Housing Question

[cinnycinnamon]

I was just wondering what you all think is the best size aquarium to use for your gerbils. I have a few 10 gallons connected together and one 20 gal high connected to a 10 gallon. See, I was thinking maybe I should upgrade those 10 gallons to a bigger tank?? Those stupid tubes are nothing but trouble in my opinion. Not just cuz they chew on it, but cuz the two girls I have like to pee in it and doesn't leave a pleasant smell. Leaving me to to hafta clean it all the time. I want my gerbils to have the most possible room and it seems to me that a 10 gallon is just too small. What's ya'll's thoughts about this?

Thanx!

[sweetie]

I think that a 10 gal should be the minimmum for 2 gerbils. I am going to 20 gal for 2. I agree that the pee in the tubes stinks and is trouble some to clean all the time. That is why I went from Hartz cages to tanks in the first place. Then I felt that the 10 gal was too small for 2 gerbils so now I have 3-20's and 2-10's which I will have to connect to gether.

I picked up the 20 gal's for $19.98 at the new PetSmart that opened up near my house!! ;D

[cinnycinnamon]

Hey, that's a *great* price for a 20 gallon tank! I might hafta stop by my PetSmart and see if there are any deals like that going on.

I seriously think I am gonna do away with the connecting tubes when I go to getting bigger tanks. I just cleaned the girl's connecting tubes and the lookout tower last night and already it stinks cuz they peed and pooped in it! The boys don't do that-they just chew on the tubes in the middle of it.

I would like to give my lil babies as much room as possible to play around in, ya know what I mean cuz I feel bad cuz they are caged.

Thanx Sweetie for replying back to me!

Cindy

[sweetie]

I might just get another 20 gal at PetSMart instead of connecting the 2-10's together. You are right about the smell. It is a brand new store and they are having a Grand Opening Sale.

I will get pictures when I set it all up!

[j]

I hate those plastic tubes. I quit them for the same reason. They pee in them and the pee drips out of the little tiny airholes in the tubes and gets everywhere. And it smells within 5 minutes because they always have to mark them. Also I noticed their coats were always gross from going through them. Pee on the tubes>Gerbil goes through tubes>Pee gets on fur and makes the gerbil look dirty. My boys were just as bad with them as my girls.

I think a 10 gallon is fine for a couple gerbils. I use them. I think they only look too small when people put nothing in them but a stupid 1 inch of shavings, a water bottle, food dish, a wheel, and a little house or something in the corner with maybe a toilet paper roll thrown in. That's boring and way too small.

[sweetie]

I think a 10 gal is fine for a pair. I guess I was just going on personal experience. I was changing over to tanks from cages.
I bought 2-10 gal since that was acceptable for a pair. Well.......
let me tell you what happened then........

You guessed it. The girls had a fit just like when I blocked off the bottom of the couches. Sweetie and Blackie banded together and for a week, they plugged up the water bottles and the litter was soaked *every* day. They attacked me when I put my hand in there to feed them. They were monsters!! I then put thier old cage on the top of the tank and they finally settled down. So I guess for some gerbils it is fine, but I learned through experience that the girls needed more space and room to run. They had a pretty eloborate set up with tons of tubes to go in and through.

Now on the other hand, I have my newest pair in a 10 gallon and they do fine!! They are not aggressive and are not exhibiting signs of stress like the other two did.

I originally got a 20 gal for my three boys since they needed the space. I do think that a 20 gal is preferable for me since I am not able to take the gerbils out every day!!

[cinnycinnamon]

I noticed that too, J about the pee getting all over their hair. It does make them look gross! LOL, I told Billy he needed to clean himself up and his little ears perked up when I was talking to him and as soon as I put him back in his house, Bobby went sniffing on him and then he cleaned himself.

I think they tubes are fun for the gerbils to have, but it sure would make life easier if they didn't pee and poop in them! I'm still considering to upgrade all my tanks (except Buddy and Timmy's cuz they already have a 20 gallon connected to a 10 gallon). I wish there was another way to connect the tanks without using those plastic tubes. Doesn't somebody here use a dryer hose?? I know I saw a pic of it here (not on this thread), didn't I? I wonder how much something like that would cost???

[queenofthenile]

I use flexible dryer exhaust. A length of it cost me $7 CAN. I have only used it with the gerbils that don't chew it . Ideally, you could use swimming pool drainage tubes, but they are hugely expensive!

[sweetie]

I was actually considering using vaccuum hose or washer drainage hose. The vaccuum hose might be a bit small and so may the washer hose. The Dryer exhaust flexible sounds good but for now, I think the 20 gal is cheap enough $19.98 US and I will pick up one more of those and use the 2- 10 gals for the pups. That way I can separate them by sex and keep them all together. That is of course when they have them!!

[queenofthenile]

The only problem with the dryer hose, is what if they ingest it ? I think the risks for my gerbils is minimal, but I certainly don't want to recommend it to someone and have something awful happen!

[j]

I'm using a regular kind of sink or plumbing pipe or something.. I don't really know what it is but I found it at Home Depot. It's like an upside down U shape. I just cut a hole in the covers and stuck it through. My tanks are side by side..so short tunnel but fat enough where they can squeeze by eachother and not fight over them. ;D