Gerbil playground/playpen

[gerbilicious]

Could anyone possibly give me simple and relatively inexpensive instructions for building a gerbil playground? I have about 5' by 3' of space. Thanks.

[paws]

Find bark and wood toys and put them in it!

[gerbilicious]

Thanks for the suggestion. How should I go about making the actual playpen structure? Should I use cardboard boxes?

[RyanF]

You can use cardboard boxes, or at petstores there are little playpens like this:

[doomgerbiluk]

ahem Ryan
If you use my photos please credit my copyright

Yes the palypens are great and UK E-bay ahs them for as little as £10
WARNING gerbils can and will climb or jump out. they are for use under supervision only.

[RyanF]

Haha, sorry Doom. Didn't know you would have a problem with it since it was on the same website just in a different place.

[doomgerbiluk]

lol
its good manners Ryan
I really don't mind bt I do ask if peopel use them anywhere else check with me 1st (websites etc)
Peter has an early picture of my pallids on his site which I actually sent him a while back

[gerbilicious]

Those seem pretty good, but I would need to make a lid or something while I clean their tank. Almost had an escape incident during cleaning time a few months back. When I came back in the room, one of them was already out of the box and the other was on the top flap.

[paws]

Or go to the Pet Store and buy a small cage, and pack it with fun things! I put them in the bathtub with their wheel and they are happy!

[jubileehawker]

I am thinking about making a playpen with sand in the bottom. Is that okay? Don't they love to play in sand and tanke "baths"??

[sweetie]

Hey gerb & Jubilee et al,

A relatively easy and inexpensive idea for a playpen is a Rubbermaid tub container. You can put in kids play sand and toys and let them go.

I agree with Doom that the gerbs will jump out of the play pen enclosure. Mine do. I actually had to stop using it since they all can now. Paws had a good idea about the tub but I am not sure if I would want to put sand in the tub.

I actually got plywood/ particle board and made an enclosure. Now that I have 8 gerbils, only 4 roll around balls, and a playpen enclosure that they jump out of, I have a play area made with plywood that I can break down after they are done playing.

It is 2 1/2 feet high, 3feet wide, by4 feet long. I will post a picture when I can get photobucket to work!! I have 4 boards, 2 2x2's and 4 screws. I use it up against a corner and the back wall so I only need to enclose 2 sides. I am making it sound more complicated than it really is.

ANother option is to just let them run free. I can no longer do this since they will hurt each other being from different tanks. Peter lets his run around.

[birchmoon]

www.martinscages.com has a playpen with a lid that folds flat. It's $50 though. I don't know how much less it would be to build it yourself. I've ordered from Martins before, and I love their stuff. All our rat cages are from there. The playpen is under the ferret section.

heather

[j]

I just let them run around my bedroom, but there isn't really anything they can chew or destroy so I don't care. They run under the bed, under the dresser, under the computer.. eh not much of a big deal.

If you have to use something to confine them, then just use anything lying around your house. Or boxes or cardboard, tape it together to make walls. Unfold a big cardboard box and turn it around to make walls.. If it's a big enough space with lots to do inside, they usually won't bother chewing the "walls".

Screens are good.. like if you took your screens otu of the windows for the winter like some people do... Can be used to confine the gerbls somewhere. Like if you have an empty corner in a room or something, just build a fake wall around it. Use heavy things or tape to hold the wall together and up. Don't have to be too creative. And you don't have to cover "playpens",but you should keep an eye on them no matter what kind you use. Some can climb, some will jump out, some will find a way to squeeze out underneath.