Process of my "Gerbilarium"

[racinghamster]

You have certainly done all the right things as far as set-up goes! The tank size is limiting though so if you can go a bit larger, that will make all the difference in the long run. Gerbils also love a sand bath, but your tank may not allow space for a permenant bath to be inside without being buried! So you could always offer the a sand bath a few times a day to roll around in and then remove it after 20 minutes and seive the sand as they tend to pee in it!

[purple_x]

That looks amazing!
And yeah it's a teeny bit too small but you know that and hopefully you'll be able to find something bigger in the future.
To start off with though, it's fine.

I love that you have so many toys and things in there for them.
Also the lid with the playpen panels allows you to put hanging toys in without them being buried, brilliant.

When I had gerbils they LOVED a whole box of tissues. I would get the cheapest box from the supermarket for just a few pennies, I'd take the lid off and then just put the whole thing in for the gerbils....so they would shred the cardboard box and have all the tissues as bedding

Mine did have wooden houses but they ate them!

And I'm 100% with you on the no wheel thing. Mine never had a wheel and they were fine.

[strawberrysmom]

How about this for a sand bath? After I took the photos and posted them it hit me I had forgotten to mention that I was also going to figure out a sand bath. I was going to do one inside a clay pot tipped on its side (smaller one) but for now I have a glass mason jar. Since it's heavy weight I hope it won't tip over too quickly. Though I'm sure it will now and again.

YES, if Petco does it's dollar a gallon sale - I need to find out how to be notified by them about that - I could afford a 40 gallon. I'm not sure the 40 gallons around here are 18 inches high though. I think most are 14 inches - and I never see long tanks. They are always high - so they aren't much longer than a 20 gallon - just higher. But it still would be an improvement. I think while they are young this tank is adequate since it's so deep for burrowing. But as they mature - I know me - I'm always the "bigger is better" ...my husband was leery of me getting this aquarium because he knew I'd end up getting something bigger later but I really felt this was a good deal and that it was a good starter home for a pair.

Now, I have a spare bin cage now because my dwarf no longer has a double decker *sigh* He stopped doing anything in the bottom decker and only hung out in the tubes connecting them (including weeing a LOT and it leaking) and now I have all his tubes wrapping around his one bin cage and he's in heaven in there. I digress - I have this extra really big bin cage and it's my Syrian's travel cage for this upcoming holiday but in general it's going to be the Gerbils play pen. Because of the meshed sides I can't do a lot of substrate like they want but they have that in their tank so now they get to have a playpen for running about. That I can do DAILY. So, I think they'll get what they need. I actually will put a safe spare wheel that is 8'' in there since it's only during play time (And a bigger sand bath) and supervised.

So, that makes me feel better about their welfare in that respect.

SO excited. Have I mentioned this yet???

Thank you everyone - they are going to be spoiled. As you guys have noticed on the hamster forum I tend to spoil them all. LOL.

My holiday will be hilarious to my mom. I'll be packing up four hamsters and a pair of gerbils, a 3 year old (his birthday is next week) and a 2 month old baby in the van to drive down to my parents for Christmas week. I don't have anyone I trust to care for them. People around here know nothing about Rodents and I don't think they'd take caring for them that seriously. Like making sure their water bottles are still working (I am obsessive about water bottles and making sure they still work. I have a slight bit of OCD).

Anyway, thank goodness I have an understanding mother who welcomes my posse of rodents into her home for a week. LOL. She endured my millions of mice and fish and ferrets when I was growing up.

Now I just have to pick up a temporary Bin for the Gerbils for the holiday week. I plan to double up the bins - (they'd have to chew through two bins to get out). I have a lot of lids to mesh between now and then.

[alli624]

I love your gerbilarium, your gerbils are very lucky x

[alli624]

Just one question what the bit of cage for inside your tank?, your gerbils may just knaw at this and annoy you lol x

[Queen Of The High Teas]

Just a tip Strawberry, if you plan on keeping them in a bedroom, or where you want to watch TV/get peace and quiet DONT put a clay pot or metal one in the tank. The noise it makes when they start digging under and around it, and bang it against the glass sides is HORRENDOUS. Seriously. I had to bring the tank in one night as I'd been painting the shed out and I forgot that there was a clay pot and a metal bread tin (sandbath) in it. I got a sharp sudden reminder at 1am that morning when the most awful sound imagineable in the dead of night ripped through the entire house and woke everyone up

[strawberrysmom]

My new babies! They were in this tiny container in the back room of the store. They aren't selling gerbils well so they leave them in the back and keep only hamsters and and bigger rodents out there that do sell well. I was in horror when they brought them to me and they were in this TINY space. UGH. I was thrilled to get them. It turned into almost like a rescue situation. I feel like contacting Petsmart and giving them a piece of my mind. I hope that is just the local branch that does that and not all of them. Needless to say they went nuts (in a great way) in their gerbilarium once I put them in there.

I love them so much! They are awesome! And SO cute. Mercury is actually the black one named after Freddie. And Lennon (After John obviously) is the brown one - he is dark brown with speckles of darker brown. Almost like a Brindle coat you'd see on a dog. Beautiful boys!!


And here is the latest with the habitat. I found this awesome coconut dangle thing. It's blocked in view by that white cardboard corner protector thing (to protect the edges of something I ordered once) It's like a little hanging perch thing but actually for birds. I want to get one for my Syrian Bob too. He's love it! It also has wood hanging from ropes off of it too but you can't see it. And one of those cute dispenser things you can put paper, veggies, fruits, or hay in for guinea pigs and rabbits usually. I didn't take many pictures of their activity while they were active because we tried to leave them alone to get settled. But as you can imagine they covered and played with every inch of this aquarium and already have tunnels done.

Purple_x - I love that tissue idea!!!! (Just saw you post though it was ahead of my last one??? Somehow missed it). I knew I had to have a lid that was bars so I could dangle things. I am nuts over dangling stuff. I still have some wooden dangle toys on the way from online but I got a couple things from the petstore today when we picked up the guys!

ali and wobbles - I realized this when they got in the mason jar and were going wild with the sand bath and then getting under and burrowing - it was clattering against the glass. I took it out. I'm going to have a big sand bath for them in their daily play pen (bin cage) with higher sides. They had over half the sand kicked out in just a few seconds! But they went NUTS over it.

Anyway, they are thankfully in the living room or else I WOULD go crazy hearing that chatter. And the wire bits inside are from an old cage. I just thought they'd like them as ladders but I ended up taking them out because they seem to care less for them and they have enough going on in there as it is.

And I took the toilet paper roll out. I plan to put it in there tomorrow. I kinda realized I had sensory overload for them for their first day. LOL

[HammieandMerlin]

saw the names and made the connection immediately lol You couldn't have made two better name selections. Love it. And they are going to be two very spoiled gerbils. PS I love how both of us have been on here since July and our pet families have like.....exploded in size :P

[strawberrysmom]

LOL! It's true! I got Strawberry in July and he was our first critter and look at our furry family now!!! It's amazing! I have to get a new banner for my signature now too! Well, once I take some up close shots of them!!

[pinkneon]

*Gets a plane to your house* ... I'm moving in - never mind the gerbils! I'll be really good I promise and I am already toilet trained!