|
drat Bananas posted:I've considered it, but am not real big on aquariums. I used them when I lived with my parents and could hose them down in the back yard, but living in an apartment limits (non-pain-in-rear end)washing to the bathtub. I got a somewhat large aquarium for my gerbils in an apartment and moving that fucker anywhere for washing is not really an option. You can clean an aquarium relatively easily without moving it anywhere though. I usually just shovel the old bedding into plastic bags, get the leftover dusts with vacuum cleaner, wash the inside glass with this cleaning solution from pet store (or anything else that's mild and suitable), then just dry up and toss the furballs and their new stuffs back in. Most aquariums don't come with a suitable cover for the top though so you'd probably have to make up something creative if you get one. I just glued together a wooden frame and attached wire mesh on it with cable ties. Easy and surprisingly durable.
|
#
¿
Dec 16, 2009 13:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 19:23 |
|
|
robotsinmyhead posted:I didn't realize aquarium setups were so inexpensive when you take out all the water circulation bits. This is probably a viable option. You'll just need to figure how to set up the food and water in there. Easiest way is probably trying to find some sturdy wooden house from pet store for example, high enough that it keeps food cup from being flooded with bedding but low enough that they can't chew the wire mesh. Then hang the water bottle there somehow, just high enough that they need to stretch themselves to get to the plastic parts. That way they can't be arsed to break the bottle and get water all over.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2009 13:06
|
|
|
Nereid posted:I have never put clips on my gerbil's cage unless they were chilling out in the same house as a cat because they've never tried to escape at all. I have a metal water bottle hanger that seems to work really well. Metal water bottle  Wish I had one, just can't find anything but the usual plastic ones over here. I recall one night passing by the aqua really tired and checking the gerbils before going to bed... just to notice the little terrorists ate the bottle and wet all bedding. Midnight facepalming and bedding changing is so refreshing. I keep a tight lid on my aqua since it's one and a half meter drop if they manage to get out. Much less than that is enough to crack their front teeth in.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2009 17:43
|
|
|
welp I tried to shorten my gerbils nails yesterday and it was one  after another.No matter how I tried it, I just couldn't get those squirmy little creatures of darkness to hold still long enough to clip even one nail. Thankfully they don't really "need" nail clipping, but some of their nails are a bit long so I figured to try it anyway. Normally they have one clay pot in their aqua that helps to keep the nails short, but not short enough in my opinion. I then proceeded to plant sandpaper in their aqua with different methods but all they managed to do was trying to eat it  Next plan is to cover the entire interior of their sandbathing box with sandpaper. They love to scratch the walls of that so it might even work.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 23, 2009 07:41
|
|
|
robotsinmyhead posted:Yeah I think we're done trying. They're gonna kill each other at this rate. We have 2 cages anyway, so it's not really a huge deal. You could try conditioning them with sunflower seeds or some other stuff they love. Every time you let them be together, give them a whole pile of seeds and they might be too busy munching them to kill each other and slowly get used to each other. Might be a dumb idea but hey, if it works with them not trying to destroy "the ominous hand of doom invading our aqua", it might work with this too. *edit* If you do try this, make drat sure there's enough seeds, otherwise a nuclear war is going to ensue when they're down to the last seed.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 15, 2010 10:01
|
|
|
Lumi posted:Two quick questions: Aquarium magnets and duct tape work just fine. Just attach it so that the critters can't chew the tape or preferably plastic parts either if they're into that. I needed to get my bottle higher than ceiling so I cut a hole in the mesh cover on my aqua, taped a magnet on one side of the bottle and placed a dictionary on the other side to keep the bottle straight and through the hole. Would probably be simpler to take a pic than explain but no camera at the moment so... And whyyy would you want to stop that wheel thing from happening, it's hilarious
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2010 19:23
|
|
|
I think one of my gerbils is about to kick the bucket. Was checking on them in the morning and she was mostly limp and looking drowsy. There are some signs of diarrhea on the fur. She wouldn't drink or eat anything I offered (not even sunflower seeds  )She's almost 4 years old too. Don't know what there is left to do.   e: She was put down at vet an hour ago. Goodbye little buddy. Fewd fucked around with this message at 09:01 on May 7, 2010 |
|
#
¿
May 7, 2010 05:36
|
|
|
captainOrbital posted:Does anyone have any suggestions for preventing the hamster wheel from sliding all around the bottom of the gerbil cage? It's one of those 10 gallon glass aquarium/snake things, and the wheel has a basic bent/painted wire base. Obviously I don't want to use anything that will get bit to hell, which excludes every material ever. If it's a wire wheel, you should just get rid of it altogether. Gerbils are dumb enough to maim their tails and feet with those quite effectively. Gerbils generally don't need a wheel but if you really must have one, you should consider a hard plastic one with solid running surface. Hard to say about attaching it anywhere though, aquariums are a bit problematic for that sort of toys. Maybe some sort of magnet contraption but at least my gerbils would either bury it or move the bedding level 20 cm below the wheel in matter of few hours v  v
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2010 19:15
|
|
|
alucinor posted:I'm trying to decide whether pigs have really small fluffy heads or if this one is a liquid metal terminator.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2010 11:09
|
|
|
I've been considering on getting chins or yet another pile of gerbils for a while now. However, these days I got a white noise generator because I sleep a lot better with one. Does anyone here know if chins or gerbils get psychotic and/or murderous from having one of those on during nights?
|
|
#
¿
Nov 6, 2011 07:22
|
|
|
furushotakeru posted:Not specific experience with that, but in ten years of owning Chinchillas they seem to pretty much be awake whenever someone is around and interacting with them and sleeping any other time, day or night. If you are concerned, is it possible to put their cage in a different room? Yea, that'd be best but I live in a small apartment so can't really put it elsewhere.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 7, 2011 08:21
|
|
|
Awesome Kristin posted:Yeah I understand your pain. One of my chinchillas bites all the time and hates attention. I don't think he'll ever not try to bite my fingers off. Considering how long chins live, I hope he'll come around. Nothing like being stuck with a fingermangler for 15 years. I had one gerbil that was absolute fingerterror for about two years, then she suddenly figured out that hating me all the time isn't cool and was the fluffiest happyball for her last two and a half years. Raisinbrains indeed.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2011 06:49
|
|
|
935 posted:I just upgraded from a 2'x1' cage (it's larger than it sounds) to a 55 gallon aquarium for my two gerbils, Sam & Crow. This tank is enormous and I'd like to add a 3rd critter to the mix. However I've read (from a single source) that adding a single gerbil to a pair of buddies is very difficult, split tank method or otherwise. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations? No comment on adding more gerbils, but you really ought to consider dumping more bedding in there. Being able to dig around and create nest somewhere out of sight has been quite important thing for every gerbil I've ever known. I've usually used around 7-10 inches of shavings and shredded paper in my aquariums. It requires you to figure out a way to get the food container and water bottle high though.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2012 19:49
|
|
|
935 posted:gerbils Patience and bribery should work. Gerbils are very curious so if you go stand to the aquarium and talk to them while making a bit noise by poking the bedding, they will come out and look sooner or later. That's when the bribery comes in. I'd go with sunflower seeds, in my experience it's a pretty suitable currency gerbils understand. Just hold your hand on the bedding level and let them come over. Even if the two new ones won't do it, the old one will. The new ones will realize that hey, that rear end in a top hat is eating something without us and can't stand it for long.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 8, 2012 15:26
|
|
|
Sorry about your fat grumpy fuzz butt  How do chins generally deal with being alone? Assuming Charlie had something like 5 to 10 years left in him, could he for example happily live out the rest of his years without another chin?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2012 05:53
|
|
|
Zetsubou posted:Out of curiosity, how high can gerbils fall from and not get hurt? I assume they shouldn't be falling from any hight, but my gerbil jumped out of his aquarium onto the carpet, which was about a 5"2 feet fall. Is there also any way I can teach my gerbil not to be dumb and jump from a high place? I can't really put the aquarium anywhere else due to my parents not letting me put them anywhere but my room, and it's really the only place in my room to put it. I can not station it on the floor due to having too many curious cats that could probably open the lid if they wanted to. Do you guys think it's probably fine where it is? You can make a roof for the aquarium pretty easily, just put together a wooden frame and slap some wire mesh on that. Something like that:  And yea, gerbils shouldn't be allowed to fall much. They're retarded and easily hurt their teeth since falling down face first is a pretty good idea.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2012 10:17
|
|
|
Aquatic Giraffe posted:Like this: "One day I will get out, and where will your God be then?  "
|
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2012 05:33
|
|
|
MacGyvers_Mullet posted:Will gerbils overeat? I feed them a tablespoon of food each per day, which was recommended by the ASPCA (or something similar), but they usually just eat a couple bites then bury the rest. They probably only ever eat about 1/3 of the food I give them, then just leave the rest hidden in one corner of the cage. Right now I'm giving them a mix that doesn't have anything like sunflower seeds in it, so they don't seem to be eating just certain ingredients and ignoring all the rest, either. I don't think there's any need to ration normal food and veggies. But sunflower seeds and stuff like that? Yup. Else they become fattyfats. It also depends on the gerbil I guess. Last three I had living in the same aquarium with the access to same foods, one became a mouthbreather, one stayed normal and one was pretty much aiming for supermodel level beauty ideals.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 1, 2012 06:47
|
|
|
You could climb into those ears and find a new hidden planet. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2012 17:08
|
|
|
Zetsubou posted:So I have always been wondering, but is this set up too small? I can try to maybe scrounge up some money to see if I can buy a bigger one. I also recently bought that wheel today, cause the one I orginally bought was a tad too small. I've never actually seen them use a wheel before, so if they don't end up using it, what's a good exercise alternative? I'll edit this post if I can get any good pictures of my gerbs, but my only camera is somewhat broken making it very difficult. That is pretty small. See if you can get a used aquarium instead of blowing money on a new one though. You can often find used ones pretty cheap when people wanna get rid of their old ones. Especially so if they are not entirely waterproof and can't be used for fishies. I just gave my big old + its stand to red cross cause no one would buy it for five bucks and red cross would come pick it up from my home for convenience.  And aim for a taller one so you can have at least three times the current height in bedding. They will build caverns. Caverns.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 26, 2012 06:41
|
|
|
The second from top hammy is on the "not so happy" category? It would work out better for him/her if they weren't so cute when angry  Also Ancient Hysteria is a p awesome pig
|
|
#
¿
Dec 5, 2012 08:34
|
|
|
Pew! Pew! posted:That is an awesome fort! Why can't guinea pigs respect fine art? When The Thousand Lies Made Manifest wheeks the box should be five inches to the left instead, then the loving box will be five inches to the left and you all shut the hell up  Saint Darwin posted:Little bastards keep moving the boxes so I'm looking for my zip ties. Won't pigs eat those (the zip ties)? Or are they actually less retarded than gerbils?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 6, 2012 15:28
|
|
|
That's basically Being Rodent 101. Did a strange giant just pick you up? poo poo all over it. You know your critter is starting to come to terms with you existing when they stop making GBS threads on you. 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 8, 2012 05:51
|
|
|
Fluffy Bunnies posted:Is there a good visual tutorial on how to set up a split aquarium for gerbils (to see if they'll clan up or not)? I feel dumb as hell, but everything I'm reading is just impossible for me to envision. Quick googling came up with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4UCGhtelJ4 http://www.egerbil.com/splittank.html At least to me that looks easier to build than a completely separate "mesh window" with the wire mesh attached between two wooden frames. She's using aquarium sealant to attach the wooden parts to the glass, which according to my knowledge is safe even if the gerbils chew it. Don't quote me on that though. But anyways, it should also come off cleanly if you remove it.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2013 07:04
|
|
|
Zetsubou posted:Anyone know if it matters if the aquarium I buy for my gerbils was used to host fish in prior? It doesn't. Bonus points if it doesn't hold water any more since then it's cheap.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2013 13:01
|
|
|
Zetsubou posted:Is their a reason why my gerbils want to eat my face? They don't bite any of my other body parts anymore but as soon as my face comes in contact they like to scratch and nibble on my chin/cheek/nose. It kinda hurts. Have you, for any reason whatsoever, rubbed food into your face lately? (also if yes, why?)
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2013 06:36
|
|
|
Angelwolf posted:In terms of snacks, what's best for them? I know sugary ones are bad, so what should we use instead? The people at the pet store suggested some dried fruit stuff but is that a good idea? I started reading up on these because of your post and degus have always crawled a bit under my radar. They look kinda like squirrels without the whole puffy tail syndrome going on Anyways. Finnish Gerbil Association (no english so no link, sorry) page had a lot of information on these guys too and the general answer regarding snacks was that you're not allowed to give them damned near anything. Even fruits and berries seem to be bad. Only snack the page says are okay are small pieces of carrots with their normal food. As for normal food, they recommend 50%/50% chin/pig pellets and hay. edit: Noticed the last picture. The page heavily warns against anything plastic because they chew it and can die horribly. Also says they don't need a wheel. So seeing as it's also plastic, you might want to toss it. Fewd fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Apr 25, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2013 12:13
|
|
|
Dead Inside Darwin posted:I saw this before, I do chainmail so I'm going to recreate it even though I'm pretty sure my pigs will hate me forever Make a full plate armor. With squeaky little joints
|
|
#
¿
Jun 24, 2013 07:59
|
|
|
Poor gerb At least if you don't see any blood or limping, that's good. Give her some treats. Knowing gerbil attention span and memory, she'll probably forget being devoured by your rear end in a top hat cat from hell.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2013 13:30
|
|
|
Zetsubou posted:So once again I have a gerbil problem. I really don't understand what is the problem this time though. So long story short, I let my gerbil out for play time and he was completely fine then, but when I went to retrieve him he may ouf had a tiny tumble (I don't really know) but he is somewhat limp and a little non responsive and was making weird noises from his mouth, along with a lot of salivation. It's been 20 minutes now and he is still salivating a lot and just sort of resting. When need though (like when I tried to pick him up) he can go at a pretty fast/normal gerbil pace. I mean it's really confusing, one moment he was fine and now he's just sort of salivating everywhere and resting. At first I thought he was maybe choking on something but he hasn't passed out so that doesn't seem likely. Also I do not keep anything poisoness on my floor that I know of, so right now I am baffled. Any ideas? How's his incisors? I think too long incisors are the most common reason for gerb to drool. That or some form of seizure / heatstroke. If it's hot over there, it might very well be a stroke too considering the other things you said. In either case, I'd consult a vet.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 12, 2013 10:06
|
|
|
cuntvalet posted:I buried her in her favourite fleece blankey and her favourite ball, it's pink with a smiley face on it and she used to love nudging it around with her nose. Aww, condolences. drat rodents are just way, way too adept at surprise deaths
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2013 06:11
|
|
|
Zetsubou posted:
Some gerbs just are like that. Not much one can do about it in my experience. In my last pile I had one female gerb that was quite bitey for the first year or maybe year and a half and then at some point she didn't even nibble any more and was the tamest fluffball for the rest of her life. Just roll with it I guess.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2013 05:52
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:Hello PI, While attention is always good and all, that cage is really, really small. It would actually be against the law to house a gerbil in that in Finland. That is pretty bad if you consider how small the cage sizes according to law are to begin with The gerbil will most likely get bored in it and when that happens, they have a habit of starting to chew the bars, which is both hard for your ears (especially at night) and detrimental to the gerbs health. Personally I'd leave him if that was the only option. If you had an old aquarium or something, that would make an optimal home as you could also get a thick layer of bedding in it. Gerbs love to dig around.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2013 06:02
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:Gerbils I guess it's fate you end up with gerbs then. Regarding the food, many rat and mouse pellets or mixes are fine, as long as there's not too much nuts, sunflower seeds and such that'll make them lardarses. Veggies on top of that of course. If it's at all possible and you can figure out a way to facilitate food cups and such, get an aquarium instead of a cage. It's superior in many ways, but most importantly you can have a thick layer (10-30 cm) of bedding in there. Digging around and chewing everything easily replace most traditional rodent toys when it comes to gerbs. You can make a roof for the aquarium from wiremesh and if you wanna get all carpenter about it make a frame out of wood. Water bottle can be easily attached to the mesh or maybe aquarium magnet, but food cup can be take some effort to set up in a sea of bedding. I made a platform of this hard and dense as hell (no idea what it's called in English... or Finnish for that matter  ) plastic material I had at work and it worked out well. Superglued some wooden bars to serve as legs to lift it up from bedding. Then placed a thin drinking glass around each wooden bar to protect them and a sheet of paper between glass and aquarium bottom so they don't make noise. I also filled the glasses with bedding which made the platform very stable.
Fewd fucked around with this message at 07:22 on Dec 20, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2013 07:20
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:I know rats don't do well in aquariums because of the ammonia that can build up in it from urine. Is it different with gerbils? I will look at a few things today for them and probably purchase something better for them tomorrow than what they are in now. Gerbils are creatures of deserts that produce very little urine compared to larger rodents like rats, so it's not really an issue.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2013 16:46
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:Thanks so much for the information guys. I appreciate it. How would a 10 gallon do with one of those tank cage topper things? Regarding food they got a pretty long menu of edible things. But like I said, try to avoid too many nuts and sunflower seeds as they do get fat. You should also have some hard food there as it helps with the teeth. Only things I've never fed them is the obvious ones like salt of course but also exotic fruits. I don't know much about them and I've read somewhere avocado will kill them dead. I'm not too familiar with gallon and liter tank sizes but saw someone mention 10 gallons per gerbil rule. But bigger the better, yeh? As long as you can reach the bottom. See whatever thing lists your local used poo poo for sale, as used aquariums can be grabbed cheap. Especially if they leak which doesn't matter one bit here. Of course bedding costs go up with the size, but hey, caverns! Fewd fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Dec 21, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2013 07:13
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:I gave them a dust bath today and it was so adorable! Sure, they really love dust baths. One pile of dust is good for a few times, just run the dust through a kitchen sieve to get the poop and bedding out of there afterwards. They get bored of bathing after a bit and start digging and kicking your expensive dust all over the room so it's probably a good idea to get their bathing cup out at that point to minimize expenses  nunsexmonkrock posted:I also bought a vitamin supplement for them. Is this okay to use too? Vitamin supplements are pretty optional. If the gerbs diet is otherwise okay, extra vitamins and such aren't necessary.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2014 06:53
|
|
Is it okay to do it more than once a month? I want to do it every day because it's so cute!
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:Here is their new set up in my 29 gallon aquarium. I just need to figure out how to attach the water bottle and get a new wheel, because the last wheel attached to the side of the cage. I'm thinking with 29 gallons I can get them another friend once it it completely set up? Don't worry too much about the wheel though, it's not that high on the short list of gerb entertainment. They'll just eat it. Getting them more wood and cardboard is always good as long as they're clean and safe. Prime purpose of a small wooden hut for gerbs is that they can eat it. They will eat it. You just need to check that there are no nasty glues, nails or rivets in there. Big hunks of branches are nice too as long as they're clean. I've only gotten my branches and such from pet shops but ones straight from nature would work too I guess. You'd probably need to peel the bark off, wash it and shove it in oven for a while first. I'd skip another gerb unless one of those gets sick or something and dies prematurely. Two will get along fine and all. And it's never assured that the new one will get along with both the old ones so it can cause you extra hassle for not much gain.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 8, 2014 06:43
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:Edit 2: By the way they seem to despise the sunflower seeds as treats They might be broken, better watch your backe: nunsexmonkrock posted:As far as branches go, what about those things made for birds to stand on? Would that work to just toss into the aquarium? I wouldn't feel comfortable giving them anything from outside of a pet shop. I'm not sure what you mean but if you GIS "terrarium branch", it gives a pretty good overall idea of what I've used before. Just need to check at pet store its suitable. Various branches also make it easy to access platforms and such if you decice to make some for food etc. Fewd fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jan 9, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2014 11:13
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 19:23 |
|
|
It never ceases to amaze me how much anger and blatant disregard for the continuity of life on Earth can be contained in that little package.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2014 12:10
|
|
