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Post by river on Apr 21, 2022 14:54:42 GMT -8
Hello  I am really strongly considering getting a pair of gerbils at some point soon (once I have moved into my own place). My decision was informed by a couple of things and I was hoping people in this community might be able to help out? First of all, I really wanted a cat or a dog but after researching it, I think I just either wouldn't be home enough to care for them or the demands of care would be something I am not sure I could commit to. I wanted a pet that was independent and relatively self sufficient but could also be handled (so I was leaning toward cat) but I also think I may travel away for periods (say a few weeks or more) and I am not sure I would relish the idea of hiring a catsitter. So, as to my questions: - Could I leave a gerbil pair to its own devices for a week or two (with someone coming by to sprinkle food in the tank every other day)?
- I was intending to purchase the IKEA Deltof case; would anyone know where I could buy a 'lid' for the tank (I am in the UK)
- Would you be able to provide me a rough cost per year of taking care of your gerbils? I have seen ranges from a few hundred to thousands!
- Finally, would anyone be able to point me in the direction of some reputable breeders or shops, preferably around London, UK?
I hope that makes sense! Happy to clear up anything if not though. Thank you very much  |
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Post by mygerbilprince on Apr 21, 2022 17:18:47 GMT -8
I don't live in the UK so I'll help you the best I can.
First of all, gerbils are not at all like dogs or cats so if that is what you are looking for I don't think you'll find it in a gerbil. Not all gerbils enjoy being handled, and taming them can be a very time consuming process. Even then, gerbils are quite busy and likely won't snuggle up in your hand for some pets. They would rather run up and down your arms and try to jump out of your hands. Gerbils aren't too independent and require daily attention, fresh water, enrichment, and a tank cleaning about every two weeks.
You are still going to have to pay for a pet sitter when you go away. The sitter will have to stop by everyday or every other day. Also a pet sitter may charge around $30 a day for gerbils. So say you are away for 3 weeks. This could add up to $350-$630 (£268.69-483.65). This is maybe half of what you could expect to pay a cat sitter. Unfortunately pets (especially "exotic" pets) and traveling don't mix too well.
As far as budget, I just calculated the general cost of gerbils per month, then per year. (since you live in the UK I've also converted the money)
Bedding: I spend about $35 (£26.87) every month on each of my cages. I have 20 gallon long tanks, an IKEA Detolf is about twice that so I would expect $70 (£53.74) per month granted that you clean the tank every two weeks.
Food: I make my own seed mix (which is recommended by many experienced gerbil owners) so the cost of this is about $42 (£32.24) every SIX MONTHS. So this and the cost of dried herbs and flowers, supplement pellets, and treats brings me a total of around $15 (£11.52) per month.
Toys: This greatly varies on how much you spoil your gerbils. I mostly give my gerbils paper towel and toilet paper tubes or tissue boxes. I don't buy them too many new toys. So I would say I spend about $5 (£3.84) per month.
Vet: Again, very much depends on your gerbils, but I would set aside around $30-$40 (£23.03-£30.71) for medical bills.
Other: This category would include cleaners, and maintenance of the enclosure. I would estimate about $2 (£1.54) per month in this category because I don't have to buy my cleaner (in my case is 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water) or perform maintenance on the tank very often.
Per year you can expect to pay around $1524 (£1169.97). This is just me personally. Things are also valued differently in the UK. Mine might also be a bit higher because I have four rodent tanks which all require the same supplies so I tend to buy in bulk. I did however, try my best to find the cost of two gerbils in the size tank you are planning on buying.
This is just the basic upkeep of owning gerbils. Your start out costs will be pretty expensive as well.
Expect around $330 (£252.57). Which includes, tank, tank lid (in your case), food, treats, water bottle/bowl, toys, enrichment, wheel, bedding, tank cleaner, cleaner for the mess you make in your home after cleaning the enclosure, sand for a sand bath, not including the actual cost of a gerbil.
Gerbils can also live to five years old so be ready for that type of commitment. Not to mention that if your gerbil's partner passes away and you adopt a younger gerbil, that is another five year commitment.
Best of luck on your gerbil journey!
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Post by river on Apr 22, 2022 3:29:36 GMT -8
I don't live in the UK so I'll help you the best I can. Thank you very much for taking the time to write all of this out, especially the budget (and the conversions too)! I just had a few follow up questions, if that would be fine? No problem if gerbils cannot be handled as such. I am very happy to just watch them burrow and play with each other, though it would be nice to give them some head pats and allow them to run over my hands from time to time. That said, when you mention daily attention, would this mean removing them from their tank or just simply spending time with them? When you mention tank cleaning, would this be retaining half of the bedding? I have seen different things online, where some remove all of the bedding infrequently to others simply replacing parts of it over time with regular spot checks. The latter seemed to make most sense to me, as at least some of the remainder would retain their scent but just wondering if that was how you factored the cost on your end? With your cleaning solution, approximately how quickly does the smell go from the tank, just out of interest? Finally, I just wanted to know, if one gerbil does pass away early, what would be the cut off point beyond which adopting a new partner would not be advised? Thanks again for your help! |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Apr 22, 2022 4:01:15 GMT -8
Gerbils can definitely be handled, but they're fast so you have to have your wits about you! They tend to calm down as they get older as well. In terms of yearly costs, it's possible to keep gerbils very economically if you're careful with what you buy, but there are so many nice gerbil toys out there now that it's also possible to spend a fortune on them. You can expect to spend about £150-£200 getting set up with gerbils, for the enclosure, initial bedding, toys etc. After that, since the detolf is very large enclosure it shouldn't need cleaning out very often. Perhaps 2-3 times a year, and you won't need to throw away all the bedding when you do that either, maybe just half. So you might be spending maybe £40-£50 per year on replacement bedding. You'll need to change the sand more often but that's pretty cheap - perhaps another £10 per year. Toys - if you choose some good durable things in the beginning you shouldn't need to be replacing things all the time. So at minimum you might expect to spend about £30-£50 per year replacing toys and tank accessories but you could spend a lot more if you wanted to. Food - approximately one bag of standard gerbil food per month will cost about £30 per year but there are more expensive options that you might choose, so the cost could go up to around £60 per year. It should be fine to go away for a week or two and have someone drop in to feed the gerbils. There isn't a particular cut-off age when you can't introduce a new friend but the process of introduction does involve a certain amount of stress and upheaval to the gerbils. With young gerbils that's fine because it's short term stress for long term gain. The older they get, the less that stress tends to be felt to be worth it. In general from about 3 years old people tend not to introduce another gerbil, but it's not a hard-and-fast rule. There is a seller on Facebook called Freddie and Friends who make detolf lids: www.facebook.com/FreddieandFriendsShop/?ref=page_internalI'm not aware of any breeders in London but there is a rescue near Croydon - Gerbil and Rodent Rescue. |
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Post by river on Apr 22, 2022 4:38:23 GMT -8
Gerbils can definitely be handled, but they're fast so you have to have your wits about you! They tend to calm down as they get older as well. Thank you very much for this advice! I am happy to let them play about in their cage and perhaps take them out occasionally, being very careful if I do. Just with respect to the enclosure itself; I know some people use large bendy bridges as a divider between a sand area and bedding (this is what I was planning on doing) but I have also heard that these things can hurt the gerbils if they get trapped. I know a website I visited suggested stuffing the gaps in the upturned bridge with moss and sticking them in place with pet safe glue. Others have suggested cardboard but I don't see how they wouldn't just chew through this? Also thank you for letting me know about leaving for a week or two; I was worried about this potentially stressing the gerbils out if I was gone for a few weeks. Finally, thanks very much for the links and advice regarding introducing a new partner to the tank! That helps a lot |
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Post by mygerbilprince on Apr 22, 2022 9:11:00 GMT -8
I don't live in the UK so I'll help you the best I can. Thank you very much for taking the time to write all of this out, especially the budget (and the conversions too)! I just had a few follow up questions, if that would be fine? No problem if gerbils cannot be handled as such. I am very happy to just watch them burrow and play with each other, though it would be nice to give them some head pats and allow them to run over my hands from time to time. That said, when you mention daily attention, would this mean removing them from their tank or just simply spending time with them? When you mention tank cleaning, would this be retaining half of the bedding? I have seen different things online, where some remove all of the bedding infrequently to others simply replacing parts of it over time with regular spot checks. The latter seemed to make most sense to me, as at least some of the remainder would retain their scent but just wondering if that was how you factored the cost on your end? With your cleaning solution, approximately how quickly does the smell go from the tank, just out of interest? Finally, I just wanted to know, if one gerbil does pass away early, what would be the cut off point beyond which adopting a new partner would not be advised? Thanks again for your help By daily attention, it depends on your gerbils preference. Though daily interaction with your gerbils outside of the enclosure is recommended, if your gerbils are shy or just don't enjoy being handled, it might be better for them if they just stayed in the tank. You can definitely still interact with them though just by giving them seeds then patting them on the head while they nibble on treats. You do make an interesting point on only changing half. I will be honest and say I didn't consider that.  With a larger enclosure partial cleanings would probably would better. I apologize for the miscalculation. (when I clean my tanks, which are on the smaller end at 20 gallons, I change the entire thing because they are so small, but in a larger enclosure there is no need to change the whole thing) Not sure what you mean by smell, but the smell of the gerbils is instantly covered up by vinegar, but the smell of vinegar goes away in 1-2 minutes. Many people don't like the smell of vinegar (including me) but the vinegar smell goes away very quickly. I agree with what LilyandDaisy said, but also from what I read online, for the best success you don't want to wait much longer than a month. I assume this is because after about a month the gerbil can start showing signs of depression, which then makes it harder to bond if one is depressed. Though it is still possible after a month, it will just be a little bit harder. |
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Post by river on Apr 23, 2022 15:12:51 GMT -8
By daily attention, it depends on your gerbils preference. Though daily interaction with your gerbils outside of the enclosure is recommended, if your gerbils are shy or just don't enjoy being handled, it might be better for them if they just stayed in the tank. You can definitely still interact with them though just by giving them seeds then patting them on the head while they nibble on treats. You do make an interesting point on only changing half. I will be honest and say I didn't consider that. With a larger enclosure partial cleanings would probably would better. I apologize for the miscalculation. (when I clean my tanks, which are on the smaller end at 20 gallons, I change the entire thing because they are so small, but in a larger enclosure there is no need to change the whole thing) Not sure what you mean by smell, but the smell of the gerbils is instantly covered up by vinegar, but the smell of vinegar goes away in 1-2 minutes. Many people don't like the smell of vinegar (including me) but the vinegar smell goes away very quickly. I agree with what LilyandDaisy said, but also from what I read online, for the best success you don't want to wait much longer than a month. I assume this is because after about a month the gerbil can start showing signs of depression, which then makes it harder to bond if one is depressed. Though it is still possible after a month, it will just be a little bit harder. Thank you very much for this and it is nice to know I could still give them head pats whilst they eat! I think if you would say it would be fine to not change the bedding every time, I would probably go ahead with the IKEA tank.
Sorry I meant the smell of vinegar! Like you, I don't really like it so good to know it goes away very quickly
Thank you also for the additional information about not leaving introduction too long. That is really useful to know!
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Post by mygerbilprince on Apr 23, 2022 16:48:35 GMT -8
Of course! So glad I could help!
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With a larger enclosure partial cleanings would probably would better. I apologize for the miscalculation. (when I clean my tanks, which are on the smaller end at 20 gallons, I change the entire thing because they are so small, but in a larger enclosure there is no need to change the whole thing)