brought home 2 gerbils

[Jenn]

My honey bear hamster died 2 days ago. His name was Sambo and he was about 2 1/2 years when he died. I had always wanted a hammy when I was a kid and my parents wouldn't let me have one, so I was excited to get one for my boys when they were the right age. Of course I bonded to him more than anyone one else, since I'm the animal nut!

I set out yesterday to get another hammy, but got two gerbils instead. The petstores only sell syrian hamsters that can't have cagemates and I wanted 2 animals to house together. I never realized how fun gerbils are. They are sooooo cute and they romp around and wrestle. Today they have been gathering bedding and hay to put into their house. They are incredibly messy, but I'm used to chin mess and parakeets' messes, so what's one more mess! They are 2 boys from the same litter and are very friendly. Of course, I'm going to have to spoil them like crazy. I'm so sorry my hammy died, but these 2 little guys are going to be so much fun!

 

[eroomlorac]

I had gerbils when I was a teenager. Very active, busy and fun. Always moving except when sleeping!! They are very friendly and though I have been bitten by a hamster I have never been bitten by a gerbil. Have fun with them.

 

[alli713]

Aww where are the pics?? I love gerbils. I had many when I was younger. And I agree, I like that I had never been bitten by my gerbils, but the hamster I had hated me and bit me all the time no matter what I tried doing.

 

[acbieri]

I have 2 female gerbils and they are a trip!! LOL

You'll have fun with your gerbils!! I have 2 hammies and 2 gerbils and i love them!!

:useless:

 

[Jenn]

I will dig out the camera and see if they'll hold still long enough for me to get a decent shot! LOL. They zip around the cage or digging tunnels through their bedding! They are sleeping right now - it was so cute. Earlier today one of the boys was upstairs in their home and the other one would make trips down to the bedding and bring it up for the other one to make a nest. It was cute seeing them work together. I haven't tried to handle them yet since they are so new, but I do put my hands in the cage so they can come up to me and check me out.

I've heard stories about hamsters drawing blood, but mine never did bite me or my kids. He was so sweet and gentle.

Do any of you let your gerbils roam around in a ball? I was either going to get them a ball ( would I need 2 or can they roll around in one?) or a little playpen sized for them.

I'll have pics tomorrow!!!

 

[alli713]

yeah, those balls aren't really all that great for little guys either. I know I used them when I was younger because we didn't have internet then and I didn't know better, but my gerbils always peed/pooped and ran it so it got gross.
I'd say if you can get an escape proof play pen, that'd probably be better.

 

[Jenn]

Ok, I got the camera out. The honey colored male is Chip, the other is Dale. The camera doesn't do them justice!

 

[alli713]

aww they're so cute! Makes me miss having some gerbils!

 

[Newt]

Oh so cute! I wish we could get gerbils in NZ!

 

[BellaBella]

Gerbils are awesome.

You can cut down on some of the scatter mess by putting up a cardboard wall around the bottom of the cage - they like to be warm so that'll cut down on any drafts too. They'd also appreciate a couple of tissues to tear up for bedding.

Have fun!

 

[addictedtochins]

Soo Cute! We had four 10 years ago and they were always escaping.

 

[Jenn]

Gerbils are awesome.

You can cut down on some of the scatter mess by putting up a cardboard wall around the bottom of the cage - they like to be warm so that'll cut down on any drafts too. They'd also appreciate a couple of tissues to tear up for bedding.

Have fun!

I have a large piece of pressboard that wasn't being used, and that is going to go under their cage to catch most of the mess that is now hitting the floor. The gerbils won't have any access to it, but it is wider than their cage a bit.

I gave them a toilet paper tube the other day, and now it is completely gone! First they would enjoy going through it, but then it was attacked. I'll get some tissue for them as well.

I'm hoping I can socialize them quite a bit. I want to pick them up, like I did my hammy, but for now I'm giving them adjustment time with some gentle social prodding.

 

[acbieri]

Awww they are sooo cute!! They are probably enjoying the cage!! Have fun with them!

 

[BellaBella]

I had people at work saving the tp tubes for me, because the went thru them in minutes. They appreciate it when you hold things for them to chew on too. They love to go into sleeves, but make sure it's a shirt you don't love, because they'll chew holes in it. I have an old sweater that looks like swiss cheese from their chewing holes in the sleeves.

You can make friends pretty quickly by offering them sunflower seeds in the shell - not too many or too often as they're fattening, but you can reward them for climbing into your hand with one. I used to turn it into a 'find the seed' game, and I'd hide one in my sleeve, in my pocket, and even in my mouth (think lion tamer hehe)

They love the occasional noodle (cooked or not) rice, small pieces of fruit and bits of cereal too. Like chins and hammies, they love a good dusty bath, but chin dust is too fine - use the superpet chin dust they sell in pet stores in the packets - that stuff works great. I used a ziploc plastic container and just left the lid on when not in use.

 

[Jenn]

Thanks, Jen, for all the info!

 

[SunshineChins]

I have owned gerbils since I was about 10. Currently we only have one who I adopted from Petsmart. She is allergic to all bedding except the paper stuff. I felt so bad for her they had her on pine and it made her little nose bleed.

For playtime we used to dry off the bottom of our bathtub put the stopper down and let them run around there. Usually it was when we were cleaning the cage. The advantage is that you can wash down all the poo when they are done..lol

 

[Jenn]

Jenie - I was thinking about using the tub as their out of cage time as well. It would save me from having to buy a playpen, and like you say, it would be easy to clean up their mess. We have an extra deep tub so I am pretty sure they couldn't get out of it.

 

[Vortex]

Awww they are so cute!
they look just like mine my my sisters gerbils, we just got a few months ago.
they are fun to watch and play with arnt they? hehe
when we first got ours though it too like 2 weeks before they stoped nibbleing on our fingers! lol luckly it didint hurt much.
and with gerbils, its like haveing your own personal cardbored shreder! we go though that stuff like no tomorrow!
hehe, have fun with them and deffinitly post some more piccys! =]

 

[Siylvat]

Aww, they are so cute! I have always wanted a gerbil, they are just too cute to watch.

 

[Jenn]

Does anyone keep their gerbils in the living room? My hammy's cage was there so he was part of the social circle. I have kept the gerbils in the same location, but they are a ton messier!!! I tried putting down a large square of wood under their cage as well as a cardboard lid to try and catch some of the bedding, but it still gets everywhere! I swear they wait for me to vacuum and then start kicking up a storm!

I took a couple more pictures, the first shows their cage and what I have beneath to try and catch their bedding. Any ideas on something better?

Second picture, I just couldn't resist! I accidently woke up Chip!