what you all think.

[barryozzy]

I have never used a hot water bottle. It doesn't usually get very cold where I live. Though I think if the gerbil was not sick or anything I might try putting it under or next to the cage instead. I did once do that with an ice pack in the summer

[Markpd]

Yea putting it in the tank would be a bad idea, like you said, it could get chewed.
And as barryozzy said, the thing to do is put it under or next to the cage.

[tanzanyte]

I have put a standard sized hot water bottle outside the cage near where the girls bed used to be. I did this when they weren't very well towards the end of their life. I don't know how effective it was though in terms of giving off heat for them. I've also used hand warmers wrapped in a sock when they were really poorly, although Vanilla did nibble it on the way to the vets with her poorly sister so I took it out. I usually only do this when they are so poorly that chewing is not forefront of their mind!

[yeti218]

You could also try a heat lamp like the kind people use for reptiles. Just be sure that it only covers part of the cage so the gerbils can cool off if they dont like the heat.

If I noticed the gerbils never liked spending time in the heated area, I would just remove it altogether.

[Thelodar]

I've put hot water in a glass jar with a secure lid and placed that in the tank to help comfort dying gerbils. But it cools down very quickly. I recently purchased an "under tank heater" type heating pad without adhesive (so removable) to tape to the outside of the tank next time I have a sickly gerbil. It might need a thermostat though, not sure how hot it will make the glass

[betty]

Late to the thread I know but I am just about to look at heating for my furry family.

When needed, I use a (reptile) heat pad/mat under their (glass) enclosures for extra warmth. Heat rises, so these warm through the substrate quite nicely. You need to buy the shorter or square mats (around 12in/30cm are good) that are not hot to touch for this - they just give off various levels of ambient heat. Always use a thermometer/thermostat (in the right place) if you are using a direct heat source that you don't know the parameters of yet. The temperature of even just a normal room can vary up to 5 degrees from floor to ceiling - and by even more between the window, a door or in a fully shaded corner.

I set the heat mats up underneath the enclosure either along from front to back or across a section of the back depending on where there nest is (ideally avoid their existing nest first time and put in or set up a new nest for the heat so they don't have to move out of their comfy place if they don't want to) - but make sure that the tank itself is not sitting on the connection nubbin or squishing the power cable. If they are plastic-bottomed enclosures I would be more careful and put something thin (like cardboard) between the heat and the plastic and I probably wouldn't leave them on unattended as I haven't had enough experience with the contact parameters for those materials.

Then as said above - watch them using the enclosure and see what and where they prefer. I have used heating like this in a cold house all winter without any issues so I am confident in their safety and effectiveness when used correctly.

I wouldn't personally use anything inside the tank itself that they could physically touch (as heat to touch is different to heat you stay in contact with). Hot water bottles don't always feel very hot in of themselves when you hold them briefly but if left on your body you will get those horrid red splodges on your skin. Luckily for us - we are bigger than a hot water bottle so it isn't so bad.

[stellamaris]

I have a syrian hamster and a mongolian gerbil. In December, I plan to go south for a couple of months. It's a 3-day drive. It'll be the first trip for both critters.

The first day is about 9 hours, starting with a ferry trip. It's cold in the ferry so I thought I'd get the chemical hand warmers and put them next to & under a corner of each cage. I thought I might move each of the boys into their respective warm space, so they know it's there. Then they can choose where they want to be. Before the trip, I'll I'll try putting a hand warmer under a substrate-covered plastic bin to see, 1. how warm it gets, and 2. if it melts the plastic!
Whatever I figure out for the trip should also (I hope) work in case the power goes out.

[yeti218]

I just got a couple of these uniheat pads. They are like those hand warmers but designed for shipping of reptiles. They come in different sizes and last different lengths of time.

I got them as a emergency winter plan I can use for my hamsters & gerbils if I lose power.

[gerbilowner7]

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't been checking this forum often. Thanks for the the advice, everyone. I have no heating in my house so I've been worried about how to keep my gerbils warm during winter. I'll try placing a reptile heat mat under their tank and see how they like it. Also I found out the hot water bottle in the photo I found wasn't actually a hot water bottle but a special heater for rodents.

Seems like it's made out of metal and has some covering so the animals don't get burned. I'm planning on buying this too and giving it to them occasionally to see if they like it.

[Markpd]

Isn't that a plastic cover on it? The pink part, and also the cable sheath seems to be plastic covered too, so you don't want to put that in the cage. But maybe you didn't mean that anyway? In which case they won't get burnt from it.

Out of interest, you mentioned you have no heating, I take it your winters aren't that cold then? What sort of temperatures do you get in the winter?

[gerbilowner7]

It does seem to be plastic. I was planning on giving it to them so they could be warm on top of their wooden platforms and I would watch them while they use it so they don't chew on it and take it away once they're off of the platforms but I think I'll just buy the reptile heating mat. Also tempatures in my area usually reach -6°c in the winter which is why I'm worried about them getting too cold.

[Markpd]

Yikes, that's pretty chilly! I don't envy your heating situation, nightmare!

Heating mat sounds like a good idea

[LilyandDaisy]

Electrical products are one thing you should be really careful with. I only buy them from known brands and I wouldn't trust that heating pad personally. I'd get a reptile heating mat with a thermostat from a real brand like Komodo or Pro-rep or Zoomed or Exo Terra etc.