>I'm starting a Disabled Gerbil Rescue in my home. However in order to do this I need efficient housing.
Will you be keeping the rescued gerbils long term? It makes a big difference in the size of the space required. As I have said before we have a 33 gallon aquarium with a stand. It could easily be divided up into 5 living compartments for animals recuperating and awaiting adoption. This would give each gerbil an enclosure 7.2' x 12' or 86.4 square inches. I would not divide it up in more than three sections if the gerbil were in long term care. (144 square inches) For mating pairs t could be divided into two. (216 square inches)
You could make a simple wood frame that could be dropped into place, or removed for easy cleaning. Even if you had to replace the wood frame every so often it would inexpensive.
Where we live we can get 10 gallon aquariums pretty cheap, $9.00. If you were to divide them into two with hard warecloth you could house two gerbils for under $10.00, or only $5.00 each. Each gerbil would have an
d enclosure of 10' x 10' or 100 square inches. A set of metal shop shelves from Wal-Mart would probably hold five tanks. This would give you a compact way to house ten gerbils.