meant to send this to the list... darn reply button lol ---------- From: things-that-squeak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 15:04:22 -0500 To: Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: big pine shavings-less dust
We use large pine shavings-sold at wal-mart in 8cu. ft. bales marked for horses the shavings are very large & thick and the gerbies love to chew on it until it's all smaller bits it has very little dust as the gerbies chew it up it seems to take up more room and increases the odor absorbing ability we chose pine because it's cheaper-we have 40+ tanks of small animals and because it's universal for the animals we have too many of our animals are allergic to aspen-and our rats have gotten booboos from aspen when we have extra $ around we do use aspen for some of the lighter colors of gerbies since we've seen ours are more likely to get resp. infec. than the darker colors if we have extra $ we'd rather add timothy hay or alfalfa to the litter as a thin top layer they love to eat it and nest with it-and it smells wonderful -- ron & traci things-that-squeak [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.neo.rr.com/thingsthatsqueak/ > > Ok, there are mixed views on pine bedding - but I do know this from > experience. If you intend to breed, DO change to aspen or some other > allergen free bedding. The pups can and most likely will develop > respiratory problems so acute that they will die. I'd hate for this > to happen to you. > > If you're not breeding however, I do have a gerbil that seems to do > MUCH better on pine than aspen. Some gerbils may have problems with > pine, but others have problems with other kinds of bedding. I say use > whatever suits the gerbil best, and is just as easy on your pocket as > well. > > > As far as putting the 2 males and 2 females together, I would > strongly advise against it, but only from what I've heard from > others. I have no first hand experience with such a situation, and I > have no care to. If and when one of the females has babies, I would > strongly suggest you find another tank to put the other female in, > perhaps with one of the males (so she doesn't get lonely), as the > non-mother will most likely steal, maim, or destroy the pups of the > mother. > > Of course, if you have no interest in breeding, than I suggest you > split them up into same-sex pairs. Even closely related gerbils will > breed with one another. > > Good luck! > > -Jackie > > > I wanted to tell everyone something. I have been using pine bedding > for 4 months now and have had no problems with my gerbils. They also > like penuts. > > I do have a ? though. I put two males and to females together and > they get along great but what will happen when they have babies????
