So my new gerbil tank arrived today! I designed it myself - but obviously it was a company who made it - so I had no idea how it was going to look when it actually turned up! I love it, more importantly, Itsy, Bitsy and Ditsy love it! They have access to a wheel now all day long - in the perfecto it got buried in substrate! I've put pictures up and you can see how much bigger and deeper it is than the perfecto. I'm proper chuffed with it. Although I don't even want to go into how much it cost - so far it's the most expensive cage I've bought by miles! Then again I just found such a lack of suitable gerbil homes on the market. I felt I had no choice. It's money well spent.







So far the substrate is dust free woodshavings, megazorb, hay and tissue paper - I throw a box in for them to destroy.

Within all the substrate is lots of little boxes and wooden tunnels - unfortunately you can't see them, but they are in there! I had to go back to the petshop this evening to buy more hay and substrate because I ran out!

I don't like using shavings but I'm still at a loss as to what I should be giving them that will allow them to create tunnels and burrow - megazorb just isn't quite up to the job and provides no structure, it just collapses. Shavings is slightly better - and from the advice I found on the egerbil website it seemed to suggest that most gerbil fanatics were fine with shavings.

I bought some dessert sand by a company called monkfish - it's for reptiles, it was really expensive though - £8 for a small bag and I'd need atleast 25 bags to get the right depth, so that's not really an option. I need to research whether they can actually use it aswell! I've not put it in because I'm not sure if it's safe.

Anyway, more suggestions on better substrate would be really appreciated!

Enjoy the pics!
xxxx

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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.

IIf you use megazorb and then add some layers of hay it helps support the tunnels, can get some really good networks going that way

Love the tank, it looks amazing for them! Plenty of room for a sand bath at the top as well.

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http://crittery.co.uk
Exotic and common rodent information; UK rodent rescue map.

i love it, tht's mazing!

Wow you are megga awesome

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Jarhead and friends

oh. my. god!!!! It's like a gerbil palace!

Can I ask a few nosy question
Where did it come from?
Would they deliver to me in Cambs?
What are the dimensions on the tank?
And roughly how much did it cost?

I will be moving in april and want to upgrade all my babies too

wow that is amazing!

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Owner to-
lots of rodents
2 monster dogs
1 slinky cat

Lovely setup, very impressive cage. No wonder your gerbils are enjoying themselves .

Personally I use a mix of aspen (the kind used for snake substrate), hay and finacard, i've found it allows for very stable tunnels. But it's an expensive mix, I would not have bothered with it if I hadn't of brought it in bulk. I'm not keen on sand as a substrate, nice for a sand bath or play pen but I find it needs to be mixed in with soil/kept damp for any sort of tunnel stability, it also tends to be cold and just generally not something i'd use for gerbil substrate.

Your current mix is good, it's definitely a popular one .

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That is awesome. I love it. Large amount of space, great depth for digging and also the shelf area for some toys to play with. Fantastic

Aww thanks everyone! Best bit the sliding door also come completely away, but it's perfect for sitting in a chair with my arm in the tank - without bending, stooping etc - and I've been able to interact with them so much more already!

I can just sit there for an hour and while their playing just play with them, give them my arm and hands to climb all over.

I couldn't do that in the Perfecto, so I used a ferplast duna to transfer them too - which could be a mission in itself - but now I just roll my desk chair over (the tank is at the side of my workspace) and it's play time and then can come on out whenever they please.....only issue is - how much work am I actually going to get done now? hehe

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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 was made by a one man run company - custom aquaria. He specialises in making tanks for snakes and turtles. When I was looking for a suitable tank I called a reptile shop to ask about their tanks and he put me onto this guy. His name is Matthew and he's just the nicest guy. Website is: CustomAquaria_home

He's based in Northampton and he personally drove to my house to deliver it at no extra charge

The dimensions are - 90cm long, 50cm wide and 75cm tall.

It cost a whooping £160..........

However, he explained that the price jumps up quite considerably when you go from one bracket to another in terms of glass size. Depending on what size you wanted and how many shelves and levels inside - I think you could get something cheaper. Alternatively, you could go even bigger. The dimensions and what you want is really up to you. He'll work with you to say what's possible but you generally tell him what you want and he puts it together

xxxx

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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.