Gerbil Info?

[Christmas_Hamster]

Can I have some links to some gerbil care. I think they are so neat and my friend just happened to get one. ;p (He is in good care).

Anyways I want to learn more about them so that one day maybe I can have some.

Oh and I know about basic rodent care like about shavings and cage requirements. 20 gallon long could hold how many gerbils?

[Vermontcat]

Gerbils are so cute and lots of fun.
I had several pairs of them when I was a kid and just recently had a pair of them for my kids.
Here are some links that should help answer your questions.

Gerbils as pets

abc gerbils

pet gerbils

Caring for gerbils

I think the last link should answer your questions.
A pair of gerbils will do fine in a 10 to 20 gallon tank.
The last link seems to have the most info, you can also look at the color chart that shows all the wonderful colors they come in.
Let me know if you have any more questions about gerbils.

[Christmas_Hamster]

Okay thanks

[Khay]

Here is some more, I agree gerbils are AWESOME pets. I have two girls right now (Jasmine and Luna) and they are truly wonderful

http://members.nanc.com/~mhaines/gerbil.html
http://www.petermaas.nl/gerbils/english.htm
http://www.agsgerbils.org/Gerbil_Care_Handbook/

And a really great gerbil forum:

http://gerbilforum.proboards21.com/index.cgi

Good luck!

[Christmas_Hamster]

lol I was just going to ask for a gerbil forum!

Okay anyways do they need large food dishes so that both can sit in it? I know it is best to do this when housing multiple dwarf hamsters(or so I find).

I never realised how small gerbils sctually were until I seen my friends gerbil >.<

And will they be okay if they stay in the same room as my hamsters stay in?

Are clay pots okay for toys?

I know it isn't the best but is it okay for every once in a while for gerbils to go in a run-about-ball and if so what size to get the mini or the regular size?

[Christmas_Hamster]

Oh and also are 10 gallons actually an okay size for 2 gerbils? I thought that it would be to small.

[Khay]

I think 10 gallon would be absolute minimum, my 2 are in a 20 gal, it has much more room for them than the 10 gal that they were in.

[IRescue452]

Get heavy dishes, ceramic is good. They will tip food everywhere if you have lightweight dishes. A good toy is the plain cardboard drink trays from fast food resturants. They chew the soft cardboard into extra bedding and in the meantime they can play in and under the indentations for the cups. If you don't eat out often you can ask a friend or family member to save them when they eat out.

[Christmas_Hamster]

Okay so I will get a 20 gallon then. I have a heavey cermaic dish already. Its good thing to because they are expenisve

[Vermontcat]

lol I was just going to ask for a gerbil forum!

Okay anyways do they need large food dishes so that both can sit in it? I know it is best to do this when housing multiple dwarf hamsters(or so I find).

I never realised how small gerbils sctually were until I seen my friends gerbil >.<

And will they be okay if they stay in the same room as my hamsters stay in?

Are clay pots okay for toys?

I know it isn't the best but is it okay for every once in a while for gerbils to go in a run-about-ball and if so what size to get the mini or the regular size?

Ceramic dishes are good, they will chew plastic ones to bits.

You can keep them in the same room as your hamsters, my gerbils cage was near my parakeet's cage and they liked having neighbors.

Yes, get them run-about-balls!
My gerbils loved racing around in theirs and they were safe around my cat too.
They fit in the regular sized balls that Syrian hamsters fit in.

[Khay]

Ceramic dishes are good, they will chew plastic ones to bits.

You can keep them in the same room as your hamsters, my gerbils cage was near my parakeet's cage and they liked having neighbors.

Yes, get them run-about-balls!
My gerbils loved racing around in theirs and they were safe around my cat too.
They fit in the regular sized balls that Syrian hamsters fit in.

All my rodents are in the same room also, they are fine in the same room together

But even in a run-about ball you have to be careful if you have cats, it wouldn't take more than a split second for my cats to pounce on the ball and break it open.

Things like that can happen extremely fast without time to stop it.

[Christmas_Hamster]

So let me think

Cage: 20 gallon or bigger
Shavings: Asoen or Carefresh
Bedding: Toilet paper or carefresh
Water: Water bottle with metal guard.
Food dish: Ceramic food dish
Toys: Wheel, toilet paper rolls, lots of card board, thick amount of shavings to dig.
Bed: Just lots of shavings and they will make their own bed.
Other toys: Run-about-balls.
Food: gerbil diet

Am I missing anything?

Two more questions:

Can I have my gerbils and my hamsters in their run-about-balls together?

And What food is a good choice. (I am willing to pick out sunflower seeds)

[IRescue452]

Sounds like you've got it all worked out. They shouldn't be in the ball together, because they might want to go in opposite directions and one will probably be flipped upside down while the other is running. We always did bird seed. Seeds are what they would eat in the wild. You can get vitamin drops for the water. Pelleted food is just ground garbage and rotting corn (just like dog food) and its really bad for them.

[Khay]

You should not have the gerbils and hamsters in the same ball....But I'm pretty sure you didn't mean that....You can have them in their own ball, out at the same time, if that's what you meant.