Advice of the Gerbil kind!

gerad_way

Just wondered if anyone can advise whether I can feed Gerbil food to a hamster as I have just been given some but don't want to harm my hammy????
Also i have been on rabbits united and just wondered if there is an equivalent for Guinea Pigs , or any other site for gp
Thanks

picklepick

im looking to get a couple of gerbils. ive had them in the past and i miss the little whiskered devils.

ive got an old fish tank and ive just acquired a hamster cage from ebay that im hoping to connect to the fish tank via some rotastack tubes?!

im not very good at diy and was wondering if anyone had attempted this before? im also worried about making it cat proof? i guess ill just have to tape it up REALLY well!!

if anyones done it before and maybe has photos that would really help, thanks.

doodle-bug_2

I've not connected a rotastack to a fish tank, but did keep my gerbils just in a large fish tank. I half filled this with peat and straw mixture -this lets them dig and the tunnels then don't collapse. Looks a mess, but the critters absolutely loved it!
I had a wire lid (wood frame) which would keep the cat out - I would keep a weight on this just in case, though, unless you can think of a way to keep it tied down in a neat way!

Best of luck - if you manage this, let us have pics!

remembered_nights

It might be easier to attach the cage on top of the fishtank with ladders down?

Jenny_Wren_3

my daughter has a pair of gerbils in a glass fishtank with a wire lid on. She brought a large tunnel system recently, she cut holes in the lid and pushed the tubes through so gerbils can go up, accross and back down. Seems to work ok.

picklepick

yes i thought about attaching it to the top of the cage but i dont think they'd have enough ventilation in the tank. it needs to have a wire mesh top as it will put pressure on their little lungs otherwise. i really want tunnels as opposed to a ladder as it mimicks their natural environment better. stumped as to how to attach it. i think i might have to half cover it with the cage and half leave it mesh, or have it on a shelf above the tank?!

remembered_nights

Is it a rotastack style one or actual bars? We got ours on ebay and it's the design I suggested with a bars-cage on top - they do love the tank and it's much cleaner! However we put the food bowl at the top of the cage so we get to see them every so often, and they can be picked up more easily. I love gerbils

lch_2

I made a gerbil home for my bf's gerbils years ago. I'd found a pic online and took it to my local pet store. The bottom tier was a plastic rectangular tank, probably a spider tank, which had a door in the lid. I used a compass to scratch a circle in the door, cut the circle out, and fed a plastic tube in to it. This tube joined the bottom and middle layers. My middle layer was a round rotostack house which had a little wheel inside. From the middle layer, a tube went out to the side, then up to a small top tier. We kept the bottom tier about half full of sawdust and cotton wool-type stuff. The gerbils slept mostly in the bottom tier, burrowing and making comfy beds, but played in the higher tiers. I found this set up much easier to maintain, cleaing wise and actually managing to get hold of the gerbils when it was cleaning time. In fact, i found if i timed it right, i didn't have to handle the gerbils very much at all, by cleaning one section at a time.

Hope this helps.

picklepick

ive got an actual hamster cage with bars on it, not a rotastak room if you see what i mean. my problem is the hamster cage is bigger that the tank it needs to go above and is quite heavy. i dont want to just put it over the tank cos i dont think theyd be enough air in there for them with just a tube going up

oh dear i think i need a man to help me with this!!!

picklepick

meant to say thanks for all your replies guys. i think im going to attempt it this weekend.... if i manage it ill upload some photos so u can see my effort.

have any of u got any photos u might be able to show me??
thanks again