# Noob gerbil owner



## ratgal (Jul 14, 2010)

This is our very first gerbil. My bf brought him home yesterday  I would appreciate some useful info to owning a gerbil. Here is some pics I took of him:


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## purple_x (Dec 29, 2010)

I would suggest really deep substrate, he doesn't look like he has alot in there right now, fill at least 3/4 of his tank with substrate as gerbils love to dig and will become bored if they cant do what is natural to them.

Lots of cardboard for him to destroy. This will keep him occupied and help his teeth.

Scatter feed his food so he has to look for it, again this will give him something to do.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

how come he only brought the one home? gerbils are very social animals and should never be kept alone.

what cage have you got him in? you need a large tank (around 3ft long) and you need to fill it with lots of substrate as gerbils love to dig and burrow

i would strongly suggeest you get him a friend, as lone gerbils are never happy gerbils and can often self mutilate from the stress of being alone

PS is you are keeping him in that plastic tub, dont expect him to stay put for very long, he will make very quick work of that little hole and get through it


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

Carmez said:


> This is our very first gerbil. My bf brought him home yesterday  I would appreciate some useful info to owning a gerbil. Here is some pics I took of him:


He is very sweet  What a lovely boy.

As has been said, Gerbils do best in groups or pairs and shouldn't really be kept alone unless completely necessary. If you do decide to get a friend for him at some point, then you must do it via the "splitcage method". If you want more information on this then let me know and I can link you to my website.
Again as has been said, they need deep substrate in which to dig deep tunnel systems. A lone gerbil or a pair would need at least a 2.5 foot tank, but more ideally a 3 foot as has been suggested.
Try eGerbil website for more information on the proper care.


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

Carmez said:


> Thanks for your info people! Reason for just 1 is he comes from petshop. We went to buy food for our chins and saw this little guy. They are a bit scarce here and he was the only one but we will look out for a friend for him
> 
> The tub we placed him in was temporary, we do have a 3ft tank for him. He's name is Oupa and he likes being stroked in his neck and by his ears.
> 
> How big does gerbils get and do they run in wheels and play balls? Am not sure if this is my type of pet but maybe it's just because I'm not used to them...


they grow to the same kinda size as a hamster,(about 4-6") so stay small, and can live upto around 6 years with average for pet shop gerbils being 2-4 years.
Mine love their wheel, but they can get obsessed with them so just watch out for that.
I presume that you have read about their eating habits and living conditions? and glad you will be getting him a friend, make sure you do the introductions correctly though.
They are very quick, and for mines floor time I have 2 of these joined together: Play Pen for Hamsters by S.A.M. | Pets at Home but you need to watch him still.
start saving your toilet roll tubes and boxes! they need to chew.. and chew lots so quickly! 
good luck  lovely pics.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

hes beautiful, im so glad youre going to look into getting him a friend mine dont have wheels or a ball, i put them lots cardboard tubes and boxes in their tank they have wooden bridges and toys and they entertain themselves burrowing in the deep substrate and chewing up the boxes and hay that they get. Also they love to sand bathe so i either put in a bowl of chinchilla sand (not dust) or childrens play sand Heres a couple of pics of one of my tanks its 4ft long.

Please never give them anything plastic that they can chew as its really dangerous to gerbils if they injest it.


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## Jarhead (Jul 11, 2011)

Thay are adorable


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## purple_x (Dec 29, 2010)

@Noushka your tank is amazing! How many gerbils do you have in there?
I'd love a 4ft tank but have only managed to find 3ft ones so far.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

He is gorgeous, 3 of my gerbils are black so Im a bit biased there though, I cant add anything regarding their care as its already been covered by others but I just wanted to say what a cutie he is.


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## Tismoi (Jun 19, 2011)

To quote thedogsmother (coincidentally the previous poster) i remember seeing her layout a while ago, and thinking it, was a good idea - creating layers of substrate with toilet roll tubes will give the gerbil something interesting to find whilst he's digging. I'm afraid i dont know anything about gerbils though, it just seemed an interesting setup 



thedogsmother said:


> Well my lovely hubby has made me a lovely safe lid for the new gerbil tank so today is moving in day for the boys (Bart and Homer), my camera ran out of battery halfway through filling the tank so I havent got piccies of the boys or the lid, but you can get an idea of the size, its 2 1/2 ft square and took over half a bale of aubiose to fill it, as well as a ton of toilet roll tubes and some of the bedding from their old tank so it smelt of home . They have already started making a tunnel system and basically doing what comes natural to gerbils so I think they approve.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## ratgal (Jul 14, 2010)

Here's the tank. He seems very interested and finds great entertainment with the toilet roll  It's not much but it's a start...will need to buy more bedding though because we didn't have enough atm.


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

dont want to sound picky but that wheel is no good, you need a solid one, gerbils tails can easilt be damaged and need amputating  and i cant see the pics well, but id add loads of cardboard in for him to chew, it will also add to the depth for him to bury in 

edit: just enlarged pic and can see you have card  looks good..


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## purple_x (Dec 29, 2010)

That wheel is dangerous unfortunately. The wire is way too far apart and is no good for little gerbil feet and legs.
I saw someone with a wheel like that and to fix the problem they had threaded a long piece of cardboard in and out of each rung on the wheel so it made a solid running surface, perhaps you could try that.


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

Tank looks good for starters :thumbup: I'm sure he's enjoying the space, as if he came from a petshop it's doubtful he's ever had so much unfortunately.

Just to echo what some of the others have said - the wheel can be quite dangerous if any limbs or a gerbilly tail get caught between the rungs. As has been suggested, you could insert some cardboard to fill in the gaps which would make it much more suitable, but to be honest if you plan on filling the tank with much more substrate then it will only end up buried anyway. It might be an idea to keep the wheel out and use it for playtime out of the tank?

To help bulk out the bedding, if you add some ripped up paper, plain kitchen roll or toilet paper and some hay (be sure to freeze it first incase there are any nasties in it) your little one will love chewing and tearing this up. I would also take out that plastic food bowl and scatter feed instead, as this will give him something to do in foraging for his meals and it will probably end up being chewed anyway. Plastic can prove quite dangerous if ingested and "may" cause a blockage in the digestive system.


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## ratgal (Jul 14, 2010)

He even enjoyed a sand bath (probably also his first ever). We used some of the chinnies sand for him 

I thought the same thing about the wheel but since it's the only one I could find on a stand, I think I'll try the cardboard suggestion. I removed the wheel for now though because it does get buried quickly lol


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## purple_x (Dec 29, 2010)

When I gave my gerbils a wheel it got buried after about 5mins! I learnt quickly that there was no point leaving one in!

I think as long as they have lots of substrate to dig in and cardboard to chew on they are happy enough and dont tend to need a wheel, digging is better than running


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

my wheel has a sticky on it, it plastic so i dont keep it in but put it in each day high up 

mine love baths too they are so funny


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Ive only got one gerbil with a wheel and thats because her sister died so shes all alone for now and I worry that she will be bored. Shes got a tank topper though so the wheel is in the cage bit and cant be buried. When she gets a new friend I'll take it out because shes already getting a bit obsessive over it.


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

That's great news  Be sure to quarantine the new arrival for at least a couple of weeks to make sure you aren't bringing any new illness/disease to your existing Gerbil or vice versa. How old will the new one be?


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