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DIY or homemade gerbil cage – Over 5 Top Life-Saving Tips and Photo Ideas

DIY or Homemade Gerbil Cage – The Mongolian gerbil is originally from the deserts of Mongolia. Here he mainly lives underground in a tunnel system. Housing the tame gerbil, therefore, requires some extra work. Read on here. Take a look at The Best Cheap Gerbil Cage – Buying Guide, Grading and Testing if you are working on a strict budget.

Gerbils are easy to accommodate. Three things to keep in mind:

  • they needed to dig,
  • their gnawing urge,
  • the fact that gerbils can jump high.

If you want to respect the gerbil’s natural behavior a little, you can best house the animals in a glass container. An old aquarium is very suitable. A box with dimensions 60 x 40 x 50 centimeters is very suitable for three to four gerbils or a breeding pair or trio. The lid must be heavy so that the animals cannot move it. The lid must also be made in such a way that the gerbils cannot gnaw it. 

It is best to lay a substantial layer of ground cover on the bottom. The thicker the ground cover, the better for the gerbils. A ground cover with a minimum thickness of ten centimeters is a must. If you want to keep a gerbil in an open-wire cage, it will drive the owner mad with its digging work. 

As a ground cover, aubiosis (hemp litter) is highly recommended:

  • it is sharper than sawdust, with the result that it is better for the condition of the fur,
  • it drifts much less,
  • often stays flat on the bottom.

You can also use a combination of wood shavings and hay, although some gerbils may be allergic to the wood. This usually results in sneezing and sniffling. When aubiose is used as a ground cover in combination with some hay, one usually no longer needs a sand bath. 

Gerbils, like chinchillas and degus, must bathe regularly to keep the fur free of fat. So once a day you will have to offer the animals a bowl of sand. Chinchilla and shell sand for birds are both suitable. Decorate the cage further with wooden branches, bird’s nest greenhouses, branches, and so on. 

The gerbild intestines are set for small amounts of high fiber food. Hamster food and sunflower seeds are too greasy. It is better to give the gerbil a special rodent food. A special gerbil food can also be given, but this is usually very expensive. Give fruit and vegetables to a very limited extent, they can touch the diarrhea. Furthermore, the necessary proteins must be provided. This in the form of dog food. Mealworms are certainly also accepted. 

It is best to provide drinking water in a sturdy bottle. It is best not to put a drinking bottle in the accommodation, as the gerbils will certainly try to put their teeth in it and if they succeed … 

Tips Before Building – DIY or Homemade Gerbil Cage

Terms and Conditions

The gerbil likes an average temperature between 20 and 24 degrees. Temperatures that are extremely much higher or extremely much lower are unpleasant for the gerbil and can even result in death. Although in Mongolia the temperatures vary extremely between day and night, the gerbil there has the possibility to keep himself warm or cool in his underground tunnel complex. In a domestic situation this opportunity is not there or much less, which is why one should pay attention to the ambient temperature. 

Gerbils have sharp teeth. Therefore always use metal mesh when making cages. Chicken wire is unsuitable, they can easily get through this.

Digging material

If the gerbil wants to dig tunnels in his loft, digging material must be present. Plain sand is unsuitable. It dries out too quickly and is unstable. The tunnels can collapse and the gerbil can get trapped and suffocate.

You can make a suitable soil yourself by mixing equal parts of pre-packaged, sterilized pot plant soil, peat, sharp sand and straw. Add a hand or four activated charcoal against the odor (aquarium part of the pet store). Moisten this mixture before putting it in the container. It must be well wet, but no moisture should drip when you pick it up. Add some stones that you half cover with the digging material and stamp it well. The gerbils will soon make their own tunnels. If you want the gerbils to dig a tunnel along the glass, you have a better chance of temporarily covering the front of the cage with a dark piece of paper. You can then remove this once the tunnel is ready.

Wood shavings can also be used instead of straw. Never use wood shavings only as a ground cover, this can damage the eyes of the gerbil.

Toys

Always put some objects in the cage. The gerbil loves sniffing around, running around and climbing. For playing material, think of digging material, blocks, ladders. A cheaper alternative are toilet rolls, rods of hardwood and stones. 

Branches can be placed in the cage. Make sure you first remove the bark from the branches and then thoroughly clean with hot water and soap. 

Also think of old wooden thread spools, earthenware pots, shredded paper, parakeet ladders, halters or metal cat bells.

A nest box is not necessarily necessary, except a few days before delivery. Gerbils build nests from nesting material. Nesting material must always be present. For this, you can put the soft paper in the cage, such as toilet paper, tissue paper, straw, or nest material from the pet store. Never use as wadding material: cotton wool, wool threads or foam! 

You can put a treadmill in the cage. Never use a metal variant or a variant with steps or bars for this. The tail can get pinched and break off, they can also break their legs. They will quickly gnaw the plastic version.

Opportunities for housing

The hamster cage
Many people use a hamster cage for their gerbils. This is a possibility, but not the most ideal for the gerbil. The loft must be at least 60 cm in size and if possible, several floors or sloping walls should be made.

The Gerbilarium
A gerbilarium is a converted aquarium. Here you can store enough soil material so that the gerbils can dig their own tunnels. An aquarium of 60 x 40 x 30 is really minimal for 1 breeding pair. Generally applies; the bigger the loft, the better. If the gerbil wants to make tunnels, the bottom material must be 15 to 30 cm deep.

The wooden
cage You can build your own wooden cage of Formica covered with hardwood plywood. It is important to cover all protruding edges with metal strips, because the gerbils are very fond of gnawing and otherwise the cage will disappear, moreover the possibility of escape can arise.

Plastic system housings
These are also used for the hamster. They are interconnected by means of pipes. The gerbil thus has several spaces at its disposal and also its favorite tunnels. Cleaning is easier because the loft can be cleaned per section if the gerbils have crawled into another section. Note that vertical tubes are too difficult for young gerbils.

Lattice Cage
They are easy to move, easy to change. The can be no pleasured in the cage, which is not healthy for gerbils. Your gerbils can kick out the bottom bed cover and they will also gnaw at the bars and can have a broken nose.

Maintenance

Water and food must always be present in the container. 

Gerbil does not smell very bad and their stools will be mixed with the available digging material. Here it will be biodegraded. Therefore, changing the loft is not too often. 

It is, however, necessary to remove the drained vegetables or fruit from the container daily and to moisten the surface of the digging material with a plant sprayer. In warm weather, this sometimes has to be done twice a day. Make sure that you only use the plant sprayer for water and that no chemical agents are added to the water since these are harmful to the gerbil.

DIY or Homemade Photos and Ideas of Gerbil’s Cage

Homemade Gerbil Hut

making-a-gerbil-hut
gerbils-homemade-cage

Homemade Plastic Idea for Gerbil Cage

Plastic contain for DIY Gerbil Gage

DIY wooden Gerbil’s Gage Idea

wooden-homade-gerbil-cage
Idea of a wooden Gerbil Housing Homemade

Ideas for DIY Gerbil’s toys

Example-of-Homemade-Gerbil-toys

IN house Furniture Conversion – Homemade Gerbil Cage

homemade gerbil cage example

These are some prime example as to what you can do when you are planning on building your own Gerbil’s Cage. Please take into consideration all the pointers that were listed above because they are vital for your pet’s health and survival. If you are looking for a Nice creative idea on how to build a DIY or Homemade Gerbil Cage then click here.

Buy Gerbil Cage

In this section, we collect the best cages for gerbil for sale that we have in our catalog. Give your little gerbil the cabin he needs to enjoy his life by your side. We have both cheap and cheap solutions and premium cages designed to maximize the comfort of your rodent’s available space.

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