# Gerbil Help? (Long post!)



## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

Hi all!  This is going to be a very long post so I'll be extremely thankful to anyone who takes the time to read it all! 

We have just bought two female gerbils (named Darcy and Amy) on Thursday. They are around 8 weeks old and look very healthy. They are very inquisitive and friendly and love sniffing our hands and coming over to us when we open the cage to sort anything out. I have spent a few months prior to buying them researching everything I could but I'm still very worried they are not as happy as they could be! I would greatly appreciate if anyone would let me know if what we are doing/have done is the best we could and how we could improve anything 

The cage:

The cage they have is a Savic XL Gerbilarium. Although I would much prefer a large glass tank for them, there were none available for the price my parents were willing to pay so this seemed the second best thing. It is placed in my room which is a fairly quiet room, so they can sleep but still get used to the sounds humans and occasional cars make. We made sure the house was quiet for their arrival and we whispered and left them alone to settle in for around 24 hours. 
We decided not to place too many things in the cage so as not to overwhelm them but we will be adding more toys and a wheel soon! There are grass mats covering the wire platforms as I was not comfortable with the potential hazard of them getting hurt. They also chew these up for nesting material (very cute :3). They have a wooden chew up on one side (their was a cardboard graze box turned over into a kind of tepee but they kept on climbing on this and then falling off which looked quite painful!) and then over the bridge they have a ceramic tea light holder. It has plenty of ventilation and they have chosen this as the place to do their business and groom themselves! I was wondering if there was anything we could put in there as litter? Right now they have some folded up tissue. 
I also have attatched a Classic Water Bottle to the side and they seem to be getting used to using it but don't seem to keen on it so I have also placed a shallow water dish in the tank just to make sure they can have some water if they want! Note: They sometimes climb the bars of the topper and I read somewhere that this means they are unhappy, is this the case or could they just be exploring?
They have about 5-6 inches of Carefresh Natural bedding in the tank which they have made a few tunnels in, but they don't seem to hold very well; would a mix of Carefresh and Megazorb be any better? I also gave them a large handful of Wilko's Paper Flake nesting material and plain white unscented tissue which they have brought over to their hut. They also have three clean smooth rocks from the garden which have been disinfected and washed thoroughly. They use these as their look-out and grooming spot. I have another ceramic bowl in one corner which has their food in. I mixed it with some of their bedding as I noticed Amy only ate food if it was in the bedding. They sit in the bowl and eat their food. They sometimes sit there for quite a long time and eat for ages, is that normal?
They also have another wooden fruit chew buried amognst the bedding somewhere. They have a wooden log tunnel and I have given them a toilet paper tube but that has been destroyed xD. They then have a fiddlesticks bridge which they have burried and they use this as their nest. They also tend to dig in the corners of the tank (I believe it to be called stereo-typed digging) and I was wondering if there is any way to prevent this as it means my sleep is often disturbed by the noise it creates. 

The food: 

So, sadly the only option was to buy the gerbils from Pets At Home (please don't kill me :scared as there was no breeders nearby and all the small pet shops didn't sell them. As a result of this we bought their muesli as this was the food they had been fed. I will be hopefully moving them on to Gerri Gerbil A.S.A.P! I removed all the peas, corn and sunflower seeds to prevent the more dominant one taking all of them and so I could monitor the amount they are being fed. I will be hand feeding them as treats. With these removed, the ingredients are: Alfafa Meal, Extruded Wheat, Toasted Wheat, Oats, Flaked Wheat, Extruded Locust Beans, Extruded Soya, Wheat Feed, Extruded Linseed, Soya Oil. I am waiting till they have eaten mostly everything before topping the bowl up to ensure they are getting everything and are not just picking out the tastiest bits! I also like to sprinkle a bit of plain porridge oats over the top as I heard it helps prevent cancers. 
I also have a selection of treats like dog biscuits, mealworms, peanuts, fruit and veg etc. I plan on feeding small amounts of fruit and veg around 2 times a week. Is this too much or too little? I have heard mixed opinions on the ideal amount. Also, are mineral stones safe? I heard that they contain bleaches and are therefore not healthy to be giving but I'd be thankful for any other opinion.

Water: I change their water every day to prevent it from going stale and I frequently clean out the bowl and bottle. I also pick out any bedding kicked into the water bowl every morning, night and midday. 

Sand: I am planning on putting some Chinchilla Sand in a glass bowl once a week either when they come out of the cage to run around or just in their cage. Is there any way I can re-use the sand but make sure its clean? I heard you can heat it up to kill bacteria and also sieve it? 

Time out of the cage: I have read that you need to take them out every day for around 30 minutes. Sadly, I am constantly heading off to medical appointments so this isn't really possible. Is once a week too little? I plan on letting them play in the bath (with towels so they don't slip and slide too much! ) as it has high sides and we could sit in to keep an eye on them. Is this giving them enough space? Our bath is quite big but if theres any better options please let me know! 

Handling: Is waiting two weeks a good amount of time before planning to pick them up? I don't want to stress them out. Although, they are already extremely friendly and come up to me when I am near them. Amy has already climbed onto my hand and they have both taking treats from me. 

Behaviour:
I am a little concerned at some of their behaviour! I have seen Amy grooming herself a few times but I never see Darcy grooming. Her fur looks a bit more ruffled compared to Amys. Is there any way I could promote grooming? 
Furthermore, they seem to be sleeping a lot! I know younger gerbils sleep quite a bit however they are sleeping for as long as 6 hours at a time! Also, Amy seems to be sleeping a bit more than Darcy and they don't always go to sleep at the same time; Darcy sometimes joins Amy about 10-30 minutes later. Is this ok or should I be concerned? Darcy has thumped her feet for about 30 seconds a few times. I have read that this either means that they are worried or they are ready for mating. Usually she does it when there isn't anything in particular she should be scared off so I was a bit nervous she had been mis-sexed. We saw a worker put them in the tank at the shop and he said they were all females. He seemed very experienced on gerbils and gave us lots of accurate information. However, are there any other signs that I could check for that she might actually be a male? I don't want to be picking her up to check at the moment as she's still settling in and isn't quite tamed yet. 

Anyway, I'm extrememly sorry for such a long post! Thank you to anyone who took the time!  Any help would be useful as although I've researched a lot, I would like second opinions and I want the best for my pets!


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Hi DarcyGerbil!

That was quite a long post, you've clearly put so much thought into getting your gerbils and I'm glad to see you're so keen to do right for them 

I'll try and answer your questions to the best of my ability, but I have only owned gerbils for about 2.5 years, so am by no means an expert.

The cage you have sounds an ok size and having put mats over the wires you're protecting your gerbils feet. As for climbing the bars, I wouldn't worry too much - it's just because they're inquisitive, and they often enjoy a bit of climbing, however they are predominantly burrowers. As you say, you're concerned about the wire part and would rather a tank. I would recommend getting yourself on ebay and preloved, places like that, and keeping a look out for second hand glass fish tanks, they come up quite regularly and are often great value. alternatively you could buy a large 'Really Useful Box' or similar storage box and mesh the lid and use that as a tank.

To help their tunnels stay up, you could add some hay to your carefresh this helps hold the tunnels up as well as a load of shredded cardboard, if the level of bedding is deep enough ~10 inches the tunnels will hold better. I bury cardboard tubes and boxes under the bedding which they use as little chambers and link with tunnels.

For food, I wouldn't withhold any of the seeds etc to feed as treats, as they wont be getting a balanced diet. Just feed them everything in the mix, and instead of putting it in a bowl, if you scatter it around the tank, it will encourage natural behaviour and be fun for them to find. when you get gerri gerbil mix it with the current muesli for a week or so and this way they wont have a sudden change in diet which can upset their stomachs. They likely wont eat every part of the mix, so don't be worried if they leave grass pellets etc. 

I wouldn't bother having a water bowl - they will have had a bottle at the shop and know how to use it, gerbils just don't drink as much as other rodents.

Chinchilla sand should encourage grooming and the gerbils will groom each other. mine also like to use sand as a toilet litter, i just leave it in 24/7.

They will sleep during the day but they will also just chill out in there nests, so dont worry about not seeing any activity for 6 h, they may be just below the surface!

As they seem to be settled in now, i would begin slowly introducing yourself, just putting your hand in every now and then, allowing them to come up to you, dont chase them.... and once they're comfortable with your hand, you can begin to gently scoop them up with both hands and hold them just above the bedding to get them used to it. hope it goes well.

As for play time, the bath sounds fine - just get them out as often as you can, as they definitely appreciate it, and in my opinion become more friendly and tame.

Sorry if i've missed anything, but feel free to ask anything you like. There are a few gerbil owners here who are more than happy to help out with anything you might need to know. As i say, I'm no expert, but i will try to help as much as i can 

Enjoy your new little girls! would love to see some pictures of Darcy and Amy!

Hazel xxx


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

HazelandDan said:


> Hi DarcyGerbil!
> 
> That was quite a long post, you've clearly put so much thought into getting your gerbils and I'm glad to see you're so keen to do right for them
> 
> ...


Hi Hazel! Thank you so much for the help! I have found it really useful. We already have a 10 gallon tank but Im not sure my parents would want me to switch to it as the cage was quite expensive! Plus it seems a little small as it is the minimum for two  Maybe they could alternate between them?

I will try to get some pictures up of them soon! Thank you again!


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Glad you found it useful! Sorry for such a long response! I wouldn't bother with the 10 gal tank - it's a bit of a downgrade really. ideally you'd want a 3 ft long tank or bigger for two gerbies. I think if you just fill the base of the savic with substrate and enable them build some good tunnel systems they should be pretty happy 

Looking forward to pics!


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## Fluffydd (Jul 28, 2013)

Hello,

It's great that you've done so much research about your gerbils. They really are wonderful pets. I found that the amount of time mine want out of their tank varies. Bart insists on coming out to play every day and he would stay out for as long as I let him. Sunny and Moon aren't so keen on coming out. I give them the opportunity to come out every day but they only usually let me pick them up and get them out to play about twice a week. My 3 newest boys seem to want a daily playtime too.

They have probably been climbing the bars because they've not had bars before. Gerbils love new stuff. As well as giving them toilet roll tubes you can also give them cereal boxes and tissue boxes. You can also ask for cardboard tubes at carpet shops and they'll probably be happy to give you one for free. My gerbils love those. They also like paper. I make them boats and planes out of printer paper and they love chewing them up. A screwed up ball of paper works just as well too. Shredded paper is also fun for them to play with.


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

HazelandDan said:


> Glad you found it useful! Sorry for such a long response! I wouldn't bother with the 10 gal tank - it's a bit of a downgrade really. ideally you'd want a 3 ft long tank or bigger for two gerbies. I think if you just fill the base of the savic with substrate and enable them build some good tunnel systems they should be pretty happy
> 
> Looking forward to pics!


Aw no it was great you made the effort to write such a detailed response, helped me greatly  I have added some of the piggie's hay and they love chewing it and have brought some for nesting!
Im just charging up the camera now ready for a photo-shoot! Hehe


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

Fluffydd said:


> Hello,
> 
> It's great that you've done so much research about your gerbils. They really are wonderful pets. I found that the amount of time mine want out of their tank varies. Bart insists on coming out to play every day and he would stay out for as long as I let him. Sunny and Moon aren't so keen on coming out. I give them the opportunity to come out every day but they only usually let me pick them up and get them out to play about twice a week. My 3 newest boys seem to want a daily playtime too.
> 
> They have probably been climbing the bars because they've not had bars before. Gerbils love new stuff. As well as giving them toilet roll tubes you can also give them cereal boxes and tissue boxes. You can also ask for cardboard tubes at carpet shops and they'll probably be happy to give you one for free. My gerbils love those. They also like paper. I make them boats and planes out of printer paper and they love chewing them up. A screwed up ball of paper works just as well too. Shredded paper is also fun for them to play with.


Thank you!  I will let them out as soon as theyre comfortable being picked up :3 Ill make sure to give them some paper often  They have demolished their carry case (what were Pets at Home thinking giving cardboard travel cases?! XD) and only seem to really chew on thin cardboard so cereal boxes will be great! Thank you again!


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Hi and welcome to the happy (and sometimes crazy) world of being a gerbil 'parent'! 

The cage sounds fine. Sitting in the bowl is fine, my 5 do that (the adults sit in one and the babies sit in one together :001_tt1
As far as I know you can't stop the digging in corners thing, my two adults do that, however the babies don't (yet). I read it happens if the pups are born in a cage without enough substrate for digging and making burrows.

Stick to the water bottle, they would of had a bottle in the shop and they could tip the bowl over, or/and kick stuff into it. Gerbils don't drink much so don't worry.

Does Darcy look fine besides not grooming? I'd be a bit worried about the non-grooming, did the Pets at Home person give you a free vet check thing, if so I'd get Darcy checked at the Pets at home vet just to be sure.

Hope I helped


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

Animallover26 said:


> Hi and welcome to the happy (and sometimes crazy) world of being a gerbil 'parent'!
> 
> The cage sounds fine. Sitting in the bowl is fine, my 5 do that (the adults sit in one and the babies sit in one together :001_tt1
> As far as I know you can't stop the digging in corners thing, my two adults do that, however the babies don't (yet). I read it happens if the pups are born in a cage without enough substrate for digging and making burrows.
> ...


Thank you for all the help!  Yep, I believe [email protected] dont keep them in the best conditions sadly so thats probably where they've got it from. I have removed the water bowl now and I have let them drink from the bottle although they seem to be chewing it a bit even though its metal. They also sometimes chew the metal on the ladder which Im a bit worried about as it can hurt their teeth - is this normal? 
Darcy looks quite healthy but her eyes dont seem as big as Amy's. Pets at home did not give a health check as ours is small and I dont think they provide that service. I want to take them to the local vets but its so expensive my parents are a bit reluctant. I might put up a picture of Darcy soon.

Thanka again!


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

DarcyGerbil said:


> Thank you for all the help!  Yep, I believe [email protected] dont keep them in the best conditions sadly so thats probably where they've got it from. I have removed the water bowl now and I have let them drink from the bottle although they seem to be chewing it a bit even though its metal. They also sometimes chew the metal on the ladder which Im a bit worried about as it can hurt their teeth - is this normal?
> Darcy looks quite healthy but her eyes dont seem as big as Amy's. Pets at home did not give a health check as ours is small and I dont think they provide that service. I want to take them to the local vets but its so expensive my parents are a bit reluctant. I might put up a picture of Darcy soon.
> 
> Thanka again!


Your welcome, As they are chewing the metal on the bottle, it might be the water isn't flowing, or not flowing very well, just tap the end to make sure the water is flowing properly because sometimes the little ball inside can get stuck. If it is flowing properly I have no idea except that it might just be something they have 'learnt' if they had no chews in the store.

As for the metal ladder, sorry I have no idea, yes it can damage their teeth but it depends how much they chew I suppose, if it is a lot I'd recommend seeing if you can get wooden ladders instead.

It'd be nice to see a photo of them both, hopefully Darcy will start grooming herself soon.


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

Animallover26 said:


> Your welcome, As they are chewing the metal on the bottle, it might be the water isn't flowing, or not flowing very well, just tap the end to make sure the water is flowing properly because sometimes the little ball inside can get stuck. If it is flowing properly I have no idea except that it might just be something they have 'learnt' if they had no chews in the store.
> 
> As for the metal ladder, sorry I have no idea, yes it can damage their teeth but it depends how much they chew I suppose, if it is a lot I'd recommend seeing if you can get wooden ladders instead.
> 
> It'd be nice to see a photo of them both, hopefully Darcy will start grooming herself soon.


They've learnt that you don't have to bite it to get the water now so they are drinking normally  
They only chew it around once every other day but they seem to have stopped now  I've been looking out for a wooden one just in case! I also saw Amy grooming Darcy yesterday and Darcy grooming herself so it should be fine. She seems a bit camera shy though xD


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

DarcyGerbil said:


> They've learnt that you don't have to bite it to get the water now so they are drinking normally
> They only chew it around once every other day but they seem to have stopped now  I've been looking out for a wooden one just in case! I also saw Amy grooming Darcy yesterday and Darcy grooming herself so it should be fine. She seems a bit camera shy though xD


Great, delighted that everything is working out, maybe all this chewing/biting of things and Darcy not grooming herself was due to the stress of the move/everything being new.

Re being a bit camera shy do you have the flash on? Since I learnt how to turn the flash off my camera my furries aren't bothered by the camera, as soon as the flash is used they run or dig away faster then you can say gerbil!


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

Animallover26 said:


> Great, delighted that everything is working out, maybe all this chewing/biting of things and Darcy not grooming herself was due to the stress of the move/everything being new.
> 
> Re being a bit camera shy do you have the flash on? Since I learnt how to turn the flash off my camera my furries aren't bothered by the camera, as soon as the flash is used they run or dig away faster then you can say gerbil!


Yes that seems very likely!  
I have had the flash off but she seems to be getting used to the camera now. She's quite hard to get photos of as shes the most active, always staying up later than Amy  But I have one photo of her now.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

You never know, she might become a model then she will pose every time she hears the camera!


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## DarcyGerbil (Jul 23, 2013)

Probably, if she ever stops chewing!


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## Leon64 (Aug 20, 2013)

DarcyGerbil said:


> Hi all!  This is going to be a very long post so I'll be extremely thankful to anyone who takes the time to read it all!
> 
> We have just bought two female gerbils (named Darcy and Amy) on Thursday. They are around 8 weeks old and look very healthy. They are very inquisitive and friendly and love sniffing our hands and coming over to us when we open the cage to sort anything out. I have spent a few months prior to buying them researching everything I could but I'm still very worried they are not as happy as they could be! I would greatly appreciate if anyone would let me know if what we are doing/have done is the best we could and how we could improve anything
> 
> ...


Well done for taking so much care over your gerbils! I'm going to try to answer a few questions, I currently have 4 gerbils, & have had 4 in the past, so I have a bit of experience, as well as lots of research, under my belt!

The cage you have is the best commercially available one that I have seen so far - the bars are a great bonus as gerbils love variety & would become bored easily if restricted to one level. I made my own cage from a 3 storey cage and an 84 litre bin - it cost about £65 all together, but if you decided it was something you wanted to do in the future, you could always look into selling your current cage. (NB changing cage can be stressful for older gerbils, only do that for younger ones unless absolutely necessary) I made a blog about how I made my gerbils' cage: New Arrivals, & How I Built Their House

Positioning the cage, gerbils like to have things going on around them (obviously not very loud things like screaming children, or a TV on full blast!) so if you have a relatively quiet living room they could go in & be more integrated with the family I'm sure they'd enjoy the company - that should also stop them keeping you awake too!!

I personally opted to keep the wire platforms clear because I was concerned about ventilation for the tank part - just a point to consider. As they're young they have adapted to walking on the wire very well & haven't been hurt by it, obviously it wouldn't be a good main floor for them but as a secondary area I think it's ok.

I wouldn't worry about them falling off things unless onto a hard/pointed surface - they're very resilient & also very inquisitive - they love to explore.

Regarding the water bottle, I would recommend a "Honey & Hopper" (I think the brand is Trixie?) glass bottle as chemicals leak into the water from the plastic ones & you will often find that, if given the choice, animals will only drink from glass bottles. Always remember to check that it's working when you put it back in though - you can use your hand & also watch for bubbles in the bottle when the gerbils drink - that means they're getting water.

Climbing the bars definitely isn't a sign of unhappiness - just curiosity. Watch out for excessive bar chewing though - that could indicate boredom & not enough to chew on/play with in the cage.

I'm using this: Back 2 Nature Small Animal Bedding 30L | Pets at Home for their bedding at the moment, mixed with some hay, which they love.

I too was forced into buying from pets at home, but happily I have a friend who works there so I was able to find out a bit more about their background than I would have otherwise. I switched to gerri gerbil as soon as I could get my hands on it - I mixed it for an evening with the PAH food & threw the rest away the next day & just used gerri gerbil, they adjusted fine & even prefer it! I would let them pick what they want until you get the gerri gerbil food because some of the ingredients in PAH food are genetically modified, they'll likely know instinctively which ones they are & be inclined to leave them out.

I wouldn't feed them pet shop dog treats - although I know many people do - because of the stuff that goes into it, I wrote a blog about it here: Behind The Scenes In Pet Food Manufacturing I hope you find it useful. As for mealworms, it's a personal choice, but there are many reports and anecdotal evidences of a meat free diet being more beneficial to health (there's some about that in the blog too).

With fresh food, a little a couple of times a week should be ok, but it varies with individual gerbils so keep an eye on them & their stools. The most important thing is to watch that they don't stow it away and let it go bad.

I have some chinchilla sand (you probably know it's important that it's sand, not dust) in a wainwright "hug bowl" from PAH and I keep in in the cage & change the sand every day, one gerbil has a bath in it every morning when I change it, sometimes the others do too, then for the rest of the day they use it as a toilet!!

They will appreciate as much handling as you can spare them time for, after the initial 24 hrs, set about taming them & gradually get them out for longer periods. Ideally, do it while they're still young so they adapt quicker & you are less likely to get bitten! Make sure you don't smell of food when you handle them, & when picking them up, always try to do it by cupping your hands around them & scooping them up, not picking them up from above, as this could scare them.

Young gerbils especially will try out the thumping thing - it's all part of growing up & learning about their methods of communication  as long as they don't seem distressed, don't worry, just keep an eye!

It's fine for them to go to bed at different times, you could liken it to siblings - if they always went to bed at exactly the same time it would be a bit odd! Also some grow quicker than others & so need more sleep.

As someone else said, the sand should help promote grooming, but it needs to be introduced while young (as do a wheel & salt/mineral lick if you choose to use one) otherwise some gerbils won't bother learning how to use it.

You can do some research on gender checking, and once you know what to look for, put them one at a time in a glass container & get someone to hold it for you while you look underneath - that's how I checked that all my boys were boys. If you're still worried you could take them to a vet if you have a good local one, but that would be much more stressful for the gerbs. Once you are convinced they are same sex, don't worry if you see them mounting each other occasionally.....I believe it's a bit like when dogs do it for the sake of it & it can be anything they're mounted on!!

It's great that you care so much about your new family members, I wish more people did! You can get a probiotic from PAH which I am going to try on a daily basis, you might want to check that out.

I hope i've been of some help here!:thumbsup:


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