Helpful Hints

Here is a compilation of helpful hints we've gathered from AGS mailing list, GML mailing list, our own experience, etc.

As a special note: please remember squeakies can and will jump and squirm at any age! Always handle your squeakies in a safe area!

What not to do: (this applies to most small animals such as gerbils, mice, hamsters, rats, degus, spiney mice)

• NEVER use cedar or pine! Reason: The oils and aroma are bad for delicate small animals. This goes for all small animals. They also can cause respiratory damage and liver damage.
• NEVER use cottonballs or similar items like old socks or yarn, or "nest fluff"" for nesting material. Reason: The cotton fibers will act much like human hair does to infants. It can tourniquet baby limbs off, and cause intestinal blockage if ingested.
• NEVER use wire bottom cages! Reason: Legs or feet can get caught between the wires and become broken or torn off. It can also cause a condition call "bumble-foot," where the foot swells or has sores.
• NEVER use duct tape inside the cage! Reason: If ingested, it can cause intestinal blockage.
• DON'T use store-bought wooden chews. Reason: They are dyed and can splinter easily. I once had a poor hammie get a splinter in his tongue!
• DON'T use plastic tubes, houses, food dishes, or running balls with slots for "breathing." Reason: Toes can get caught in those slots and become broken or torn off. They will chew them up anyhow and can ingest some of it. This applies to all types of plastic stuff. Plastic is expensive and they will chew it to bits anyhow.
• DON'T buy coconut houses. Do not underestimate the chewing power of a gerbil. Coconuts have strong fibers that cannot be digested and if a gerbie swallows some it can cause intestinal blockage and death.
• DON'T buy something your squeak can get stuck in or hurt. You really have to be on the lookout for this. It's like child-proofing or cat/dog-proofing your house. You can't always spot the thing that will result in an injury.
• DON'T use wimpy screen lids!

Alternates for those don't do's

• Use aspen shavings, corn cob, or paper-based beddings like Yesterday's News, Carefresh, EcoFresh, or CellSorb.
• Use dye & perfume free facial tissue, t.p., or paper towels for nesting material.
• Use glass fish tanks and metal framed mesh screen lids with clips. This is the best way to contain chewing small animals.
• Use paper-based tape like masking tape or painter's tape if you have to use tape for something.
• Use sticks from the backyard, freezing them for a week first to kill bugs, etc. Use hard wood like black walnut and be sure it is untreated wood if you purchase it from a hardware or lumber store.
• Use the cardboard tubes from t.p. and paper towels if they do not have too much glue in them.
• Use the thick-threaded screen lids! Chewy little squeaks can chomp their way through the thin-threaded screens and escape, or worse ingest part of the screen and then need to be urged over the Rainbow Bridge before they have internal injuries and suffer.

Nifty ideas

• Plant pots make great "houses." Be wary of the holes though, some squeaks can and will get their little head caught!
• A piece of brick placed under the water bottle keeps it from being buried and wears down the nails of the animal climbing on it. You can also place the food dish on top to encourage more climbing.
• A cola can or small tomato paste can can be slid over the top of a water bottle if you've got excessive chewers. Be sure the edges are filed so they won't cut your squeaks.
• Use twist-ties, metal clothes hangers, or Christmas tree ornament wires to attach the running wheel to top of cage or lid so it hangs upside-down or at least on its side. This reduces the chances of tail and other injuries, as well as keeps the wheel from being knocked over or buried.
• You can use cooking oil like canola, olive, corn, etc. for squeaky metal running wheels and as a "flea dip" if you suspect mites. (Used as a "flea dip" it should be liberally applied and will leave animal looking kind of slimy for a few days.) Petroleum jelly also works well for squeaky wheels.
• To better regulate food amounts, and to keep our gerbils' chow off the floor of the cage and from being buried, we bent wire hangers so there is a hook at one end to hang from the water bottle guard and a circle at the other end. We bought small metal condiment cups/dishes and set them into the circle end of the wire hanger. They fit perfectly under the water bottle without being under the end of the water bottle tube so water cannot leak into the dish.
• Crickets, mealworms, even flies who stray into gerbie cages can provide protein.
• Cat/kitten or puppy/dog food can be mixed into regular chow (preferably premium brands with natural or no preservatives) to provide protein. Medium sized dog biscuits (once or so per week) can also be great.
• To help hand-tame new gerbils or just to calm them down after a bedding change, very gently stir the bedding around with your hand. This puts your smell on the bedding and lets the gerbils know that you are part of their "territory." New bedding can make gerbils nervous since they are territorial creatures. So putting your smell in the new bedding will calm them a little.

Various tips pulled from AGS, Inc. and GML mailing lists. We take no credit or responsibility for most of these tips.

• The Ornycycline in the water bottle needs to be changed every 24 hours. I buy it in tablets. One tablet = 8 oz. of water. You can purchase a pill splicer from a local drug store to split the pill in half for 4oz. bottles. For even better money savings, splice the pill in 4 equal parts. Then 1/4 = 2 oz. of water, so you can only put 2oz. of water in the bottle. This way you don't have to throw out so much water. While the pups are sick, and not eating or drinking normally you can give them 1 or 2 drops 4 time a day. Once you see that they are feeling better the water bottle should be good enough. Keep this up for a full 10 days. It is extremely important that you follow through all 10 days no matter how well the pups feel. If you do not, they can become sick again because the infection is not completely out of their system. At this point, the infection will be drug resistant, and will not go away with the use of Ornycycline. Follow the dose for a small (canary) sized bird. It's also a good idea to use the tablets in neighboring tanks to prevent sickness, while the sick ones are getting well.
• To catch loose gerbies, or other squeakies, try using a wrapping paper tube with one end closed off. Place the open end near the squeak, they can't resist crawling in!
• Never jerk your hand away from a biting squeak. This will cause them to lock on and bite harder. Remain still, and wait for them to release the bite.
• For traveling or upset gerbils, try using 10 drops of Bach Rescue Remedy in the 8oz. water bottle. This can help calm newly adopted or high-strung gerbies.
• Gerbils can become pregnant as early as 8wks. It is good practice to separate the sexes at 8wks unless you plan to breed.
• To teach a gerbil, rat, or mouse to expect you picking him/her up, tap it on the butt/base of tail a couple of times before you pick it up. This serves as a signal, rather than suddenly being in midair. Think of it from the squeak's perspective. As it learns the signal, this also gives it the opportunity to hide if it does not wish to be picked up every time you want to pick it up. The choice to hide should come later as the squeak learns to like or at least tolerate being handled. The squeak has to learn the butt-tap means it will be picked up before it can learn that it can choose not to be picked up.
• Cardboard boxes used as nesting boxes for breeding gerbils can cause pup deaths by crushing or burying the pups.