Getting 2 male gerbils

[Chicken]

Hello. I will likely be adopting 2 male gerbils in a week or two. They’ll be my first. For their background, all I know is that they were handled often as babies about a year ago and did well with people, but haven’t been handled in about a year so introductions will be slow.

For reference, I have a 75 gallon tank which is about 24 inches tall. What’s some ideas/tutorials/rules for setups? I’ve only ever had hamsters so gerbil cages are new for me. I’d like to make it natural with wood if possible.

How can I start taming them? What are some good gerbil treats? Any ideas for good names for a pair (I’m unsure on the coloring as of now)? 

I’ve never had multiple animals in the same cage. Is there anything to look out for like tussles as they’ll be moving cages, or just making sure they’re getting along?

Would a 11 inch plastic wheel be good on a platform? 

Can they use climbing toys?

Thank you in advance. 

[Mygerbiliscute]

Well, I've only had gerbils for about three months, but here are my ideas, for what they're worth:
1-Some would say a 75-gallon tank is fine; some would say it's too big. It depends on who you ask. Wood is always fun for gerbils, just keep in mind that it will be chewed. (but that's part of the fun.) As far as setup: A water bottle, running wheel, cardboard, and a place for them to hide in are needed. A food dish and toys are nice, but not strictly necessary. In any case, don't stress out about setup. In no time at all, the tank will be set up to the gerbils' satisfaction- not yours.
2-Treats for gerbils! Mine love sunflower seeds, nuts, Cheerios, raw pasta and peanut butter. When I feed them peanut butter, I dab a bit on my fingers and let them lick it off. They love this, and so do I!
3-Names. That's your choice. I named my gerbils SnowFlake and RainDrop; I like these names. I suggest waiting a few days until you've had a chance to get to know your gerbils before deciding on a name. In any case, don't expect your gerbils to actually learn their names. Mine never did.
4-As far as getting along is concerned, I'm as clueless as you are. As long as there's no blood, it's all good.
5-An 11 inch wheel should be fine. Climbing toys should be fine, too, as long as they're not made of plastic- that can be dangerous.
I hope you enjoy your gerbils as much as I enjoy mine; they're great pets! Good luck!

[LilyandDaisy]

If they haven't been handled in a year I would expect them to be quite wild but hopefully nothing time and treats can't fix.

The only real "rules" for gerbil setups are:
- deep bedding
- lots of things to chew
- no bottlenecks - points where one gerbil can easily block another and prevent their passage. An example would be if your tank was divided by a full height piece of wood with just a small hole in it for access to the other side. Ideally all houses and hides would have multiple entrances but you can be a little more flexible on this, in my opinion, depending on the individual gerbils involved. I have one pair (Lily and Daisy) who are very gentle with each other and have always been fine with single entrance hides, and I had another pair (Rocket and Storm) where I had to be more careful because Rocket sometimes used to trap Storm and harass him. Though they calmed down as they got older.
- no connected tanks or enclosures with different compartments. Some people do do this and sometimes it works out ok but it is an additional risk factor for a declan so it's not recommended.

Some tussles and squabbles are normal. This will probably look like wrestling or like they're pushing each other around. Make sure they're both exploring the whole tank and one isn't being excluded from certain areas or intimidated. They should also have a communal nest but they might nap separately. If you can, get a couple of bags of their used bedding from their previous home and mix it in with the new. While it's tempting to make an amazing and busy tank setup for them to move straight into, it can be safer to have a simpler setup to begin with (particularly if the 75 gallon tank is much bigger than what they are used to.), if possible using stuff from their old tank that already has their smell, and add new things gradually.

Good treats for taming include sunflower seeds, flax seeds, cereals such as oats or cheerios, raisins torn into small pieces, small pieces of nuts.

They can use some climbing toys. They vary on how much they enjoy climbing. They aren't exactly adapted to climbing in the way mice or rats are so they probably won't want to use narrow ropes or anything like that but they often enjoy some height.

[Chicken]

Thank you for the help. I brought them home today. I have a few quaestions as I’ve never kept multiple animals together before-is it okay for them to sleep separately? One of them (the more energetic, friendlier one) is sleeping in a burrow against the glass, and the other (the shyer one) holed up the multiple entrances to the main hide and, from what I can tell, is asleep there-I haven’t seen him since I put them in the cage. Is this a potential problem? Can I take one gerbil out and leave the other for a bit? How can I get them both out (my setup is temporary and I will add more soon in one go) when one isn’t a fan of leaving the cage?

[barryozzy]

Probably just let them settle in for a day or two. Try not to move them too much and don't take them out. Gerbils will usually sleep together, but as long as they're sleeping together most times and not fighting or anything, that's probably fine. I wouldn't recommend taking one out for a long period of time (hours) unless they're incessantly chasing or fighting.
You can try to get them to come into a bowl or jar and carry them over in that. Keep in mind that when you move them to the permanent setup they will probably be nervous and need to settle in again to those new surroundings.

[barryozzy]

Here is a timeline I made a while ago for taming (thank you to Markpd for the replacement of Days with Steps!)

• Step One Give them space. Don’t disturb them much, and watch them from a distance.
• Step Two Stand next to the cage and look at them. Talk to them so they get used to your voice.
• Step Three Feed them sunflower seeds and other treats by hand. Make a fist and put it into the cage so your gerbils can smell you, without being able to bite you.
• Step Four Put your hand flat onto the floor of the cage. Put some sunflower seeds on your hand and see if your gerbil will walk and sit on your hand.
• Step Five If your gerbils are comfortable walking and sitting on your hand, try lifting your hand up slowly.
• Step Six If you were successful, you are now great friends with your gerbils! If your gerbils are still not friendly, repeat some steps, go slowly, stay calm, and be patient. All gerbils can be tamed in time.

[LilyandDaisy]

Since they are new they're probably just not fully settled in yet. They might be tired from the journey and just wanted to sleep wherever rather than making a proper nest.

In general, you can take one gerbil out of the tank for handling, playtime etc and leave the other behind, but while they are in a brand new enclosure I would avoid it.

[PipSqueak]

I have had my 2 male gerbils Pip and Squeak for over a year now so here is what I have learned.

Yes, some people would say 75 gallons is too large and can lead to a declan but I say it’s a great size for gerbils. I have a 55 (US) gallon tank and I would get an even bigger one if I could. I actually just got it a few months ago and before they were living in a 29 gallon tank with topper.

Gerbils LOVE cardboard, it’s their favorite. So even before getting them save up your toilet and paper towel rolls, you can never have too many. I keep mine in a small and clean garbage can.
An 11 inch wheel is a great size, my gerbils are on the smaller side weighing 60 and 70 grams and I have an 8 inch Niteangel wheel. Platforms are great. I recently made two, one for their sand bath and one for their wheel.

I recommend providing a sand bath all the time but some people give it to their gerbils every few days or once a week. I use a shallow 8 inch glass pie dish. I fill it with childrens play sand that I sifted and baked at 350F for 30 or so minutes (depending on how much I am baking, I store mine in a few plastic containers so I don’t have to do this very often.) I like doing this because my gerbils like to go to the bathroom in this and so it reduces how dirty the bedding gets reducing the changes.



Wood is also a great chew, I keep wood slices in their cage made from birch wood and they are untreated. They are a very reasonable price and if you live in the US they have free shipping. The shop name is BulkWoodSlices on Etsy.

Gerbils are not as big of climbers as other small pets such as mice but I suppose you could give it a try. I like hanging hides up on their lid. Be careful because if they really want to them they could start chewing on the plastic rim on the tank and it’s not a very nice sound.

BarryOzzy is 100% right about the taming. Let them settle in for a few days and you can just watch them, then let them get used to you talking and your scent. Then what I like to do is start ruffling the bedding so your smell gets on it or take some toilet paper or tissue paper and rub it on your hand or arm so your smell gets on it. Then start putting your hand in there and letting them take treats from it, then they will start sitting on your hand or climbing on your hand for a treat.