I adopted two new gerbils yesterday, and they are pretty well adapted so far. They live in an aquarium with a connected bin which is much larger and hold many things to chew on tons of bedding to dig in. These are two of the things they like best. Unfortunately, despite having tons of things to chew on including paper towels, wood blocks (which they don't find the least bit interesting), and cardboard (which is their favorite thing to chew on), one of my gerbils still resorts to chewing on the inside of the plastic tubes connecting the bin to the aquarium. Any ideas on how to stop it? I can't connect them any other way, and the only way they would get to the bin other than the tubes, would be for me to manually place them there (they don't trust me completely yet, but they are curious and have come up and sniffed, walked on my hand). Trying to catch them makes feel like a I'm stressing them out, and making them scared of me. What should I do?
Hi :) Unfortunately there's not much you can really do to stop your gerbils chewing the tube. Unfortunately gerbils tend to chew everything they're not supposed to and ignore everything you buy them to chew on. I'm assuming the tube is plastic. Plastic is irresistible to gerbils, they love it, but its not good for their stomachs if swallowed. The only thing I can think of is if there's any possible way you can make, or find a new tube out of metal or glass. It seems to be the only thing gerbils can't get through!
First of all, aspen isn't good for rodent. Try using Carefresh or atleast pine. U probably think they're eating it but they aren't. They';re probably just putting it inside in their pouch to bring it to their nest or something. My gerbil does that too. So don't worry about it. Maybe you can put more bedding inside thegerbil's nest to save up some work for the gerbil. =)
Well done for adopting a gerbil! i advise you to buy a few tubes on OKorder or the petshop and put it in the aquarium or connected bin so he can chew that one. He might be a bit bored . Buy him or make him a few toys to play with. Good Luck !
