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Choosing Your Gerbil
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Please Please Please do not just get one gerbil to put in a tank all by him/her self! They will become lonely! Gerbils are -NOT- solitary animals! They need a furry gerbil companion! The following are the combinations of *2* gerbils that will work:
- 2 Females ->No more Then *2* because the females will fight for the dominent role! Females are the dominent gender in the Gerbil world! Yes their are cases of three or more females but for beginer gerbilists just get two!
- 2, 3, or 4 Males! Males get along with eachother better!
- 1 Male & 1 Female! Make shure you are doing this only if you want to breed but please make shure you know enough and have read alot about breeding gerbils!
-->Never Ever<--
- Put 2 or more females with a male(they'll fight for the male)
- 2 or more males with a female(they'll fight over the female)
- 2 or More Females together (they'll fight over dominence)
- 1 Female -or more- with pups (they'll kill the pups and then eachother)
When getting your gerbils it is best to get them from a breeder! Getting a gerbil from a petshop should be your last choice! When you get your gerbil look for these things:
- Shiny Eyes Are Great!
- Great Temperment! The gerbils that come up to your hand and dont bite you and explore on your hand when you put it in the tank.
- Make shure your gerbilsare not itching constantly! This means they might have fleas or ticks or some other deseise!
Buying from breeders is better because they handle the pups (baby gerbils) from birth and they tend to tell the pups' gender better and correctly where as buying from a petshop the clerks mostly guess!!
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Gerbil Homes
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Before you go out and get your gerbil make shure you have a home ready! I Highly Highly Highly recomend getting a glass aquarium. A 10, 15, -or- 20 gallon is best suited for a pair of gerbils. Please dont cram three or more gerbils into a 10 gallon or smaller! Its okay TEMPERARILY but not for long! Gerbils love big areas [there from the dessert]. I dont recomend plastic or wire cages because their noses can get red, (if your breeding) the pups (baby gerbils) can get kicked out of the care, its harder to get them out and clean the cage. Just honestly try to stick to a glass aquarium =\ Now what to put in your cage? Here:
- 1 in. of ASPEN, CAREFRESH, CORNCOB bedding. Do NOT use CEDER -or- PINE!! It can KILL your gerbil! Please don't use Ceder -or- Pine! When I mean 1 inch i mean 1 inch all around the cage
Aspen->
<-CareFresh- A House of some sort! Gerbils love to hide!
- 1 waterbottle that can hook on to a cage. Make shure you have fresh water offered DAILY for your gerbils! Yes gerbils need water just like any one like me and you!
- A food dish with food in it! Your gerbil will burry the food (Kick Bedding over the bowl) and cover it all up. This is normal because in the wild they store their food under ground.
- Gerbils love to make nests. Especially when they are having babies. I give my gerbils unscented toilet paper which they shread up and love to make their nests in.
- Give your gerbil some type of toy. Gerbils are very active and love to have stuff to do. You can give them boxes, toilet paper tubes, paper towl tubes, cleaned out jars, ceramic bowls or cups or vases. You can buy gerbil toys from stores but make sure there is no dye or else they can make your gerbils sick =(
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Cleaning Time!
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Cleaning. HOW? WHEN? WHAT? WHERE? Gerbils love to make messes! It's your responsibility to clean up after them and keep them in a safe, friendly, and clean envirement. Want to know what I do? I change the bedding once a week and every two weeks I wash the tanks, bowls, water bottles, glass jars, ceramics, and anything else that I can wash REALLY good! I have 2 gerbil balls, a wire holding cage, and a holding tank which I use to hold gerbils in when I clean their cages.
I start with one tank and do one at a time. I take the tank and empty the bedding out into a garbage bag. I can reuse it so I just put it so its out of my way. I have a HUGE laundry room with a tubish like thing!
I put the tank on the counter and start up some warm water. I have a little scoop that is made from a plastic milk container with the top cut off. Its perfect to hold water because it has a handle and then pour it into the empty glass aqurium.
I fill it up twice and just let it soak for 2 minutes. I empty the tank and fill it up four times with the scoop with hot/warm water again and scrub the bottom and sides with a fresh sponge REALLY good and empty it. I repeat this again and dry it out with some clean 'pet towls'. I take a paper towl and put some glass cleaner on it and clean the OUTSIDE ONLY! This is so there are no finger prints and keeps the tank lookin good! ;O After all the jars and water bottles and dishs are soacked in HOT water for 15 minutes and indivudually cleaned out really good I return the belongings to all the tanks and add the gerbils who enjoy there cleaned tank and dirty it up.
I get to do this all again in 2 weeks. YAY =)
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Food
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Basically for food you can use any type of comercial food that is meant for gerbils. I use to use Forti-Diet and picked out all of the peanuts and sunflower seeds (and used them as treats) and fed them the rest of whats left. =) This is good but got annoying!
SO now I use different food that I dont have to pick out the sunflower seeds! Soon I am going to mix my own gerbil food. BTW I had to pick out the 'fatty' seeds because it will result in your gerbil being large and unhealthy. I advise you take out the fatty seeds too! =)