- Thanks to Hao

The old thread is here
Gerbils Hut V4, I wont bite you, I wont stink either!

General Information of Mongolian Gerbils:

The Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) is widely kept as pets. They come in a variety of colours, which makes them stand out from their close cousin, the common brown rat. Gerbils are very friendly, sociable, intelligent, entertaining, lively, and curious animals. They rarely bite and are almost odourless. Mongolian gerbils make excellent pets for they are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, taking short naps and snoozes in between play.

One important fact to know,
You CANNOT pull their tails or it will come off. No, gerbils are not lizards, they come off coz their tails have very sensitive nerves and skin, pulling hard can detached the bone and tear the skin, resulting in the lost of a tail.

Origin


Gerbils in captivity make great beginner pets. They rarely bite at all, have little to no odour and are economical to keep in the long run. Once a while, gerbils can get curious so they do tend to nip and test their surroundings. Nipping is normally not painful, only bites are painful and sometimes bloody but there is no need to be scared of gerbils for they rarely bite.

Single or a Pair?
By nature, gerbils are social creatures, meaning the should never be kept as single animals. Gerbils that live alone have nothing to do, no aim in life and they will just go on eating and sleeping, becoming overweight and depressed, and will be destructive by chewing on everything they find, dig at the tank's corners the whole day without stop, show nervousness and other unhealthy activities. This is why WE RECOMMEND to get gerbils in pairs. Gerbils are colony animals. They need to feel safe and secure in a family. It is delightful to see gerbils in a pair or a small clan. They will groom each other, play wrestling, sleep together and eat together. When in a bigger group say more than 2 gerbils, they will set their own Hierarchy, having a dominant gerbil doing most of the activities first, then followed by the rest. The dominant gerbil will then put everyone in place and make sure that every gerbil knows his or her place in the clan.

Gerbil Behaviour:


How to keep gerbils?
There are many caresheets available on the Internet for research, so do read up as this is just a basic guide.

Gerbils do not do well in cages; therefore the best housing for gerbils is an aquarium or tank. The housing needs are quite different from hamsters and other rodent pets.

Important stuff to have before getting a gerbil:

1.5ft Aquarium with lid- you can get plastic or glass, plastic is easier to clean. The bigger, the better. (rm30 to rm40 for plastic) DO NOT CAGE THEM! Examples:



Hamster staple food- A good basic staple would be Habitrail Staple, but the best in the market that gives very good results would be Prestige and Harry Hamster. Only these 2 brands will give the best nutrition and variety to a gerbil's diet.

Treats- Wooden chews, peanuts, dog biscuits and dried stale bread are great treats.

Water bottle- They need a bottle but if you don't want them to tear the bottle up, searh the internet for tips on making a bottle guard or cage. Gerbils do not need much water if you feed them fruits and vege often but it is still very important to attach a bottle with fresh water for the gerbils.

Vege and fruits- Important to have in their diet. Give mustard greens(Sawi/Choy Sum), apple, carrots, pear, french beans, lettuce. PUMPKIN makes an excellent treat!!! It deworms the intestines as well.

Toys- Gerbils love wooden stuff to chew, cardboard box to chew and glass cups and small clay flower pots to play in. Do not buy plastic toys coz they will chew them and you will waste your money. Plastic can also be dangerous when eaten.

Hide Box- Gerbils like to sleep in hide boxes. You can DIY one from an old coconut shell, buy a wooden one or plainly make one out from wooden ice cream sticks and PVA glue. Clay or glass Aroma burners work very well but make sure you buy 1 that can fit a gerbil inside.

Wood Shavings and Wood Chips- No pine or cedar, please use aspen shavings or chipsi wood shavings. Pine and Cedar will cause breathing problems and watery eyes. Wood Chips are a good substitute if you can't find proper wood shavings.

Timothy Hay- Gerbils love hay. They chew it, build nest with it and sleep in it.

Alfalfa Hay- High in protein and is still good for gerbils to nibble and chew and make their nest.

Sand Bath- When your gerbil's fur looks ruffled and dull, give them a sand bath. You can get this cleaning sand that is for hamsters, works well and will make a gerbil look all velvety and clean looking. Recommended brands are Sluis, Delikate Snowy bathing sand, Charlie Chinchilla bathing sand.

Bedding Hay/Straw- You can try Russel Hay or Sluis Comfort Hay. These hay are used to build nest... cheaper than Timothy and Alfalfa hay.... and smells nice too.

How about breeding?
Please see the link below... breeding is not easy as it will cost money and time and space. So think carefully before breeding. Also, it takes a lot of studying of the genetics to get the best colour quality from a pair. Some gerbils can only produce black and agouti pups.... so that is why the genetics have to be studied. Breeding needs a goal, to be a breeder one must never think of money but the goal of getting new colours or promoting the pet. If any information needed on breeding, PM Nezumitaro, jaswwp or me(crazymouse_yyh)

Important TIPS

Useful Websites:

http://www.sensi-media.com/gerbil/domestic.htm - thanks to Jaswwp

http://www.gerbils.co.uk/

http://www.abcgerbils.com/

http://www.agsgerbils.org/

http://www.petermaas.nl/gerbils/english.htm

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/e...bils/colors.htm

http://www.gerbilbreeding.com/gene.htm - thanks to Nezumitaro

http://home.wtal.de/ehr/gerbils/colors.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/6961/index.html

This post has been edited by crazymouse_yyh: Oct 4 2007, 09:40 PM

quote jaswwp

1. How to DIY a water bottle hanger

One of the popular problems faced by gerbil owners is the issue of how to provide a source of water for gerbils. Although a dish can be used, but most of the time the gerbil will bury the dish in shavings, making the bedding wet. It is important for a gerbil to have water especially if it is pregnant or nursing. Gerbils have been known to reabsorb fetuses or even eat a pup to get the water it needs if water is not provided.

There are many types of bottles available on the market. If you are able to find a bottle with those suckers or those that stick to the tank wall then it is good, however sometimes the gerbils will chew the suckers or the water bottle itself.
If you have the type of bottle that points downwards, you can hang it from the tank cover, however if you have the normal type of bottle, the kind without a small hole at the top for you to hang wire through..you might have to make a bottle holder yourself.

Example:

Water bottle with no hole at the top provided.


Water bottle with hole provided at the top

2. How to make a split cage

Why need a split cage? Note that gerbils have very short memories and can forget their friends in 3 days or even less. If you have to seperate your gerbils because of breeding but wish to reintroduce them at a later date, you should use a split cage so that they can still see and smell each other. New gerbils can also be introduced in this way for a few days, so that there is less chance of fighting when you finally put them together. Remember that gerbils can fight to the death, dont think that they look so loving and tame to their friends, once they see an unknown gerbil they can fight viciously and cause very serious wounds. I'm speaking from experience here.



This is the simplest split cage you can make for a plastic tank. The sides are rubber hose split into half, the purpose is so that you can wedge the whole thing into the tank, and it wont move or slip. Remember that plastic tanks are wider at the top than at the bottom, so you have to take that into account when cutting and bending the wire mesh. Try to use metal wire mesh with small holes, with big holes the gerbils will keep on chewing at it, and hurt their noses. Make sure it is tall enough, gerbils can climb up the split and crawl through any small spaces at the top.
3. Alternative to tanks

Gerbils given birth and you want to seperate the dad from the mum? Or perhaps your gerbil has fallen sick and you want to seperate it from the other healthy ones temporarily. If you can't get a tank at short notice, you can use a storage box



This is just to give a general idea. Note that the top should be securely fastened, else the gerbil will escape. Usually I put the storage box lid on top covering half the wire, and something heavy on top, but more pegs should do the trick as well.


quote Zoejehuty

small bottle design, put at the corner of tank, this one is for small tank.


this one is i put for the habitrail cover


this is the design for big bottle hanging on the corner of tank, a bit ugly design i think, but works for me.
see there is a like door like that in the lower part, that is to cover the lower part of the bottle from bite
coz b4 this i didnt put the cover up, then jus side cage only, end up they bite the lower part of bottles.

>>> this design is the one that use on below picture

see the white masking tape there, is the place where my gerbs bite it, got one small hole.
so i put masking tape on it then use uhu gam to glue on the side on the masking tape.
coz i duwan put the gam on the hole direct coz sacred later the gam suck inside the bottle.
if u carefully see on top of the bottle, there still got cage protect it, that is extra one, not from the original design.
this is to prevent from biting the top of the bottle, b4 this i got put also, but then jus cover a bit, now put almost cover the whole top


This post has been edited by nezumitaro: Sep 8 2007, 10:59 AM

SEXING GERBIL:



WE HAVE GERBILS IN VARIOUS COLOURS AS BELOW:

Black Eyed, White Belly





Black Eyed, Solid Belly





Ruby Eyed, White Belly





Ruby Eyed, Solid Belly





More:


This post has been edited by nezumitaro: Jul 11 2007, 02:53 PM

Basic Cost:

Plastic Tank: 1.5ft - $28; 2ft -$38
Bedding (recommend Chipsi Classic/Super or Corn Cob): $18 - $25
Hay (Alfafa or Thimoty): $12 - $20
Food: Hamster food. $8 - $20+ depand on brand. (Nezumitaro's Gerbil love Prestige Hamster Nature $17+.)

Water Bottle: $7 - $20 depand on brand.
Toy: Paper Box, Cardboard, Manila Cardboard, toilet roll / kitchen towel tube.


Home Sweet Home:













This post has been edited by nezumitaro: Jun 11 2007, 09:37 AM

Intro:

quote Babymoli
Intro no need bigger room. Just need a split cage. The tank must have only bedding, water bottle & food bowl. Other things must be out. Change your bedding & wash your tank with detergent before intro-ing. Put the new one inside the split cage & inside the tank. Once you are free, you can start intro them by placing them on a place around 2ft wide such as table one by one. First will be the new fella, then the old fella which you feel is the less dominant one. Watch them carefully. If you see them sniffing each other & don't move, use a cloth to separate them. Once you feel they can get along after few minutes, put in another & repeat the steps till the last one in. If you see the new one like panic then must keep an eye on him/her. If others go sniff him/her & he/she runs away, others will chase him/her. So separate them with cloth.



Split Cage:











This post has been edited by nezumitaro: Oct 12 2007, 11:53 AM

This post has been edited by nezumitaro: Jun 11 2007, 10:28 AM

Yeah.... V5 is up. Congratz...

Congratz on V5

Haha, good that more and more people are interested in gerbils

Where have all that 5 fellas gone?


There they are.. All cramp on top of the compartment

YEAY..Keep those pictures coming..

pardon me but I can't help myself but to say.... WHAT THE **@#???? LOL..!!! Omg.. they're so hilarious.. I can understand if just one of them like to sleep on top but all?? hahahahah..!!!

**Hey I noticed the water is yellowish? What did you put inside ah?**

This post has been edited by BlueHeng: Jun 3 2007, 12:54 PM

Hahaha.. I also pening to see them all cramp on top of the compartment which is already sempit. Lol....

I put multivitamin inside the water. Hehehe....

This post has been edited by babymoli: Jun 3 2007, 02:14 PM

Whats so pening about that..LOL..After that, they can always sleep like this :










Expect to see more funny pictures later..LOL...

This looks like a sleeping giong si...

This post has been edited by babymoli: Jun 3 2007, 03:00 PM

welcome back everyone!! lol moli so good to see coffee is in the clan now!

Hahaha... Me also glad o... That day purposely went to aka place just to intro Coffee into the clan coz he had been in the temporary cage for around 1 month. Then i found out that they were ok when they were out of the tank. Once in tank, Coffee tended to become stress & made others like to chase him (even Teh Boy also chased him ).

The first intro was failed. So after 1 hour i intro them again but this time i let them played on aka's chair for around 1 1/2 hours before putting them back into the tank. Poor aka is that his chair becomes their toilet. Full of poo(s) & almost 1/2 of the chair is wet. Lol... Then after that i put them back into the tank & watched them. Once i saw one of that 4 fellas stopped & sniffing Coffee, i pushed him away so that Coffee wouldn't get panic. 1 hour plus i sat there & watching them.

Finally Coffee wasn't that panic & started to play with them. phew~~ Watched them another 1/2 hour before i went back home. Eventhough sitting hours there watching them but worth it coz Coffee is in the clan now.

This post has been edited by babymoli: Jun 4 2007, 10:43 AM

wa...congrats2 for new thread...hope the congrats not too late haa...
new cute pictures....
babymoly...intro success aaa...
make me feel like want to get new gerbils la hehehe..the tompok tompok color one hehe..
i wonder from where i will get it hehehe..

This post has been edited by kembara: Jun 4 2007, 11:03 AM

yes very happy to know coffee is in the clan

Yup. Intro success but still need to keep an eye on them o.... Hehehe...

---

Added on June 4, 2007, 11:33 amYup. I think that 4 boys actually are ok with him. Just Coffee himself too gan jiong when people sniffing his butt.

This post has been edited by babymoli: Jun 4 2007, 11:33 AM