4 replies to this topic

[Hink]

Greetings.  This may seem a bit premature - but the wife and I were discussing Christmas gifts for our two daughters recently, and somehow got on the subject of pets.  They both took an interest in the neighborhood squirrels this passed summer, so we thought something from the rodent family might be good.  Gerbils are awake during the day, do well in groups, and don't need nearly as much space as guinea pigs - which is why we're thinking in this direction.  Our girls are ages 9 & 12, by the way.  Old enough (I think) for this sort of thing.  Though I expect to be doing the majority of the manual labor myself. 

 

Anyway...  Having done a good bit of reading, I'm mostly questioning the enclosure and population at this point.  I happen to have a 75 gallon aquarium stored in the garage that hasn't been used in over a decade.  Is there any reason I wouldn't be able to employ this?  If it would be suitable, how many critters would be recommended for a habitat of this size?  I've seen somewhat conflicting information on that subject.  I'm also having a hard time finding any info on lighting.  Maybe it's not an important subject, but since we intend to keep them in the basement family room (where there's almost no daylight) I assumed they'd appreciate having some semblance of night and day.  I could probably even set something up on a timed dimmer to mimic sunrise and sunset.  Maybe even a moonlight setup for overnight?  I could be overthinking this though. 

 

At any rate, I've very much appreciated the information and experience in this forum.  It's been difficult to locate a forum dedicated to gerbils.  Thanks in advance for any comments!

[lil BIG dwarf]

Hi!

A 75 gallon sounds good, as long as you have a good lid. There is a good gerbil forum, though (a few members on here own gerbils, too)-https://gerbilforum.proboards.com/

[daisy~]

Yes, definitely check out The Gerbil Forum. It's reasonably active and you'll get good answers within a couple of days. I'm on there. My username there is LilyandDaisy.

 

Just to clarify, gerbils do well in pairs. They don't usually do well in groups (with certain exceptions e.g father and son groups). So as a beginner, always aim to get a pair. They aren't the kind of animals where you can say, this enclosure can take 2 gerbils, this enclosure is bigger so it can take 4 etc. Obviously if you do keep a bigger group, you need a bigger tank, but if you already have a big tank, you should still aim to get a pair because groups have a high risk of declanning (when gerbils fight and have to be separated). I always say, choose the enclosure to suit the gerbils, don't get gerbils to suit the enclosure, or in other words, don't get a group of gerbils just because your tank is technically big enough for them. A 75 gallon tank is an excellent housing option for gerbils, if you have a mesh lid for it.

 

Gerbils need a day-night light cycle, whether that's with natural or artificial light. If they won't get natural light, make sure there are lamps or lights in the room that go on and off at reasonably regular intervals. I do encourage keeping them in a room with some natural light if possible though. They love sunbathing if there's a sun patch in their tank (like cats)!

 

Gerbils can make good pets for older children. I got my first gerbils for my 11th birthday and I was perhaps a little young but my parents didn't really supervise me with them. With parental supervision, 9 and 12 are good ages for gerbils. They are very fast and can be difficult to handle, particularly when young. I recommend having a secure playpen area where you can let them roam and where your daughters can sit in with them to handle them. That's often the best way for children to enjoy gerbils.

[Hink]

Thank you both for the quick replies.  I had actually browsed the gerbil forum, but I swore I didn't see any recent activity.  Maybe the link I found took me to an old version?  The URL above seems to work just fine though.  And Daisy...  I'm not sure why it didn't sink in sooner, but I see how a family group is very different from a group that's been randomly placed together.  I'll certainly stick with two.  Not trying to fill a quota here.

 

Well...  We have a few months to kick this idea around.  Not sure that the wife is excited about having rodents in the house, but she agrees it will be good for the girls.  And getting that tank out of the garage certainly works in favor of the situation.  She's been begging me to sell it for years.  I'll stop back in and let you all know where we land. 

 

Thanks again!

[peablossom]

Hi there! I'm pretty experienced with gerbils. A 75 gallon tank would be awesome for gerbils. If you want any advice on gerbils, feel free to ask me and ill try and answer your questions