I'm by far a gerbil expert these three being my first - so I won't moan at you. But I put some rotastak tube in and they got chewed to smitherins within 24 hours, so promtly came out. From what I can tell anything that is an add on is fine as long as they have the tank.

Have they always had the rotastak add on? When did they become bitey? How are you getting on with hand holding?

I got mine a big wooden wheel - they've not quite figured it out though. Apart from Itsy who did have a go. She's lovely she always seems to be smiling! hehe.

My perfecto though is a righ bug*er. It looks lovely but impratical for taming new gerbils. Going to have to keep trying to entice them out with treats.

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Mummy to 4 piggies, Manny, Floyd, Izzy and Eve, 3 hammie's, Jean Claude van Ham (aka JC), Princess & Prince Philip, 3 Gerbils Itsy, Bitsy and Ditsy. Foster piggies China & Alfie.

Theyve had the rotastak add on since I had them, Theyve only started biting recently after i handled them less due to being ill. I dread trying to get them out though as I dont want to stress them out and theres so many places for them to hide lol!
They chewed threw it once lol and i replaced that bit and its been fine, I just always make sure they have plenty of wood/cardboard. But when they did chew threw it i didnt notice for a few days as they were soo cheeky they would go out at night to a den under my bed and back for the morning! I moved my room round the other day and found theyre little den!

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Leo; Moggy.
Woody; Staffy X Beagle
Ivy & Sybil; Gerbils
Noddy: Syrian Hamster

Firstly thanks for the feedback on my website - it's nice to know what people think of it

I'm not a huge fan of perfecto's, and the problem you are experiencing is one of the reasons. I find them way overpriced and really if Gerbils are getting deep substrate the shelves just end up buried anyway. If people like them of course I have no problem with them, I just think you can save a lot of time and money going for a plain tank

As for the taming - some Gerbils are genetically predisposed to this sort of behaviour so it could be the case that they never fully "tame" as such. Bad commercial breeding is pretty much the cause of this sort of thing.
You can do similar to what is in my Gerbils who bite section but without the gloves. Also I suggest feeding them at the same time of the day every couple of days. Normally even the most skittish of Gerbils will hang around on the surface at feeding time. I've also found that time of day influences this sort of behaviour, and evening time seems to find them less skittish.
Have you tried using a large jar or container in which they can walk into themselves and then allowing them to walk onto your hand that way?

I think with Gerbils it's a case of accepting them how they are. While you can do your best to try and tame them, some will never respond as much as you may want them to. I know for a long time I felt like I was doing something wrong when I had Gerbils who just didn't seem to lose their fearful behaviour. I've come to realise that it's just how these certain ones are built and I just do my best with them and appreciate them just the way they are.

Another good trick is to let them out for exercise in the bath-tub. Even the most nervous of Gerbils seem to enjoy this and if you do it daily, you will find their confidence really grows. Sometimes also with Gerbils how they act when they are in their own tank is different to how they act when they are out of it. HOpe this helps

If you want to tame them you will need to take the rotastak off until their behaviour has changed. The fact they can hide in all the little places and in the tunnels will only add to their behaviour, as you will have to chase them all over the place and in turn stress them out trying to get them out of those tunnels. I'm not saying you can't keep the rotastak on there at a later date - if that's what you want to do then that's ok, but just be aware that in adding things like that on it can create separate territories and possibly increase the risk of them declanning.

So, anyway - take off the rotastak and follow the instructions on my website and you should notice a difference fairly quickly.

I had some positive results today. I got a wooden tunnel and a hay tunnel and some chinchilla dusting powder and made up a sand bath using a loaf tin thingie.

I did put them in a plastic box, I hummed and arghed for ages about it, but then decided to just see how they reacted. I moved lots of their substrate into it so it didn't seem to alien. They were a little frenzied - burrowing like mad. But they didn't seem frightened of my presence - just a little unsure about what was going on. The tunnel was great because they climbed straight in and I was able to lift them out without any fuss. They weren't phased by the presence of my hand in the slightest, just jumping on it, over it, almost like it wasn't there! I think tonight was the first sand bath they ever had. At first they didn't make much of it but then I guess instinct took over because they started rolling and seemed like they were having a thoroughly good time. When one stepped on my hand, I lifted and then let them jump off. I really wanted them to attempt a climb on my arm, but only one partially did. Still no bites or anything and one even let me stroke her a little, I love it when you raise your finger and they stand up to try and reach it - so cute They even climbed onto my hand when they were attempting to get out of the box - which was good because then I just let them jump off it and back in the box - it's that type of handling that's impossible in the perfecto!

One question about feeding - mine really don't seem to eat very much at all, so it's hard to do dinner because they're bowl is still full. Should I put much much less in? I thought for three I'd put in a fair amount but it barely looks touched. They do eat, I have seen them eating, they just don't seem to be that fussy about food.

Overall though, we had a lot of fun tonight. I think these gerbils probably could have been really really tame if only they'd had the right start. They've basically just had very little human interaction and handling. Hopefully they are still young enough that i can turn that around. Apparently when they turned up at the rescue they'd just been dumped in a box with three boys but after a month quarantine none were pregnant so the lady at the rescue said she thought they must be very very young. Apparently they were really under-weight and "manky" looking as she put it. But now their coats are glossy and they are such lovely little things. I just want to fatten them up a bit and help grow their confidence and get them more active, they do sleep a lot!

I'm not greatly impressed with the perfecto tank at all, I got them the wheel but after just a few hours it was buried under a tonne of substrate so I took it out. I need to build something that I'm satisfied with! The really useful boxes are good but I really want something made of glass that I can watch them through clearly. It might be time to take a trip to ikea to see what sort of glass furniture they have! I'm incredibly surprised at the lack of gerbil fit tanks on the market!! And gobsmacked at the type of hamster cages they advertise as gerbil suitable

5head - how did you get on today? Least we're in this gerbil taming predicament together

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Mummy to 4 piggies, Manny, Floyd, Izzy and Eve, 3 hammie's, Jean Claude van Ham (aka JC), Princess & Prince Philip, 3 Gerbils Itsy, Bitsy and Ditsy. Foster piggies China & Alfie.

It's most likely they will be hoarding food somewhere in the tank so don't worry too much about that. IN fact - you're best to get rid of the food bowl all together and scatter the food around the tank as it provides a little exercise and environmental enrichment. Searching out their food is always good for giving them something to do

Havent been to bad today, going to have a proper go later today, as I as trying to settle the new rabbit in yesterday.

However I got an order from amazon yesterday, and it was packed out with brown card/paper. So I screwed it up into a ball, now they were very happy bunnies last night lol.

I dont use a food bowl for mine, I used a plastic one to begin with (big mistake) and once they chewed it i just scatter a bit into the tank and a bit in the rotstak and they hunt for it

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Leo; Moggy.
Woody; Staffy X Beagle
Ivy & Sybil; Gerbils
Noddy: Syrian Hamster

i think theyre fine as an add on too aslong as the rodent isnt too big for the tubes, i have a single pod attached to my runt syrian hamsters cage (size of a 6 week old at 1 1/2 years) too and he uses it as his nest which i think is better as it leaves the cage area more room for exercise and toys and the ham feels more secure in his pod sleeping

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