A few DIY enclosure inquiries!

[Mochi]

Hello everyone!!! I haven't been on here for a little while. Anyway, after long and careful consideration I have decided NOT to build a topper… I definitely do not have those kind of DIY skills . I've decided to DIY just a bigger enclosure instead, something similar to a tank with their old tank inside… The dimensions will be three ft (l.) and two ft. (w.) Soooo these are my questions!!!

1. Is plexiglass ok? It's SO much easier to work with and its much lighter than glass AND I might be able to get some for free from my dads work! But, it is plastic so chewing could be an issue….

2. Declan issue? My plan would be to have their 20 gal. (long) inside their new tank for burrowing with a platform or bendy bride leading in and out. Will this cause a Declan? They are bonded quite well I think. Whenever Doodle in foraging or working on their burrow, S'more is always close behind. ( She never helps though, I guess she just can't stand to be away from her best friend! )

3. Will a lid be needed? ok, maybe this is a stupid question… I was just thinking that if I built the new enclosure tall enough (I was thinking 2 ft.) then I might not need to build a top.. But I could DEFINITELY be wrong..

4. Does this tank idea even sound logical?   I kinda just thought it up one evening so it might not be one of my best ideas...

THANK YOU FOR READING

[gerbilpower]

Hi, I'm pretty sure I heard (but not sure) that plexiglass was toxic to hamsters but I dont know if that is correct or if that would be the same for gerbils. For my gerbil cage (Ikea Detolf) I have a separator made out of lexan (similar to plexiglass) to separate their burrowing area to their main area attached with zip ties on to their cage. It works great! And I cut a hole so they could get through. For your next question i think you would deffinitely need a lid just so they dont climb out or escape. They have no problem jumping to the top of my cage! I have also heard that tanks are great for a gerbil cage because you can add as mutch bedding as you want unlike a barred cage. Im not sure about your other questions though.

Thanks
Megan

[Markpd]

1.I'm not aware of any toxicity for Plexiglass, but nor have I done any real reading up about it either.
Personally I doubt there's any issue with it because I think the LaOla cages use it too (although I was unable to confirm that from Rodipet's page for it).

As for chewing, as long as they can't get their teeth onto an edge or a corner, it'll be fine.

2.Wouldn't it be easier to just not have the 20 gall inside the new cage? More uninterrupted digging space then .
But otherwise, if you just have a single access point to the 20gall, then yes it's a declanning point risk.

3.Yes! . With enough room, gerbils can jump about 18"/45cm! Even if not, they'd only need to pile something up into one corner to make the gap to the edge much smaller.

[LilyandDaisy]

Plexiglass isn't toxic. Are you perhaps thinking of melamine gerbilpower? Plexiglass sheets are unlikely to be chewed as they're flat with nowhere for a gerbil to get their teeth into. My tank has plexiglass sides and they've never been chewed (though it does scratch easily and it will eventually go cloudy in the spots where gerbils scrabble).

A smaller tank inside a bigger one should be ok, just be careful not to create a "bottleneck", or a single access point that one gerbil can easily defend. Remember that burrowing is the most important activity for gerbils so if the area outside the 20 gallon is bigger than the 20 gallon, it would be more worthwhile to have that as the deep bedding area and the 20 gallon for sand/the wheel etc.

It's safest to always have a lid for the reasons Markpd stated. You never know what gerbils are going to get up to.

[Mochi]

First off, thanks for all the great replies they really helped!!

1. So Plexiglass is ok!

2. I was thinking of buying/ making a platform or two to get in and out of the separate tanks, the tank won't be a LOT bigger than the 20 gal so once I get the old tank in the new one there won't be a load of space. Just enough for their wheel, sand bath, etc..

3. Ok clearly a lid is a must have! Is there any way I could build one WITHOUT mesh? I do not want a repeat of my current situation. (They keep pawing/scratching the mesh)

[Markpd]

Re lid, not sure what you have in mind, but you can't have a solid lid, or near solid lid on a tank for ventilation reasons of course.
How about a much finer mesh? Like screening, they wouldn't be able to chew it, but of course if they can reach it, they could paw at it.
Or, have mesh and just don't have the bedding deep enough for them to reach it (there's always a conflict on interests here, unless you have a really deep cage!).

[Mochi]

Hmm ok, I was hoping to have the bedding as high as it could go, maybe I'll just build the new tank with higher walls! Shouldn't be too hard since the plexiglass I'm looking at is about 2 ft high! Yup, I have never had a problem with them chewing the mesh- they do scratch it though.

[Mochi]

So just a few more questions with building!!

1. I’m looking at this Linnmon wood from IKEA! I’ll add the link here www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/linnmon-tabletop-white-00251135 I’ve seen a LOT of hamster cages being build with this wood- so I’m guessing it’s safe for gerbs as well?

2. I’m scared that once the new tank is built, they might not transition well from their 20 gal. Their new enclosure will be a LOT bigger. (No exact measurements yet)

3. I’ve seen at lot of people put (gerbil safe) plants in enclosures, is this for any reason besides decoration?

4. I’ve decided not to have one cage inside another, because I am too scared of a Declan. The 20 gal will be a good spot to keep the gerbs when I clean their tank anyway! So I’m thinking of making the tank quite high and adding a sort of floor but mostly open. If that makes sense?

5. Since I will be making the tank higher, since it’s sorta a 2 level home I wanted to ask- Can a tank be too tall?

6. Last Question!!: Are Kaytee CC and wood shavings a good bedding mix? Their tunnels aren’t really holding right now.

THANK YOU FOR READING ALL OF THIS!

[Markpd]

Re question 1. I don't know what Linnmon wood is, but it looks like veneered wood? If so I would imagine it would be ok as long as they have no corners or edges to chew.

2.In which case, you could initially section off some of the new cage so it's only a little bigger (you didn't mention how big it will be), and once they settle in to their new cage and are acting normally again you could further open it up, or open it up completely depending on the size difference between old and new cage.

3.They enjoy destroying or eating plants! (and so have to be safe to them).

4.Struggling to visualise that, can you show us a drawing of that? Or a photo of a cage with a similar idea?

5.Good question, I've wondered this myself and have asked about it, I think I asked LilyandDaisy about it, but I can't remember where. Perhaps she does, or can simply answer again .

6.No idea I'm afraid, but if you bung in a load of hay, that will certainly help tunnel building .

[Mochi]

1. Nope! No edges for them to nibble on!

2. What could I section off with?

3. Ah, I see! Ive heard spider plants are safe? I’m sure there is a thread about gerbil safe plants son this forum.

4. Hmm, yeah it does sound confusing… I’ll try to explain once more since I don’t think I’ve seen this idea anywhere else.
So, I would try to build it about 2ft. high since it’s going to almost be like two tanks on top of each other or a tank with a topper, BUT it’s all connected. There would be a space below for digging a a “floor” of some sorts higher up for their wheel and other gerbil stuff!! Hopefully this makes a little more sense?

5. I’ll try hay then, it seems to have a nice look to it as well!

[Markpd]

2.Hmm, that depends on the inside shape of the cage. But seeing as it's only a temporary divider, how about plywood? Or mesh?
Hmm, and I'm wondering how to secure them, again it depends on your cage. Got a glue gun?
Might be worth looking at this thread - gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/10922/split-cages

3.Checkout Lilyanddaisy's safe/unsafe food list in the food section

4. A floor of sorts doesn't help , do you mean a floor covering say 1/4 of the cage? Or a wide ledge going all the way round? A picture is worth a 1000 words!

[Mochi]

2. Great I’ll check it out, thanks!

3. I’ll check this one out as well! 

4. I would say a floor covering 1/3? Just like if there was a topper on top? Most of the floor would be cut out to prevent a Declan and to help with ventilation!

[LilyandDaisy]

With regard to tank height, I think a tank probably can be too tall in theory. Gerbils prefer to dig longer tunnels rather than deeper, so I think there is a theoretical point where extra depth becomes a bit redundant. Theoretically there might also be a point where the weight of all the bedding is too heavy for the tunnels at the bottom of the tank to stay up.

You need to be able to reach all the way to the bottom of your tank, so that might also limit how tall it can be. If you have a removable front or something, that you can remove once a year for a big clean, maybe you could get away with an extremely tall tank, but what happens when you need to dig out a gerbil to take them to the vet and they're hidden right at the very bottom?

A 2ft tall tank should be ok. That gives you space for a good 30-45cm of bedding throughout.

Make sure your plexiglass front is sufficiently reinforced/braced so it can take the weight of the bedding pressing against it. It might bow otherwise.

If you want to take advantage of your available height, you could do something similar to what I have which is a reasonably deep tank, and then a topper with front opening doors.

[Mochi]

Yes!! Actually that is what I am trying to do!! The topper would just be part of the tank but with 1/3 of a floor between the two? Maybe the ventilation wouldn’t be good enough though?

[LilyandDaisy]

The lower floors in my topper cover about 2/3 of the floor space and I think the ventilation is ok. I always leave some space between the top of the bedding and the shelves for air to circulate.