I also used the wrong sand initially, I avoided the dust trap only to fall for the "clay sand" trap with tiny friends farm 😑 The world of pet care is like a minefield, just when you think you've considered everything, you find something else with some kind of trickery, maybe one day we will live in a world with proper pet care laws and regulations so that companies can't claim something is safe for pets if it's not 🤞
Great video. Thank your for sharing. I know its not easy to admit past mistakes. I think you make a good effort to do right by your gerbils and we don't judge you for your old care !
Oh yes I can relate the sawdust one. The gerbil mix I had had lots of sunflower seeds so they mainly picked them out and left a lot of other stuff. Not on my watch anymore! They’re gonna be the most deviously hidden from now on as foraging rewards!
Thanks for the video. It's hard to find good quality food. There needs to be an FDA or similar body. I made some mistakes with my dwarf hamster and he ended up getting diabetes. I did more research for these new gerbils. Better, but always learning!🐹
Absolutely! And there needs to be a law that cages smaller than the guidelines are illegal to be sold at least without a big disclaimer that they’re too small to be used as a main cage
Thank you for these videos, it makes me feel a bit better about myself. I think we all make mistakes. I adopted my first 2 gerbils when they were already adults and also only did basic research. I did the same mistake of deep cleaning the tank. Thankfully I was also lucky with that and there was no fights or declanning. Also the type of bedding.. I used some cheap brand that you can get from any grocery store here and ugh it's so dusty, why did I do that?! Now I buy my gerbils high quality aspen pedding especially made for the purpose of being animal pedding so it's not leftover wood junk or anything like that. Also in the beginning I think the amount of pedding I used wasn't enough as well. And the food mistake: same as with the pedding I used something from the grocery store that included some colored stuff. Thankfully there is a Finnish private company that makes a food mix for gerbils (they have made mixes for various types of rodents following the species' needs which is so amazing) with no extra colors or preservatives so I buy that instead. In the beginning I got stuff that was easy to get and but now I order my gerbil essentials online from a rodent specialized pet store because I love my gerbils and they only deserve the best :) those mistakes were years ago and I'm already having my 4th, 5th and 6th gerbils right now so I really fell in love with them
ahhhhh i completely relate! when i first got my girls I knew nothing about gerbils and over the years I've become so obsessed and do research on them everyday :) it's all a learning experience and everyday they teach us something new!! I'm curious what drew you to gerbils? their personalities, appearance, behavior, all of the above? I'm just curious cause I know it's different for everyone! :)
That is actually so humble to hear and I completely relate. I'm always interested in learning new information & I completely agree that owning gerbils is a learning experience. For me, There were many things that interested me and them compared to other small pets. This included their lifespan, the fact that they could be housed in groups, & the fact that they had furry little tails. Of course their cute little faces with the whiskers and their busy body lifestyle also drew me to them.While I think that all small pets are absolutely adorable, I really enjoy the fact that they have Fur on their tails. How about you? What made you start your journey with gerbils?
@@TheGerbilVine that's awesome!! i agree, I love their tails!!! what drew me to gerbils is quite a few things! one thing is that they are a bit misunderstood in the sense that a lot of people are drawn to hamsters in the small pet community because of their lack of a long tail, and their fluffiness and unfortunately i hear a lot of people say "gerbils are so ugly!" and it confuses me cause i think gerbils are absolutely adorable!! the gerbils at my local petstore unfortunately are usually there for months going unadopted, so back 2 years ago i got my girls from there and i became so fascinated with how they interact with one another and their natural burrowing behavior! so that was when i realized they need A LOT more space and i upgraded their enclosure :) and i loved how they made tunnels and they are so appreciative of every toy i give them. i have a hamster who will not play with anything but her wheel no matter how many toys i put in her enclosure, even sand baths she wont go in....but my gerbils will explore everything i put in theirs and i find that so fascinating! of course i adore my hamster, it's just a different way of interacting with their environment! sorry for the long response, lol!! i guess in short i love their faces, and i love when they purr in my hand and i love how they interact with each other! it's awesome that your channel is focused exclusively on gerbils! i already have learned a lot over the years but your channel definitely has taught me so many new things too! so thank you so much! keep up the amazing videos!!
I was si confused when you were saying that treats wete unhealthy for them bc thats what treats are? Their supposed to be fun and tasty but unhealthy. Im not saying this as just for gerbils its for humans too ice cream is unhealthy for humans but its tasty so we eat it as a treat. But looking for healthy snacks and treats is recomended and smart. So keep doing that i just wanted a clarification.
One of my mistakes was trying to follow your feeding instructions with all the different types of food and taking the time to pull the filler stuff out. I just don't have the time, if I want to spend time actually playing with the gerbils. Fortunatly, I found a good compromise with a mixed seed feed they love and the same huge pellets you used broken up and mixed in. They seem to love it and are happy to run around, so I feel okay about it. My other issue is I like to bring them out to play on my sons bed with a sheet folded up for them to have a hiding space. They love running around his bed. I sit on the floor and they also like to jump on my sholders from the bed. The mistake? One of them has learned she can jump to the nearby chair and from there climb down to the floor. Does anyone have any suggestions on something like a fence for a floor play area? My son's room would be almost impossible to "gerbil proof". :/ Edit: I also just wanted to say your videos have saved me and my gerbils from making a ton of other mistakes, so thank you for sharing your experiences!
Thank you So much for watching and commenting. I completely understand about the gerbil food mix, it can be really hard and time consuming to sit there and pick out all of the bad ingredients. it definitely does take up a lot of time. At the time where I made that video with picking out all of the bad ingredients in the food, that was the current care that I was exercising. I now make them a homemade mix which is a lot better for them and a lot less time consuming for me. I'm glad that you found a mixed seed feed that they are happy with. As for something you can use for a playpin you could use really large pieces of cardboard and sort of clip them together or you could go on Amazon and purchase a small pet playpen, that might be something that is of interest to you.
I also used the wrong sand initially, I avoided the dust trap only to fall for the "clay sand" trap with tiny friends farm 😑
The world of pet care is like a minefield, just when you think you've considered everything, you find something else with some kind of trickery, maybe one day we will live in a world with proper pet care laws and regulations so that companies can't claim something is safe for pets if it's not 🤞
Great video. Thank your for sharing. I know its not easy to admit past mistakes. I think you make a good effort to do right by your gerbils and we don't judge you for your old care !
Oh yes I can relate the sawdust one. The gerbil mix I had had lots of sunflower seeds so they mainly picked them out and left a lot of other stuff. Not on my watch anymore! They’re gonna be the most deviously hidden from now on as foraging rewards!
Smart!
Thanks for the video. It's hard to find good quality food. There needs to be an FDA or similar body. I made some mistakes with my dwarf hamster and he ended up getting diabetes. I did more research for these new gerbils. Better, but always learning!🐹
Absolutely! And there needs to be a law that cages smaller than the guidelines are illegal to be sold at least without a big disclaimer that they’re too small to be used as a main cage
Most foods for all animals including us humans contains all sorts of unnecessary fillers. It's sad the world we live in.
One mistake I made was wen I had hamsters a few years ago I used that chinchilla dust.
Thank you for these videos, it makes me feel a bit better about myself. I think we all make mistakes. I adopted my first 2 gerbils when they were already adults and also only did basic research. I did the same mistake of deep cleaning the tank. Thankfully I was also lucky with that and there was no fights or declanning. Also the type of bedding.. I used some cheap brand that you can get from any grocery store here and ugh it's so dusty, why did I do that?! Now I buy my gerbils high quality aspen pedding especially made for the purpose of being animal pedding so it's not leftover wood junk or anything like that. Also in the beginning I think the amount of pedding I used wasn't enough as well. And the food mistake: same as with the pedding I used something from the grocery store that included some colored stuff. Thankfully there is a Finnish private company that makes a food mix for gerbils (they have made mixes for various types of rodents following the species' needs which is so amazing) with no extra colors or preservatives so I buy that instead. In the beginning I got stuff that was easy to get and but now I order my gerbil essentials online from a rodent specialized pet store because I love my gerbils and they only deserve the best :) those mistakes were years ago and I'm already having my 4th, 5th and 6th gerbils right now so I really fell in love with them
What kind of sand are you using you mentioned what not to use thank you
I use the national geographic desert sand
ahhhhh i completely relate! when i first got my girls I knew nothing about gerbils and over the years I've become so obsessed and do research on them everyday :) it's all a learning experience and everyday they teach us something new!!
I'm curious what drew you to gerbils? their personalities, appearance, behavior, all of the above? I'm just curious cause I know it's different for everyone! :)
That is actually so humble to hear and I completely relate. I'm always interested in learning new information & I completely agree that owning gerbils is a learning experience.
For me, There were many things that interested me and them compared to other small pets. This included their lifespan, the fact that they could be housed in groups, & the fact that they had furry little tails. Of course their cute little faces with the whiskers and their busy body lifestyle also drew me to them.While I think that all small pets are absolutely adorable, I really enjoy the fact that they have Fur on their tails. How about you? What made you start your journey with gerbils?
@@TheGerbilVine that's awesome!! i agree, I love their tails!!! what drew me to gerbils is quite a few things! one thing is that they are a bit misunderstood in the sense that a lot of people are drawn to hamsters in the small pet community because of their lack of a long tail, and their fluffiness and unfortunately i hear a lot of people say "gerbils are so ugly!" and it confuses me cause i think gerbils are absolutely adorable!! the gerbils at my local petstore unfortunately are usually there for months going unadopted, so back 2 years ago i got my girls from there and i became so fascinated with how they interact with one another and their natural burrowing behavior! so that was when i realized they need A LOT more space and i upgraded their enclosure :) and i loved how they made tunnels and they are so appreciative of every toy i give them. i have a hamster who will not play with anything but her wheel no matter how many toys i put in her enclosure, even sand baths she wont go in....but my gerbils will explore everything i put in theirs and i find that so fascinating! of course i adore my hamster, it's just a different way of interacting with their environment!
sorry for the long response, lol!! i guess in short i love their faces, and i love when they purr in my hand and i love how they interact with each other! it's awesome that your channel is focused exclusively on gerbils! i already have learned a lot over the years but your channel definitely has taught me so many new things too! so thank you so much! keep up the amazing videos!!
I was si confused when you were saying that treats wete unhealthy for them bc thats what treats are? Their supposed to be fun and tasty but unhealthy. Im not saying this as just for gerbils its for humans too ice cream is unhealthy for humans but its tasty so we eat it as a treat.
But looking for healthy snacks and treats is recomended and smart. So keep doing that i just wanted a clarification.
One of my mistakes was trying to follow your feeding instructions with all the different types of food and taking the time to pull the filler stuff out. I just don't have the time, if I want to spend time actually playing with the gerbils. Fortunatly, I found a good compromise with a mixed seed feed they love and the same huge pellets you used broken up and mixed in. They seem to love it and are happy to run around, so I feel okay about it.
My other issue is I like to bring them out to play on my sons bed with a sheet folded up for them to have a hiding space. They love running around his bed. I sit on the floor and they also like to jump on my sholders from the bed. The mistake? One of them has learned she can jump to the nearby chair and from there climb down to the floor.
Does anyone have any suggestions on something like a fence for a floor play area? My son's room would be almost impossible to "gerbil proof". :/
Edit: I also just wanted to say your videos have saved me and my gerbils from making a ton of other mistakes, so thank you for sharing your experiences!
Thank you So much for watching and commenting. I completely understand about the gerbil food mix, it can be really hard and time consuming to sit there and pick out all of the bad ingredients. it definitely does take up a lot of time. At the time where I made that video with picking out all of the bad ingredients in the food, that was the current care that I was exercising. I now make them a homemade mix which is a lot better for them and a lot less time consuming for me. I'm glad that you found a mixed seed feed that they are happy with.
As for something you can use for a playpin you could use really large pieces of cardboard and sort of clip them together or you could go on Amazon and purchase a small pet playpen, that might be something that is of interest to you.