getting a gerbil or two

[redruby]

Hi-a. i am going to be getting a gerbil but i want to read up about it first.
now i have been to the Gerbil Care Handbook (http://www.agsgerbils.org/Gerbil_Car...ook/index.html)site and all but i wonder if there is anything you all could do for me.

are they nocturnal?

what should i be asking the pet store people?

what would YOU say is the best type of cage. fish tank, plastic or wire cage?

anything else i should know?
thx
~Red. ~

[cali]

I would go with a tank and a sceen on top, NO PLASTIC, gebils chew a LOT, and will chew there way right through plastic. they are neither nocturnal nor diaturnal, they love people, and sleep when they are bored. for bedding I would use sand, I did a project for bio and my results were that the more wild the habitat the vetter they are, the once kept in sand are way calmer and not crazy. they are also healthier, when cinnamon got loose she lived in the house with prditoes and made a nest out of whatever she found, she ate what she could find, and drand water from the dogs dish, when we cought her she was the healthiest gerbil I had ever seen in my life, and I am a former gerbil breeder. I recomend starting with a young gerbil, and start handing taming right away, they can live for several years provided they are from good lines, and properly cared for, I have 1 from my lines live to be 6 years old, and another that I sold to a friend, brandy, she died at 8 years.

[Vermontcat]

Redruby, I would recommend getting a pair of gerbils since they are happier in pairs.
Make sure the people at the pet store give you a pair of the same sex so that you don't end up with babies!
I got my two gerbils in November and they are a lot of fun to have around.
I would recommend getting them an exercise ball to help them burn off energy so they will be quieter at night.
This is one of my gerbils, Chocolate in her bubble ball.

Also make sure that they have a lot to chew, like cardboard tubes.
Good luck with getting some gerbils and be sure to post some photos when you do!

Cali, I was wondering how your project with the gerbils went.
Do you have any new photos of your gerbils?