View Single Post
Old 11-20-2018, 01:14 AM  
Ellie Bee
Newborn Pup
 
Ellie Bee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: East Of England, UK
Posts: 30
Default Re: Good gerbil cages please?

Sorry I'm a bit late, just wanted to add something on. I'm on a gerbil forum as well as here, and the general consensus is that the reason people would opt for smaller tanks with gerbils than hamsters is the risk of de-clanning. This is when two or more gerbils fall out after becoming territorial over different parts of the cage, leading to fighting and having to separate the gerbs (there have been accounts of successful re-introduction by the split cage method and then placing them in a smaller permanent home than before). The best way to combat this it seems is to give them lot of height and burrowing space, but not necessarily as much floor space as hamsters. My gerbil pairs have always been happy in glass tanks (~400 sq inches) but I have noticed a correlation between reports of de-clanning and tanks being bigger than or the same as the American 40 gallon tanks. These seem to be 570-650 sq inches depending on the type you get, so I would aim for a tall tank or gerbilarium with topper with between 400 and 500 square inches of floorspace.


Hope this helps, good luck with your new critters if you get some!
__________________
Forever in my heart:
Hamsters - Harriet, Bubbles, Firefly, Nibbles, Willow, Henry, Cookie, Munchkin, Fluffy, Daisy.
Gerbils - Salt, Pepper, Treacle, Sparky, Muffin, Sandy. Cats - Mabel, Molly
Ellie Bee is offline   Reply With Quote