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Post by pooky on Jul 25, 2005 13:48:33 GMT -8
i have a couple small questions that i have had floating around in my head for a while but i wanted to get them out. if you can, please answer any or all of the questions:
1. what is a good temperature to keep the room that my gerbils are in at?
2. is it ok if there is some varying in that temperature (such as the temperature going slightly above the recomended level or slightly below the recomended level)?
3. on most of the cardboard boxes i get for my gerbils, there is some glue holding it together. i have taken to peeling this glue off, but do i really need to? will the glue affect my gerbils if they chew on it?
4. i know that gerbils should not be aloud to chew on plastic. but at the petstore (which i know is not always compleatly reliable) the gerbils have some plastic toys in there cage. they seem to be fine. so how much does chewing on plastic really affect gerbils?
5. how much cheaper is it to mix my own food rather then buying it in a bag at my local pet store?
if any one can answer any of these questions for me then please do. and you can answer as many as you like. thanks.
pooky
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Jul 25, 2005 14:00:12 GMT -8
check out Peters site (above) and www.gerbils.co.ukI forget the minimum temperature but as they come from a desert which gets pretty cold at night they are pretty hardy (this only applies to MONGOLIAN gerbils, pallids for instance do not tolerate cold. Card..probably best BUT if they are food cartons the glue must be non-toxic Plastic 2 things first you will be constatly replacing toys..gerbils are great chewers, second if a gerbil swallows small pieces of plastic they may not pass through the system. They may get stuck causing fatal blockages. Why risk it? bulk food (ie buying by the sack) depending which food...Gerri caosts around £17 a 15kg sack or £1.75 for a 1 kg bag, so you effectively get 5kg free!! As for straights I believe it works out considerably cheaper and you can adapt the food easily for the needs of each animal!! You would need to buy in largish quantities to do this and preferably from a mill or wholesaler. I do have a link for petexpress which does a lot of straights but today the sites not working . the URL is www.petexpress.co.uk ) You need to check out the bird section for most of the straights.
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Post by pooky on Jul 25, 2005 20:29:59 GMT -8
hey doomgerbil, thanks for your info.
i know you comented on low temperatures, but what about higher temperatures? what is the maximum temperature that a gerbil would be comfortable in?
thanks, pooky
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Post by RyanF on Jul 26, 2005 4:47:14 GMT -8
My gerbils get uncomfortable when it is hot OUTSIDE but not inside! They are very wierd, but maybe small temp. changes inside effect them. I think they become discomfortable at around 80 degrees F.
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Post by pooky on Jul 26, 2005 16:36:51 GMT -8
thanks for your info ryan. i could under stand temp changes affecting gerbils, but small temp changes affecting your gerbs does sound kind of weird.
just to make sure: 80 degrees F is about 26 degrees C, right?
thanks
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Post by RyanF on Jul 27, 2005 6:25:48 GMT -8
Yes, 80F is about 26.666... C!
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Post by pooky on Jul 31, 2005 13:44:51 GMT -8
ok thanks
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Aug 1, 2005 3:27:43 GMT -8
Mongolian gerbils live in a continental climate, with cool, dry winters and hot summers. The temperatures vary from -40°C (-40°F) to +50°C (122°F), but the average temperature is -20°C (-4°F) in January and +20°C (68°F) in July.
Your gerbils feel themselves most comfortable with a temperature of 20-24°C (68-75°F). With more than enough nesting material the absolute minimal temperature is 15°C (59°F). With lower temperatures your gerbil can get hypothermia. Also never place the cage in direct sunlight. Especially when you have a glaze or plastic tank you need to be careful with that, because in direct sunlight these gerbil homes will change in a hothouse. Although Mongolian gerbils are desert animals, they can't handle extreme heat, beside in the wild they stay under the ground while the hottest period of the day and not without a good reason.
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Post by pooky on Aug 2, 2005 10:37:35 GMT -8
thanks for the info about cold temperatures and hypothermia, but right now it is summer where i live, so i was a bit more worried about what might happen because of high temperatures. both my gerbils are in aquariums, and never in direct sunlight, but the temperature varies from about 23 degrees C to about 26 degrees C. is this to much? or am i fine?
thanks, pooky
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Post by malabui on Aug 5, 2005 13:18:12 GMT -8
Personally I'd watch your gerbils. They will tell you the weather. -If they are lieing outside the nest they are too hot, so move their cage to a cooler place -If they thin out their nest it will be a hot day -If they create a big nest it will be cold that day -If they 'close their door' (seal off their main entrance hole) you may not want to get out of bed ^-^ See. Who need weather forcasters!!!
Personally I don't go for the cheapest or most expencive foods. I go for one that has the best range of seeds and things that they need in it. I personally go for 'Wagg gerbil food' since the gerbil gerbil food I bought for the last few times as almost all biscuit and almost no grain or anything else in it. Becides... my gerbils now turn their little noses up at all other brands -.-
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Post by pooky on Aug 7, 2005 10:50:47 GMT -8
hehe. weather forcasting. i like it. ok, i will trust my gerbils, and see what they are comfortable with. thanks for the idea.
the gerbil food i have right now is called "hagens hamster and gerbil seed mix." but there are alot of sunflower seeds in this food, so i take them out, and use them as treats. it has a nice variaty of differant seeds and stuff, but is pretty expensive (six canadian dollars for a 2.5 pound bag), so i am considering mixing in some oats, which would also make it less fatining. but once in a while, they go on sale (2 canadian dollars for the same 2.5 pound bag) in which case i buy four or five bags. then i can keep all the food in large sealed glass jars, in a cool, dark place. anyway. i kinda went rambleing on there for a bit. but im not going to start trying to mix my own food untill after the holidays are over, and even then i would only give it a shot if i had the time. but thanks for the help with that question.
pooky
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Post by kansascitykennel on Aug 11, 2005 11:00:10 GMT -8
1. what is a good temperature to keep the room that my gerbils are in at? Mine are in our livingroom and we keep it at about 0 in the summer (can't get it cooler) and 73 in the winter (can't get it warmer. These are in ferenheit.
2. is it ok if there is some varying in that temperature (such as the temperature going slightly above the recomended level or slightly below the recomended level)?
As dessert animals it is very hot during the day, and very cold at night. They should be just find in above 50 degrees F and below 85 degrees F
3. on most of the cardboard boxes i get for my gerbils, there is some glue holding it together. i have taken to peeling this glue off, but do i really need to? will the glue affect my gerbils if they chew on it?
Yes the glue can make them sick. Always make sure there is no ink or glue on anything they chew.
4. i know that gerbils should not be aloud to chew on plastic. but at the petstore (which i know is not always compleatly reliable) the gerbils have some plastic toys in there cage. they seem to be fine. so how much does chewing on plastic really affect gerbils?
I don't believe the plastic rule. Mine have always had toys that are either plastic or wood, just don't Leave the plastic toys in all of the time. Gerbils suck in a part of their cheeks when they are cchewing to "make house" and so do not swallow the pieces. My vet told me this.
5. how much cheaper is it to mix my own food rather then buying it in a bag at my local pet store?
It depends on what you choose to have in their food. Of course if you have alot of gerbils and want to buy in bulk it would appear to cost more, but in reality it won't. We mix our own food and it runs us about the same but it is better for them than most commercial foods.
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Post by kansascitykennel on Aug 11, 2005 11:05:53 GMT -8
we keep it at about 0 in the summer . Sorry this should read 80 not 0, my 8 button got stuck
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Post by pooky on Aug 31, 2005 11:36:23 GMT -8
sorry ive not been replying for a while. i was just away for about a month, with no access to a computer. anyways. thank you very much to all that gave info. i probably have enough to go on for now.
pooky
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Post by jes on Sept 17, 2005 17:50:45 GMT -8
Only thing I noticed with tempertures is that when it's too hot or cold they kind of hibernate and don't come out all day or night. Over the summer I had to move all my tanks somewhere cooler for them to come back to life.
Pointless to buy anything plastic just because they'll chew it down to nothing so fast... But if you want to, go ahead. I don't believe in the plastic rule either of them possibly choking on it.. Gerbils are meant to gnaw on stuff which also means they're not meant to choke or swallow everythign they put in their mouths. They're not toddlers.
I give anything cardboard and don't worry about glue/colors/etc
Cheaper and healthier to make your own food since you can get more variety into it. Food costs me $5 a month for 17 gerbils. I buy everything at WholeFoods where they sell things in bulk. Regular packaged food costs about $5 and wouldn't last me a week.
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