September DIY Projects

[RainbowBrite]

I love that! You are so creative.

 

[Member ID2]

That's a lovely house! Is balsa wood a safe wood? I was at Hobbycraft recently looking for the hamsters but couldn't find them and saw balsa wood strips.

 

[elusive]

Daisy did say in another thread that balsa wood is safe, it’s a very soft wood though so wouldn’t take any chewing.

 

[Daisy]

That's a lovely house! Is balsa wood a safe wood? I was at Hobbycraft recently looking for the hamsters but couldn't find them and saw balsa wood strips.

Yes, it's safe

 

[Daisy]

The gerbils are back in their main enclosure. I ran out of bedding so the substrate level is a bit lower than it should be. Once I have more bedding, the wheel will be at the side on the Niteangel platform.

The gerbils seem happy. Gerbils are much easier to please than hamsters, especially Leo! They don't get attached to their things so they don't mind if they're replaced.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I love your yellow theme. Your gerbils are so cute.

 

[Daisy]

I love your yellow theme. Your gerbils are so cute.

The taller platforms are actually natural wood colour but the camera flash makes them look yellow!

 

[Daisy]

The gerbils are also learning how to run together in their wheel

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[Maz]

It looks great! Happy gerbils . I think most pets are easier to please than hamsters!

 

[Maz]

The one at the front seems to be managing better than the one behind . I was waiting to see if the one behind would take over the lead - then they stopped and I thought for a moment they were going to run in opposite directions! That would have been funny actually! And I think they would have looked surprised. But perhaps gerbils are too intelligent for that. Maybe they will take in turns to be the one up front.

 

[Daisy]

The one at the front seems to be managing better than the one behind . I was waiting to see if the one behind would take over the lead - then they stopped and I thought for a moment they were going to run in opposite directions! Maybe they will take in turns to be the one up front.

Astra is at the back and she's having to hold herself back because Twiglet naturally runs slower than she does. Twiglet is the dominant gerbil so she gets to set the direction and pace and Astra just has to go along with it. She prefers running alone so she can go fast and do backflips. But when your sister is 50% heavier than you, you don't get much say!

Maybe I should give them Leo's rejected Niteangel wheel as a second wheel.

 

[Maz]

That’s a thought! Is the niteangel wheel bigger than the current one?

I’m used to Syrians who will usually run on any wheel that’s big enough if it spins! In my experience. Although I think some do prefer an enclosed wheel. But would still run in an open wheel as well.

 

[Daisy]

That’s a thought! Is the niteangel wheel bigger than the current one?

The gerbils have an 11 inch Niteangel wheel currently and Leo had a 10 inch Niteangel which would be big enough for Astra at least because she's tiny.

 

[Maz]

Oh so you mean add a second wheel for the gerbils?

 

[Daisy]

Oh so you mean add a second wheel for the gerbils?

Yes, that was the idea. But they might still both want to use the same wheel!

 

[elusive]

The enclosure looks great & the gerbils look very happy to be back in there, they really are quite coordinated in the wheel now, lovely to watch them running together.
Sounds like a good idea to put the second wheel in for them, Im sure they’d make great use of it.

 

[Maz]

Agree - they would have options then. Although then they might try to both fit in the 10” wheel .

Three wheels?!

 

[Daisy]

Agree - they would have options then. Although then they might try to both fit in the 10” wheel .

Three wheels?!

Three wheels and they'd probably still want to use the same one!

 

[Frida]

Maybe a silly question...

Are gerbils happy to share everything?
I thought they might need two of everything incase they have a falling out.

 

[Daisy]

Maybe a silly question...

Are gerbils happy to share everything?
I thought they might need two of everything incase they have a falling out.

In general they're happy to share. Like human siblings, they can have minor squabbles from time to time which is normal. Baby gerbils in particular argue constantly and very dramatically, especially when around sand for some reason (like this, this and this) but it's fine because they're developing hierarchies and conflict resolution skills.

So they don't need two of everything and generally a stable pair will want to do things together anyway. One gerbil regularly doing things alone can sometimes be a sign of trouble, and sleeping separately would definitely be a red flag.