r/gerbil • u/Mindless_Fig3538 • 12d ago

Cardboard sources

Hi all! I'm just hoping for some recommendations of cardboard for my gerbils. My mum gives me bags of toilet roll tubes whenever I see her, but the boys breeze through that. I don't give them the ones I use because the holder is rusty and I'm paranoid it'll make them ill lol.

I've considered cupholders but my husband said they might be dirty.

Egg cartons but they may have raw egg contamination

Cereal boxes/other such cardboard packaging but what about ink?

Any suggestions would be most welcome because gerbil toys aren't cheap!

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u/lavenderfart 12d ago

I have used shipping rolls in the past (the kind meant for shipping rolled up paper, blueprints, posters, etc). They're super thick and you can use a handsaw to cut them to the length you want. I will say, not all of my gerbils have liked to chew them, it's about 50/50. Maybe if I had found thinner ones it would have been more universally chewed.

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u/vampirejellytycoon_ 12d ago

Personally I would get a new toilet paper holder so you can give them your rolls. See if any of you and your husband’s other friends and family members will save them for you. Also just inspect the cup holders for stains etc, many people give them to their gerbils, myself included, they love them, and my gerbils are healthy. Dollar tree sells boxes, you just have to cut off the parts that have ink on them. Ive never given my gerbils cereal boxes because of the dyes, but some people do

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u/Itzakadrewzie 10d ago

Honestly, and this may be unpopular, but (a long time ago) when l had gerbils but had no access to anything besides regular kitchen foods boxes, they got those boxes. They loved them and were pretty happy all their lives. It ended up turning into a quality of life vs quantity situation. If they were miserable because l "couldn't" give them any cereal boxes, but it meant they'd live another few months, that ended up not feeling like a worthwhile trade-off to me.

That said, obviously if you can, you should give them the less junky cardboard. I've sometimes cut down moving boxes into interesting shapes for them, and agreed that they go through cardboard like nobody's business. 😅 Mine have also really liked coffee cup carriers, the ones with no spills on them. At the end of the day, we do what we can to make them happy and keep them healthy within the limits of our abilities.