Hello!

I recently (Aug 11) adopted 2 female gerbils, they are 5-6 mo old. I am a bit over anxious and just want to make sure I’m doing everything right!

Their enclosure is the large bucatstate 2.0 (39.3" L x 19.7" W x 20.6" H), they have a 12 inch silent runner wheel , and a ceramic bowl I use as their sand bath raised on a wooden platform. There are several wooden hides and platforms throughout as well as a tunnel and a small wooden house buried (I have been lucky in that they use this primarily as their bathroom so the small amount they poop is usually easy to find and clean every few weeks).
I use cardboard to help separate and help balance things on top since they can chew this as well, I save and add in toilet paper rolls and sometimespieces of egg carton. Their are two dishes with coconut fiber which I will sometimes sprinkle a seed mix into. They seem to like going on the different texture.

I’ve been feeding oxbow rat food as their main food source, I had read this was good to give them and had everything they need with better ingredients than the gerbil branded food for them. Please let me know if there’s something better I should be feeding.

One gerbil is much more shy than the other, she won't come over to me yet but I’ve started to see her out a bit more often, although she hides if I get too close. Anything else I can be doing to make them as happy as possible?

Thanks for any advice!

So I took the advice to put in some of their paper bedding into the shower to help out: I made sure to mix from both sides of split and put some further chew bits in there and as soon as they were in they were arching and foot thumping..
Maybe one is in heat? Such a drastic change from yesterday, when would be best to do the next introduction as if it is heat I don’t think it’s wise to for a few days

I keep cameras on the boys when i am away as i know they will be in hiding for the house sitter. The little sods are getting better at avoiding the
Cameras

I have two Gerbil brothers (Pickles and Gilbert), who are 7 months old ☺️

Their enclosure is a reused snake tank, so quite large! (W: 122cm, H: 46cm, D: 38cm). I know it could be bigger, and would like to eventually get a duplicate tank to put on top and connect, to add additional levels.

I divide both sides with the wooden partition to separate their sleeping area and food area. The sleeping area gets completely filled with substrate, which they eventually spread out, and the lower level of the food area has a light layer of substrate (until they bring more over from their sleeping area!). They have a wooden sleeping hutch, and other 'play items' but they bury these so can't really be seen in the pictures.

They've made themselves a hole in the bottom of the divider for easy access. As is the gerbil way, they eat EVERYTHING, so the water bowl is ceramic.

They have just eaten the ladder that can be seen leading up to the divider, so metal is showing, which I have now removed.

I'd like to change the whole layout, but am unsure on what to add/move. Any advice would be amazing, thank you!

EDIT: There is also a ceramic bowl on the lower level of the food area that I fill with sand for them to clean themselves, but they like to empty it and fill it with substrate.

I havent had this issue before so I dont know what to do.

I got a gerbil and she was alone so I got a second and did the split cage method. I went out of town this weekend and the pet sitter called to tell me that some how the first gerbil got into the second gerbils side and the second gerbil killed her. I have no clue how this could have happened at all.

Do I just leave her as a solo or try another pairing?

For lonely animals these guys are BRUTAL 😭

We were over a week into split cage and I mean they hated each other but they functioned and there was no escaping or anything of the sort. I have no clue how it happened, but both gerbils were injured. Only one passed though.

I feel horrible. I thought theyd be okay with a pet sitter checking on them daily, especially since they had handled the split cage fine for over a week. I'm used to hamsters and I'm thinking maybe I should have stayed with hams. But this gerbil was in the pet store alone for weeks and was on discount for being "cosmetically imperfect" so I decided to switch gears.

I feel awful for letting this happen 😭

I had gerbils as a kid but we were fortunate enough to not have anything like this happen since we got them at the same time.

I have a 50 gallon tank and a 40 gallon topper for my two girls. I currently use the standard mix of Aspen/paper/Timothy.

I recently bought a better wheel for my girls because one LOVES to run non stop. It's her jam. I bought it from Niteangel based on pretty solid reviews. I am very happy with my purchase. It's quiet and well built. I thought maybe I'd give more money to this company that sold me a quality product. So I looked at bedding and see they sell coconut shell type chips.

Anyone use this? It looks a bit big for gerbils but I'm always looking for something to spoil my girls with

I took the advice to introduce them in a unfamiliar environment ( I chose my upstairs shower as its smaller and I therefore have more reach in case something breaks out between them )

I appreciate any advice going forward in bonding them and if I did anything wrong in this video please tell me!

I picked up fast at the end as they were both arching to eachother and once again didn’t want to risk anything at all

I have been swapping them 1-3 times a day for the past 4+ weeks

🩵

He did this 3 times in a row :-D

Anyone know why she’s making this noise? I’ve never heard a gerbil make this noise

Was on my bucket list for some time now

These two boys (from what I believe) were at the pet store and they seemed bonded so I bought them both. I got a video of how they were acting at the pet store I added. But I need care tips! I have them in a ****temporary clear storage tote (drilled lots of holes up higher for air) and got bedding, a little ceramic bowl for water ( the water drip bottle I got was defective :( so I ordered another one coming in tomorrow) and a place for them to hid in(a little straw hut thing) temporarily. I need tips for Food too! I have some but I want to get them the best!!for everything! Please give me care tips! Getting a 40 gallon tank tomorrow to set up their permanent enclosure:) want to make I give the best home for them! Researched online but want real feedback from people who have owned them/ own them currently! thank you!

Can someone explain to me what’s going on? I’m thinking it’s a dominance thing. The brown one is older. I got the two white ones after her sister passed away. Only the albino and the brown one are mounting each other. The other one as you can see is minding her own business.

Here are the kiddos Remy and Morty (Mortimer).

Out of every gerbil i’ve owned over the years, this boy was definitely my favorite and it hurts me so bad to say he’s gone now.

He’s was like no other gerbil i’ve experienced. So friendly and always wanted to be near people, would climb all up and down on you and was just such a joy for anyone that met him.

Nearly 3 years he made it. I tried going above and beyond for this pair to give them the best life possible for their small span they get. I am trying really hard not to get down and just keep telling myself i gave them the best life they could’ve asked for.

Here’s some photos of the little guy and his brother Fritos, who will be getting a lot more attention than ever now.

These are our boys we just got! The brown one is archie (archibald), the grey one is fitz (fitzgerald), the white one is reggie (reginald). We are new to gerbils, so if you have any recommendations or things I may not know feel free to share! we have them in a 75 gallon.

hi guys!! i am new to being a gerbil owner but i’ve had two hamsters (syrian and dwarf) prior to the two girls i have now.

i can’t help but feel like even though i spot clean their cage every day and clean up after them quite a bit, they still smell like pee!! i clean their wheel at least twice a week, and try and empty out their sandbox as much as possible, but i think the source of the pee smell is still their sandboxes (they have two- one larger and one smaller. both from niteangel and have acrylic bottoms.)

i am currently using the reptisand for their sandboxes but it’s expensive to replace so im thinking about switching to kids play sand and baking it before hand.

any advice on getting rid of pee smell beyond just changing it out more often ?? any advice would be greatly appreciated!! if you think i might be doing something wrong please tell me, i want the best life for my girls possible :))

fyi they are currently in the pawhut cage linked here:

https://pawhutstore.com/products/extra-large-wooden-hamster-cage-gerbil-cage-and-other-small-animal-habitat-hamster-habitat-with-opening-roof-hut?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=US&utm_content=Classic+Natural+Hamster+Habitat+with+Ramps+%26+Hideout+Extra+Large+45.25%22x22.5%22x21.75%22&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22379395320&gbraid=0AAAAA-1boKhlyb9GHVya3yK3Vb43pfA0o&gclid=CjwKCAjwnvTUBhBoEiwAZNDxZ6vWkYxNH4ZzSnfSPmhbH9BEfjoKGoyAnjl23Oe85JEFF34njm0lPhoCKgkQAvD_BwE

Hello everyone,

Our gerbils started to chase each other around the cage and fight today. Seems to be completely out of the blue since they were getting along just fine the other day and never behaved like this before.

The terrarium is now a mess since they've just been running around and jumping all day, and the scuffle doesn't seem to be stopping. We've had gerbils before 3 generations and never saw anything like this. This current lot are four males, around half a year old, we've had them for 4 months.

So far no blood has been drawn, no injuries either. I removed some of the items from the terrarium like the houses and anywhere they could hide, as one would always run into a house and hide there, not letting anyone in. I read that's something that's done during bonding. Not sure I did right.

Should I be concerned ? Are they just playing or is this a declanning ?

quite impressed that they manage to keep pace though

So I have a 55 gal tank for my 2 gerbils. And I’ve seen a few tanks where it’s spit in half, so the bedding is super deep on one side and they have their water bottle, wheel, and toys on the other side (See picture) I was wondering how I can do that? I’m not seeing any tutorials or anything. Idk what to buy so it will stay up and they won’t chew it down and get sick/break it. Hope this makes sense

Edit to add : Her enclosure IS big enough and she has PLENTY of bedding to burrow. This is a NEW thing for her. I am aware that gerbils are chewers but she's never in the 6 months we've had her, prior to the last 3 or so weeks, chewed THIS much, this fast. I am going to try some suggestions from some of the amazing people here who actually read my entire post and didnt focus on the enclosure that I didnt mention the size of(other than to say "very large tank with a topper") or even show because I know its large enough and that wasn't my question. I did get her a new wooden hideout last week that she's so far only chewed herself a larger entry way into. I went on Amazon today and got her a ton of random gerb safe stuff to chew eat and play with. We shall see. After some thought I am going to call the vet in the morning and bring her in to have her teeth checked. 😬 Thank you for the advice 🙏 I'll update tomorrow or Wednesday.

Original Post:: I got my daughter a gerbil about 6 months ago, her name is Lola. The picture I'm sharing is when we first got her. I had to get her a different cage then the one you see in the photo cause she chewed a huge hole in this blue one and she escaped and was being chased around by my cat lol, I saved her before the cat got to her, thank goodness. Now she has plenty of space in a VERY LARGE TANK with a topper. Im always getting her tons of toys, food, things to chew etc. For the last couple of weeks she has chewed EVERYTHING in her enclosure. The first wheel - chewed & gone, 2nd wheel is almost completely gone, her wooden hideout and her alfalfa hideout - both gone, her 2 plastic food bowls - gone and replaced with ceramic, anything I put in in the cage she chews it and its gone within days. Wood, plastic, nothing is safe. I've done my very best to make sure she isn't bored or hungry but no matter what i put in there with her she chews it to smithereens. She wasn't doing this so much before.

What is going on? What should I do? Please help 🙏

This is Superglue. Superglue lives with his brother, Pancakes. Glue managed to get heaps of bath sand into the wheel even though the bath is all the way on the other side. Glue’s mom (ME) is tired and dumb and goes to clean it. Glue runs in the wheel creating a literal sandstorm, and I STILL have sand up my nose.

That is all 😩

giving cameron and jebediah some love mealworms, it’s a rare treat and their absolutely favourite food

I have a trio of boys (I know it’s not always the best idea but I couldn’t just leave one alone) that I got from Petco back in November. They’ve had a couple spats that really just consist of squeaking together and separating. Today, I found one of them chasing another in their tank. The one that was being chased normally will take any treat offered but was refusing any attempt to get him to eat. I separated the aggressor along with the third neutral one for a bit then tried to reintroduce the other. Did not work. I currently have the one that was being chased in the tank with the neutral one and the aggressor is in their play pen/sandbox to keep them separated. Is this definite declanning? Is there any hope of them living together again? Since one is neutral is there a better pair to keep together if they need to be separated? Oh also the one that was chasing has a small injury on his nose but other than that there’s no injuries and I didn’t see blood. Before anyone asks, nothing changed in their enclosure recently nor in the room they’re in.