Gerbil Care - My Gerbil Care Mistakes Part 1

[@TheGerbilVine]

I apologize for the poor quality, laptop life is not the best. Let us know if you made any mistakes when you started out with your gerbils!

[@PetConnectionInternational]

I totally agree that there's no such thing as a perfect owner, all we can do is the best we can, and be willing to change if we learn we've made mistakes, being willing to do that makes someone a great owner in my opinion ☺️ it's clear you really care about gerbils with all the time and effort you've put in to giving your own two the best life possible as well as sharing what you've learned to help others 🙂 I too impulse bought and did very limited initial research, even after studying my degree, because the UK is often presented as having "excellent animal welfare laws" I falsely assumed that that meant pet stores wouldn't sell or advise anything inappropriate.. 🤦‍♀️ even thinking about how foolish I was makes me cringe, I really should have known better 😔 Although my two aren't where I'd like them to be yet, they're in a much better situation now than when we started, I just need to gather some more funds for their next (and hopefully final) upgrade 😊

[@sarcasmbunny9449]

Thank you for this. I impulse bought two gerbils and currently have them in a 20gallon long tank with a topper. I’m moving in July so I’ll for sure be upgrading them to either a 29 or 40 depending on the floor space of my new place with an accessible play pen. I really appreciate all of the information you have out there for people like me who just want to do the best for their little buddies.

[@blapblap64]

Good to know, no wooden enclosures.

[@acepierceson4430]

The fact your willing to share honestly what your mistakes were and the right way to do it is amazing! Many are miseducated on these animals and it's not their fault. I used to have hamsters and I thought I was way better of a pet owner than I was. I made some pretty horrible mistakes and now I know better! Thanks to people like you who are willing to share the truth

[@TheGerbilVine]

🥰

[@luozheng2056]

thx for the info

[@tristan2224]

It's okay to make mistakes! Wen I was little I had a bunny and made the mistake of keeping her in a tinny cage. Now I know the proper way to house bunnies for wen I have one in the future!

[@marinavengohecheadelgado1773]

Hi Bex! Many thanks for sharing your experience with us ☺️ You shouldn't feel embarrassed for the care that you provided at the beginning, because what's truly important is that you noticed that it was insufficient and embarked on the road to improvement. You devoted your time and money to better your gerbils' lives and to divulge proper care, which is amazing 😁 I also made lots of mistakes as owner, and I'm far from perfect. My adventure with gerbils began at age 10, when I asked for a gerbil to the Three Wise Men and my request was granted. My gerbil, which I adored, lived on his own in a wire cage with 2-3cm of pine bedding, a plastic wheel that ended chewed up on the first day, cotton fluff for his nest, a plastic house and little more enrichment. With my gerbil I also got a book explaining how to care for the animal that recommended housing gerbils together, but it never occurred to me that my gerbil might feel lonely and bored 😔 The truth is that he never tried to escape or bite the bars, and I used to take him out of his cage almost every day, but in retrospect my poor gerbil's life was probably miserable 😢 Now as an adult I devoted a lot of time to do research before getting my gerbils, but I also made many mistakes. First, I purchased my three boys from a pet shop. Second, I bought an enclosure that was slightly larger than the bare minimum according to German standards, so I had a tu purchase a larger one afterwards. Moreover, the first wheel that I got (and for a time I only had one) was made of wire. Apart from all that, I was unable to assess the gerbils' relationships until it was too late and one of them bit the other two to assert his dominance. 😔 Luckily, I learnt from my mistakes and no my three gerbils live in a bigger enclosure, have two wooden wheels, lots of bedding and hideouts, and have an established hierarchy (I only have one gerbil left of the original trio). 😁 Thanks for taking some time out of your break to share your experience with us, we all have something to learn

[@TheGerbilVine]

Thank you so much for sharing with the community, I think acknowledging out mistakes only makes us grow to be better owners 💜 Your gerbils sounds like they are living their best life :)

[@aikikaname6508]

Yeah I had a gerbil when I was six in the time before the internet was commonly used and gerbil youtubers. It was only decades later reading up on gerbil behaviour that it clicked my gerbil burrowing in the corner of the cage was boredom behaviour. Or that them running about lots after giving the enclosure a full clean was them being stressed from having no scent. I’m a few months away from getting them and researching and I’m still learning but not gonna make those mistakes again!

[@TheGerbilVine]

I really feel that it is truly so hard to navigate good information from bad especially when you're starting out and you have not owned them. So tricky and I think it's OK to make mistakes as long as we learn from them and do better.

[@victorc4_1234]

Thank you for sharing this, it was all really helpful

[@SushiAiBeats]

Honesty is the key and yeah its not easy when you go to a pet store or read stuff online its like 80% not true and it does make a lot confusion. As you know I been struggling finding a new home for my 2 gerbils but I did finally find something but it was the Ferplast Gabry 80. My 2 gerbils are still very small and I think it's going to be fine for a while, it's kinda sad I had no other options at all: / I still wish the pet stores had everything you need So you didn't have to buy stuff from like 20 diff places. Anyway, they have been making tunnels already and it seems to hold up fine so far I filled all the way up and they seem happy. Next part is to get them more tame xD they only get up in my hand to eat still then jumps away. If I do find something bigger one day I wouldn't hesitate to buy one, but yeah its hard over here in Sweden you mostly need to find someone that you can order a custom made one from. Anyhow, nice video as usual:) thanks for sharing.

[@marinavengohecheadelgado1773]

Hi! I'm from Spain and I couldn't find a suitable enclosure for my 3 gerbils in any pet store, either. I eventually bought the Skyline Figo 120 directly from the manufacturer and it's worth every penny 😊 The enclosure is a bit pricey, but I think that it's the best one 😊 If you're interested, you could browse the Skyline webpage and contact them directly by email. Good luck! 😉

[@VictoriaOther]

This may not be related to the video but do you know why my gerbil is scratching corners and walls? She’s starting to worry me. She is also trying to climb on top of her wheel and chewing plastic :(

[@ZenTeT]

i got 2 gerbils and a 25 gallon tank.... they always want to get picked up is this regular ????

[@animalcrossingnerd8142]

What do you work as? /Gen

[@TheGerbilVine]

I work overnight in a dog and cat pet hotel :)