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How to Keep Gerbils Properly
How to Keep Gerbils Properly?
Do you have a gerbil? Or are you planning on having one? If so then the first thing that you need to know is its place in your home. If you have a gerbil the best place to lodge it is in a tank. The tank scores way over any other compartment that you may have thought of. Firstly, it is large and spacious enough for your pet to be comfortable in; secondly, they cannot kick out the contents of the tank onto the floor; thirdly, they cannot bite the edges of the tank. Any other place of lodging, say a plastic tunnel or a compartment, has all the above mentioned difficulties. Moreover, a tank allows a large amount of substrate to be placed in it. So you can breathe easy knowing that your pet is cozy and is not chewing edges or getting a bald patch trying to escape from a cage.
The best way of keeping these pets busy is by giving them things to hunt for. What you can do is hide food of the gerbils in the substrate and then see them dig up. The wild ones often forage for food in this manner and allowing them to practice their natural instinct will offer them a scope of using their mental abilities.
What you must avoid carefully is loading them with too much food. Do not overindulge them out of a misplaced sense of love. This will only cause trouble as too much food can create health hazards for these pets. This over indulgence to certain food categories happens with most domesticated animals. So you must carefully avoid doing it.
Gerbils generally live in pairs in their natural habitat. The best thing to do, therefore, is to buy a pair and if possible then from the same litter as well. They are cute to look at but they fight hard for survival. You can observe this phenomenon if you try to introduce new gerbils to the place where an older gerbil is already lodged. This is, thus, another thing that must strive not to do. If you want to do this in any case then the best approach would be to have a double cage or double tank or a split one. You can so switch the tanks or the cages after a while.
This leads to the inevitable mingling of the scents of the two gerbils. In this way a clear demarcation of territories is avoided. The intermingling of scents means that the entire territory is neutralized. What reduces a chance of confrontation is the fact that the two get time to adjust to the other’s presence through their scents. Caution is still to be maintained, and you can remove the separation of the two cages after an extended period of time.
Gerbils are overactive and inquisitive. It is necessary for them to have activity of some kind to keep them occupied. You can keep them occupied by giving them toys. They are generally happy with the most rudimentary toys. Sticks, rocks anything that you give them will keep them busy. You can make them their own toys or buy readymade ones from the pet shop. When you get them a plaything the important thing is to make sure that it is safe for them. Check that these playthings do not have sharp edges or broken bits.
The best thing about a gerbil is that you do not need to give it a bath. They hate water. They bathe in sand instead of water. You only need to provide water for drinking.
When playing with gerbils do make sure that their tails do not get stuck in toys. If they are playing with balls make sure that it is a clear and transparent one. Although gerbils aren’t colorblind they do not see all the colors that we humans do so giving then a colored ball has no advantage.
Gerbil pets, Gerbil information, Gerbil tips, Gerbil advice
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