# Pic Heavy - my awesome custom built - designed by myself gerbil tank!!!!



## kat04kt

So my new gerbil tank arrived today! I designed it myself - but obviously it was a company who made it - so I had no idea how it was going to look when it actually turned up! I love it, more importantly, Itsy, Bitsy and Ditsy love it! They have access to a wheel now all day long - in the perfecto it got buried in substrate! I've put pictures up and you can see how much bigger and deeper it is than the perfecto. I'm proper chuffed with it. Although I don't even want to go into how much it cost - so far it's the most expensive cage I've bought by miles! Then again I just found such a lack of suitable gerbil homes on the market. I felt I had no choice. It's money well spent.




























So far the substrate is dust free woodshavings, megazorb, hay and tissue paper - I throw a box in for them to destroy.

Within all the substrate is lots of little boxes and wooden tunnels - unfortunately you can't see them, but they are in there! I had to go back to the petshop this evening to buy more hay and substrate because I ran out!

I don't like using shavings but I'm still at a loss as to what I should be giving them that will allow them to create tunnels and burrow - megazorb just isn't quite up to the job and provides no structure, it just collapses. Shavings is slightly better - and from the advice I found on the egerbil website it seemed to suggest that most gerbil fanatics were fine with shavings.

I bought some dessert sand by a company called monkfish - it's for reptiles, it was really expensive though - £8 for a small bag and I'd need atleast 25 bags to get the right depth, so that's not really an option. I need to research whether they can actually use it aswell! I've not put it in because I'm not sure if it's safe.

Anyway, more suggestions on better substrate would be really appreciated!

Enjoy the pics!
xxxx


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## Crittery

kat04kt said:


> I don't like using shavings but I'm still at a loss as to what I should be giving them that will allow them to create tunnels and burrow - megazorb just isn't quite up to the job and provides no structure, it just collapses.


IIf you use megazorb and then add some layers of hay it helps support the tunnels, can get some really good networks going that way 

Love the tank, it looks amazing for them! Plenty of room for a sand bath at the top as well.


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## metame

i love it, tht's mazing!


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## Jarhead

Wow you are megga awesome


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## purple_x

oh. my. god!!!! It's like a gerbil palace!

Can I ask a few nosy question 
Where did it come from?
Would they deliver to me in Cambs?
What are the dimensions on the tank?
And roughly how much did it cost?

I will be moving in april and want to upgrade all my babies too


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## LostGirl

wow that is amazing!


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## Obzocky

Lovely setup, very impressive cage. No wonder your gerbils are enjoying themselves .

Personally I use a mix of aspen (the kind used for snake substrate), hay and finacard, i've found it allows for very stable tunnels. But it's an expensive mix, I would not have bothered with it if I hadn't of brought it in bulk. I'm not keen on sand as a substrate, nice for a sand bath or play pen but I find it needs to be mixed in with soil/kept damp for any sort of tunnel stability, it also tends to be cold and just generally not something i'd use for gerbil substrate.

Your current mix is good, it's definitely a popular one .


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## GerbilNik

That is awesome. I love it. Large amount of space, great depth for digging and also the shelf area for some toys to play with. Fantastic :thumbsup:


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## kat04kt

Aww thanks everyone! Best bit the sliding door also come completely away, but it's perfect for sitting in a chair with my arm in the tank - without bending, stooping etc - and I've been able to interact with them so much more already!

I can just sit there for an hour and while their playing just play with them, give them my arm and hands to climb all over. 

I couldn't do that in the Perfecto, so I used a ferplast duna to transfer them too - which could be a mission in itself - but now I just roll my desk chair over (the tank is at the side of my workspace) and it's play time and then can come on out whenever they please.....only issue is - how much work am I actually going to get done now? hehe


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## kat04kt

purple_x said:


> oh. my. god!!!! It's like a gerbil palace!
> 
> Can I ask a few nosy question
> Where did it come from?
> Would they deliver to me in Cambs?
> What are the dimensions on the tank?
> And roughly how much did it cost?
> 
> I will be moving in april and want to upgrade all my babies too


It was made by a one man run company - custom aquaria. He specialises in making tanks for snakes and turtles. When I was looking for a suitable tank I called a reptile shop to ask about their tanks and he put me onto this guy. His name is Matthew and he's just the nicest guy. Website is: CustomAquaria_home

He's based in Northampton and he personally drove to my house to deliver it at no extra charge

The dimensions are - 90cm long, 50cm wide and 75cm tall.

It cost a whooping £160..........

However, he explained that the price jumps up quite considerably when you go from one bracket to another in terms of glass size. Depending on what size you wanted and how many shelves and levels inside - I think you could get something cheaper. Alternatively, you could go even bigger. The dimensions and what you want is really up to you. He'll work with you to say what's possible but you generally tell him what you want and he puts it together 

xxxx


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## purple_x

Thank you for answering my questions hun, £160 is less than I thought you were gonna say so it's possible for me to afford one for each pair of my gerbs, yay!

Sorry for all the questions but that tank really is just amazing and I want one!
Does the whole top/lid come off for easy cleaning?


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## niki87

Sorry only just seen this but it is amazing!!


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## kat04kt

purple_x said:


> Thank you for answering my questions hun, £160 is less than I thought you were gonna say so it's possible for me to afford one for each pair of my gerbs, yay!
> 
> Sorry for all the questions but that tank really is just amazing and I want one!
> Does the whole top/lid come off for easy cleaning?


It has sliding doors at the front that come away but not the top lid. I'm sure he'd be able to make it that way for you though - but I guess if you had it the same height you'd need something lower down or you'd never be able to clean it. He could probably do both. I like the sliding doors, makes it easy to sit next to them with your arms in.

Honestly, though he's the nicest guy, give him a bell and talk through different things - he'll be chuffed he's getting awesome reviews on a forum


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## JonathanR

Wow - that's one amazing tank.

I know it was quite expensive - but actually much less than I expected. Thanks for sharing. I know who to call when I need a new tank.


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## kat04kt

JonathanR said:


> Wow - that's one amazing tank.
> 
> I know it was quite expensive - but actually much less than I expected. Thanks for sharing. I know who to call when I need a new tank.


To be fair when he quoted me, I did think the same thing - after spending an hour going through what I wanted and he said he'd call me back I was thinking, he's going to come back and say £350-400 isn't he? So when he said about £160 - I was like SOLD! haha. Still, it's the most expensive tank/cage that I've bought. Even my guinea pig's pad didn't cost that much, they're in a C&C though - 170cm long, 120cm wide - it's great all my animals have a tonne of space - me? Not so much, I'm the one squashed in a corner, haha!

xx


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## emzybabe

wow what a lovely home!  money well spent. I bet its going to be messy to clean out tho.


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## 5headh

Talking about substrate my gerbils have compost and sawdust in layers... This makes me think I'm doing something wrong?!


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## kat04kt

emzybabe said:


> wow what a lovely home!  money well spent. I bet its going to be messy to clean out tho.


I'm trying not to think about it......haha. It's too heavy to lift aswell. Might look at seeing if I can get a customised stand to put it on so that it's on wheels. I'm thinking line the floor with newspaper, get a big dustbin and some sort of shovel type thing and get at it that way! 
xx


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