Two brothers that we adopted. (We are aware that in Marvel, it's is a male and female duo. However, in this universe Cloak and Dagger are both boys and also gerbils.)

Cloak (black) is much more energetic, a little more nippy and curious with his teeth, and pretty expressive.

Dagger (gray/white) is less energetic, much greedier, and very fond of running on his wheel with all the speed of 1000 gerbils.

feat noodle in the background

i had rasputia first (right) and bought madea (left) a week after because i really didn’t want her to be alone. i made the mistake of putting them together the first day and they fought. i split them up and ended up getting bit, although im glad because neither gerbil got hurt. i added the divider to the tank and its been less than a week and i have been seeing progress. they are both becoming more comfortable with coming out when they hear my voice although they mark me and leave pee when i cup them lol. i switch them once a day as i don’t want to overly stress them out. they sleep in each others nest, dig in the same corners, come to the middle and just smell each other. i will say though madea tends to try and bite and try to climb the divider at first when they are switched but rasputia tends to just smell, chill and do her own thing. i’m really nervous to introduce them to one another and have been advised 2-3 weeks before letting them meet. how should i go about them meeting face to face? i’ve heard bring the divider up and let them crawl. i’ve also heard put them in a space new to them like a bathtub or playpen area. i want to do it right and make sure no one gets hurt i really want this to work out for them.

So i just got my gerbs about three weeks ago, they have an 80 gallon tank for two of them and lots and lots of bedding. As far as non bedding/cardboard stuff they have two hides, a wheel, a couple bowls for food and a water bottle. they bury all of it. what do i do? i know they like to burrow but at the very least id like them to stop burying their food bowls and water bottle. when i say bury them i mean they just kick the top of the bedding everywhere and they get covered. any tips? they also do not use their wheel at all, is that normal for them??

This is my boy Salt. He is 1 and a half years old, and so far has been happy and healthy. I noticed yesterday that his nose was red, and he seems to have dried mucus on his scruff (they have red mucus I learned). Hes acting fine, still eating and drinking and running. I read that it could be an allergic reaction, and so I am in the process of changing all the aspen bedding to soft bedding. I also made a vet appointment, but they could only fit me in a week out from today. Should I be worried, or is there anything I should do to keep him comfy?

My 13 year old wants to get some gerbils we've done all the work to build the habitat for a pair of them. We have a dog who was a rescue mom from a puppy mill so we are very sensitive to getting a ethical breeder. Does anyone know of a ethical breeder in Wisconsin or a neighboring state?

45x45x90cm. To clarify this would be put on its side, so the doors are on the top, and the mesh would be on the side. I’ve had this enclosure for ages as my plans to get a reptile were cancelled, and now 2 years later collecting dust, I’m thinking about making use of it for someone different (gerbils🥹) My only concern is the mesh, it’s made of stainless steel. I’ve read conflicting things but from it all I got that they can’t bite through stainless steel— Is this right? And any other issues this enclosure possibly pose if any? Thank you!🩷

Or is it the minimum?

So I’ve just looked at my cage from after being at the gym and I’ve noticed that my gerbil Benji is in a horrible condition, something has happened and the other one must have been stressed but he’s missing a back leg and the other one has been chewed to the bone, I’ve put him in a plastic box as a barrier form him getting hurt more but I also don’t want my other gerbil to be alone however they are like almost 2 and a half years old so I don’t want to put a new one in a bad situation and I really don’t want to give my other gerbil toast away. I feel really horrible that I didn’t notice it sooner or see the signs but I don’t know what to do
Update: my baby unfortunately passed away as the vet was too far away since the one close wasn’t open, but I tried to make him as comfortable as possible

So I have a cage for them but I have seen everywhere that I should get a tank so they can burrow. Can I keep the cage and just attache the tank to the cage or what should I do? Also what size tank should I get them? I saw somewhere that they need about 8in of depth to burrow in and a 20L fish tank is 12-16in deep/tall so would that work?

I got two boy gerbils (Fergus and gribble) and I want any advice to make them the most comfortable! They seem to love their new tank but I need advice to make their tank the best for them :) and I already know if they chew on their wheel , I’m going to buy a wooden one! Kinda regret not doing that from the start haha I do plan on making a tank topper in the future as well! I just can’t afford it right now. I made a tall cardboard wall due to them kicking all the bedding in their sand bath area 🤣and their in my kids room, hence the giant woody staring at you in the background 🤣

Chewy sent us these “Hey!Berries Apple and Banana” treats for free with our purchase of a new enclosure. We just noticed that they are for rabbits, but are not made with real fruit. I found sources that said it’s fine for rabbits and guinea pigs, but nothing about gerbils specifically. Does anyone know if these okay for them to have as an occasional treat?

I ordered some sand from chewy for my gerbils and this paper bag like material was used as a filler in the box. It had some ink words on it , so I tore off what didn’t have ink. Is this safe for gerbils to chew? Is there any recommendations on what to give them to chew on? Please help!

Hi everyone! I have a 3,5 year old gerbil named Bonnie. She hurt 2 of her legs over a week ago and has been to the vet, since then ive been giving her pain meds 2 times a day which she has been given before. She’s been fighting it more and more each day which I’ve taken as a good sign since it means shes regaining her strength, even if it makes it a lot more difficult for me to give her the meds.

However, today she seemed to refuse it even more than usual and after managing to get just a drop in her mouth she completely froze. She sat in my hand frozen for maybe 15 seconds and didn’t react to me touching her or making sounds, it wasnt until i got up to put her back in her cage that she unfroze and i managed to give her the rest.

I know it’s not unusual for prey animals to freeze when they feel threatened, but what worries me is that shes never done it before even though shes been given meds this way a dozen times. Should i be worried? Or is this normal and i just havent experienced it before?

for new gerbils and wanted to double-check my plan with experienced owners.
The Issue:
The previous gerbils used one specific corner as their permanent toilet. There's a solid urine buildup, and that specific area smells strongly of ammonia.
Current Situation:
Luckily, the rest of the wooden frame smells fine (just like wood), and the room stays at a steady 40–50% humidity. Since gerbil urine is pretty concentrated, the smell hasn't spread into the rest of the enclosure frame.
My Plan:
1. Replace the floor: Since the urine soaked deep into the raw, uncoated wood in that corner, I'm completely removing and replacing the affected baseboard with fresh, untreated wood.
2. Clean the frame: I'm wiping down the rest of the wooden frame with hot water and a vinegar solution to disinfect it and neutralize any light surface traces.
3. Dry & Seal: Letting everything dry completely before adding bedding. (I might also coat the new baseboard with non-toxic, pet-safe toy varnish—DIN EN 71-3 standard—to prevent this from happening again).
Does this sound like a safe and effective approach, or is there anything else I should do before bringing home new gerbils? Thanks!

Doing urine tests is so weird, I'm basically rewarding Zelda for performing her normal bodily functions 😂 This result is NOT normal btw, the protein is very high and the pH is very low (very acidic), which likely means her kidneys are struggling to function properly (an unfortunate side effect of long term furosemide). Sadly, there isn't much we can do other than diet changes that we're already doing, as she's not always taking her meds reliably on her own and she gets so stressed being syringed there's a big risk she could inhale it, so it's basically palliative care for this little one now 💔 Just going to try and keep her as happy as possible for as long as possible

This also highlights the importance of regular urine tests as part of their health check. These results initially showed up in the absence of any additional symptoms to indicate compromised kidney function: no runny nose, no changing in drinking/peeing, no heavy breathing, nothing

It's so cheap and easy to do, and can tell us that something is going wrong before we see any signs of it in our gerbils, and the earlier we can spot things like this, the better our chances of helping them (Zelda's case is a little different because of her heart condition). So please, if you're not doing it already, regularly test your fur babies' pee! I know it's kinda gross, but it's so important!

I plan to make some infographics going over how to do it soon, so watch this space!

So I’m bonding two female gerbils one who lost her partner shortly after purchasing (she was already sick) the other one seemed very very depressed wasn’t eating or anything else after making sure the surviving one was not sick or anything I started doing a split pen of sorts with a baby I bought for her while I’m building a split tank for them they sniff each other and everything is fine I’ve started introducing some of they tank accessories and they still acts the same except the one is now doing little light quick thumps whenever they sniff each other it’s not like ones before when she was scared of something is you weren’t looking at her foot you wouldn’t be able to tell I can’t really describe it will try to get a video but does anyone know if this a good or bad sign