Throwing some ideas around for small furries to get once the rodent clan has reduced some (well when we have less then 22 animals in five cages ).

Somebody mentioned gerbils to me. I've been avoiding furries smaller then rats due to lack of a good lifespan. With all the mouse deaths we've had I wanted something that lived a little longer. But apparently gerbils fall into this category.

I've read some stuff on t'internet and am a little confuzzled. Some say small accomodation to prevent declanning, some say as big as you can. Some say intros are terrible some say they aren't bad.

Now in my experience, often what is touted as 'ideal' doesn't always apply. Our Explorer we bought for the rats being totally unsuitable for what we needed and having to be changed. Plus despite being told we can just 'chuck em in' together we soon found this to have only worked once in the several different intros we've done.

So I am cautious when I start reading conflicting advice as its hard to know whats the more likely.

I'd like to start small, and stay small. We have far exceeded out rodent limit at the moment and is bloomin hard work. So I'd like not to get into a 'get more gerbils' situation lol I'm looking for a nice, easily maintained environment for a trio if that will work. So what size am I looking at? Someone kindly gave me a link to a homemade tank topper that I am interested in giving a go but its got a wooden frame, would that be okay?

We'd possibly go for girls, are they easier to maintain in a group long term?

Basically we have our squishy cuddle monsters in the form of rats, we are now looking for something that will be playful and entertaining to watch...which our bucks are not lol We are having 'conflicts' about the planned Chinchilla project so this may very well go on a long term back burner. Nobody is too keen on guinea pigs at the mo and little un is allergic to buns. Degus are not appealing to the family as a whole, I find it very hard to tell animals apart when they all look the same, which is probably a lame argument but so be it. Otherwise Degus would have been a front runner as they live very long indeed.

The shortlist is basically Robos or gerbils And I have no idea how I would tell robos apart in any case. Plus I think Gerbils live longer?

__________________
Mum to the meece:- Milly, and Bramble. And the rats:- Blossom, Vimes, Mort, Teppic, Leo, Hex, Oats, Binky, Kevin, Honey, Blu, Pixie, Patch, Vyrt, Havelock, Squibbles and Newt. And Charlie the dog x

http://scritches.webs.com

Had some advice that females are more territorial then males so males are probably what we would look at.

__________________
Mum to the meece:- Milly, and Bramble. And the rats:- Blossom, Vimes, Mort, Teppic, Leo, Hex, Oats, Binky, Kevin, Honey, Blu, Pixie, Patch, Vyrt, Havelock, Squibbles and Newt. And Charlie the dog x

http://scritches.webs.com

Ive got 7 gerbils right now, all rescues, living in three groups,
Group 1
Two girls living in a 2ft tank, this is not ideal but Im still bonding them and its the only tank I can seperate.

Group 2
Two males, about to move (this weekend) into their 4ft tank with no tank topper, but for two gerbils this is plenty of space.

Group 3
Three males about to move from the 4 ft tank into a 2 1/2 foot square tank (yes that is as huge as it sounds ).


They have a really deep bedding so they can dig tunnels to their hearts content, gerbils are really different to rats but they are incredibly entertaining, real characters and so fearless. Boys are usually easier to keep together.

__________________


gsds (Henrick and Bella), the cats (Syd, Lilly, Elvis and Dizzy), the gerbils (Honey, Lisa, crusty, Millhouse, Flanders, Bart and Homer), the rats (Valentine, Flower, Petal, Blossom, Koda, Cava, George), the mice (Minnie, Pop, Seudag, Caraid, Silver, Trouble, Athena, Pandora, Aphrodite, Meep, and Springtime)

in the past ive had 2 sets of gerbil brothers who never declanned and loved each other all their lives.

at the moment i have a trio of brothers happily living in a 4ft tank....i agree TDM 4ft is huge!...and is the center piece of our bedroom

as has been said i think boys are less likely to declan than girls.

__________________
"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

Thinking about using the Freddy Max as a topper, but I can't find any kind of tank tat is 80cm x 50cm so it may require going for one thats too big and meshing part of the roof. If that works they'd have lots of room.

I'll have to hunt round and see what I can find.

__________________
Mum to the meece:- Milly, and Bramble. And the rats:- Blossom, Vimes, Mort, Teppic, Leo, Hex, Oats, Binky, Kevin, Honey, Blu, Pixie, Patch, Vyrt, Havelock, Squibbles and Newt. And Charlie the dog x

http://scritches.webs.com

Also, are the tanks easy to clean without moving them? 4ft tanks must be quite heavy.

__________________
Mum to the meece:- Milly, and Bramble. And the rats:- Blossom, Vimes, Mort, Teppic, Leo, Hex, Oats, Binky, Kevin, Honey, Blu, Pixie, Patch, Vyrt, Havelock, Squibbles and Newt. And Charlie the dog x

http://scritches.webs.com

i got my tank off ebay for £25

you wont regret getting gerbils they are so entertaining and its so sweet when they interact with each other

__________________
"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

i dont move my tank tbh....i shovel everything out and give it a clean it where it is lol

__________________
"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

Same here, gerbils never make it messy like rats and mice would, so its not usually wet or smelly which makes it easier to clean.

__________________


gsds (Henrick and Bella), the cats (Syd, Lilly, Elvis and Dizzy), the gerbils (Honey, Lisa, crusty, Millhouse, Flanders, Bart and Homer), the rats (Valentine, Flower, Petal, Blossom, Koda, Cava, George), the mice (Minnie, Pop, Seudag, Caraid, Silver, Trouble, Athena, Pandora, Aphrodite, Meep, and Springtime)

Thankee

__________________
Mum to the meece:- Milly, and Bramble. And the rats:- Blossom, Vimes, Mort, Teppic, Leo, Hex, Oats, Binky, Kevin, Honey, Blu, Pixie, Patch, Vyrt, Havelock, Squibbles and Newt. And Charlie the dog x

http://scritches.webs.com