More Gerbil Info: Things to Avoid

dos and donts of gerbils and common mistakes

[@AssafHershko]

They are very cute, and the enclosure size is great, but it lacks a lot more in way of enrichment. So if you don’t mind some advice - they need a sand bath (crucial for gerbils, it is how they clean themselves), and a big wheel (at least 11 inches diameter). They also need a lot more stuff to chew (cardboard, and/or wood). You shouldn’t give them dyed cardboard (like what you have in there now) as that could make them sick if they chew it. Bedding depth should be at least 10 inches (they are deep burrowing animals). They would also appreciate some hay. And food really should be scattered (foraging helps break their boredom). Just a few things that will greatly improve their quality of life. Good luck! ❤

[@falconrywithkai]

apprecate the suggestions, this video is fairly old and after a fresh cleaning, meaning most toys/chews and climbs are completely removed from the frame along with bedding being refilled after filming. They do have a wheel, lots of uncolored cardboard and around 8-9 inches of bedding, cannot be filled any higher or they have chewed out of the lid in the past so its for safety. To address things im allergic to hay and straw. The gerbils never liked or used a sand bath so I stopped giving that to them and it ended up creating a fight between them causing them to declan. Both live separately now and are quote happy with their many chews and toys with supervised access to their wheel daily

[@AssafHershko]

@@falconrywithkai Thanks for the response and consideration. Sorry to hear they declanned. Have you considered trying to bond them back with the split cage method? There's a very good video on it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4eodWN-eZh5etE

[@falconrywithkai]

No they fully declanned, both were very bloodied and in very bad shape, not possible to reunite at any point. I was very lucky they both survived the declanning.

[@Shawn-ky2tw]

@@falconrywithkai Oh my! I just purchased two baby males. Waiting another 4 weeks to retrieve from the breeder. I was going to get a third, but thanks to your video, going to stick with only two. I was surprised to hear that even just two brothers declanned with one another. That's kind of sad. Seems you did everything you could for boredom breakers, but many of the things didn't work. I wonder what percentage of success is having two brothers or sisters together from start to end. Your video makes me think it's actually not that successful.

[@falconrywithkai]

@Shawn-ky2tw im not sure on success rates. I know a lot of people never have them declan and some do. I think the females are more prone to declan If I remember correctly?. Two is best usually

[@snotwurfit]

I love gerbils. Your two look like 2 of my 6 boys. I must have unusual gerbils, they don't like chew sticks. They just ignore them. But they like eating their houses lol

[@snotwurfit]

I always buy wooden houses and ladders and toys for my boys. I don't mind if they eat through it as its good for their teeth and I don't mind replacing them regularly. It also keeps their interest to have new things added to their tank regularly

[@kellyrouser5849]

they are SO cute. thank you for making this video

[@AuntieAlexandra]

These two are so cute!

[@snotwurfit]

Good video. I had no idea that sometimes one will eat a deceased gerbil.

[@falconrywithkai]

its a very common thing to happen. Its to prevent predators from sniffing the nest out since gerbils are social group livers

[@reggieharris-hd3hv]

Very informative! I have two male gerbils that look identical to yours😂

[@Siberialoverhere]

Thankyou

[@2sherelle]

You should scatter their food rather than keep it in a bowl. It lets them forage for their food which is something they would do in the wild.

[@falconrywithkai]

I do it in a bowl so I know how much they are eating. Its for health monitoring I dont like scatter feeding for that reason

[@barnabyandanthonysofficial1497]

this video made me think to ask what do people do with the mice or gerbils used in traps to catch kestrels, redtails etc.?

[@falconrywithkai]

Some later use them as food or just keep them as pets. My gerbils have not been used as trapping bait, I use exclusively mice for that and keep them after as a pet or in case I need to re-trap a bird later in the season. But Thomas and Hoppy here are just my pets haha.

[@stellahawkins1958]

They need chew toys as well,its a bit sparse.

[@falconrywithkai]

again they are in there. Buried by them. This vid is after a cleaning as well so things replaced in after filming most times. They have their food in there, many sticks etc they just bury them under the fluff lol. Even if I unbury them they recover it all in minutes

[@stellahawkins1958]

Better to scatter food,more natural

[@falconrywithkai]

have answered this beforeI think. For health reasons they require bowls to monitor feeding frequency. 🙂

[@stellahawkins1958]

Put in a sand bath,they'll use as bathroom

[@falconrywithkai]

they buried it and kept not using it so it got removed