hi, i am glad your gerbils like to play on a wheel mine will not entertain
them. I dont know why but they just wont. I suppose it must be their
character.
Julie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dana Hendrix" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 5:47 PM
Subject: new subscriber with beginner-type questions
> Hello. I'm new to the list and can't find an archive
> or FAQ to check for answers to my (pretty basic)
> questions, so if anyone has advice and can reply to me
> directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED], I'll appreciate it.
> Sorry to clutter up the list with such basic
> stuff--if I have missed an FAQ or searchable archive,
> someone clue me in please and I'll look there for
> answers.
>
> My daughter has 2 female gerbils, a year and a half
> old (how long will they live?). We have had a hard
> time finding the right cage setup. We started with a
> 10 gal. aquarium with sliding wire mesh top, but one
> day the exercise wheel got hung up on aspen chips and
> the girls climbed up on top of it and chewed through
> the mesh. My daughter walked in just in time to see
> their little noses sticking out the top of the
> aquarium...End of aquarium. So we ran out and bought
> a large 2-level wire cage but could not find one with
> a deep solid bottom. They chew A LOT on the
> bars--have removed paint, which worries me that
> they've ingested so much of that--and they kick out
> LOTS of shavings etc. Plus I bet they miss digging
> down into the deeper shavings we had in the aquarium
> and I doubt the wire bars of the second level feel
> good to their feet.
>
> SO....we're about ready to go back to the aquarium
> idea but had a hard time making a water bottle fit the
> sliding mesh lid and obviously don't want them chewing
> through annother lid, and possibly escaping this time.
> Does anyone know of a really good gerbil aquarium
> set-up, with good water bottle fitted in a way that it
> can't be chewed up and no way to get out the mesh top?
> Since our local pet store doesn't seem to have a good
> option, maybe there's an online gerbil supply source?
> <:-)
>
> Final question: Wheels. We can't find a metal wheel
> that seems safe for gerbil tails, and every plastic
> one we try, they chew up overnight. Right now we have
> the standard wire wheel anyway, and cross our fingers
> that their tails won't get broken. It also squeaks,
> and we have tried Pam, crisco, and safflower oil--all
> wear off in a day or two. Any suggestions? We aren't
> sure what lubricant is safe for them to ingest,
> either...aaack.
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> Dana
> (on behalf of busy gerbils Fluffy and Sarah)
>
>
>
>
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