Gerbils

[Dejan Pavlovic]

Hi everyone ! I don't want to bother with such a long mail but I really need to know some things ..so if anyone has a few spare minutes - please answer me ! We (me and my girlfriend ) have two Gerbils (Bart and Maggie) that are about 3,5 months old . They look pretty happy and we expect to get some litter soon (while we first seen them mating at 22nd of January and then on 4th of February) . Nevertheles there are some things that we don't know and we need some answers and tips . 1. From time to time Bart's poo is brownish - it is solid , but just brownish , while Maggie's is black , and I must say that they are eating the same things ( I asssume that it could be from hay in their aquarium (we use wood shawings for half of it - second half is split , and there is hay and wood shawings - so that they could dig (they always cut hay into small pieces) , we have also split area where is sand - they use it to roll themselves , and also as a toilet (we chand it every two days) . So is it dangerous and what should we do ? 2. Maggie is preety much friendly - she comes into our hands almost every day so we put her on the table or bed and she was even on the floor a few times , and when we put her back she wants to go out again - on and on . But the thing that confuses us - she thumbs from time to time and then hides when we come closer . Well, I 've heard that they do it howevermuch tame they are , so the thing that I want to know is what should we do when she is thumbing - come to her - or leave her alone (by the way Bart almost never thumbed (except when he wanted to mate)) ? She sometimes come close to glass and then falls into a sleep while looking at us (while he sleeps in their nest) - but it happens once a week - is it O.K. ? 3. Is it good to have hay in aquarium when they are becoming litters - could it sting little babies or so ? 4. Food ... In our country there is no special Gerbil food , so we buy rodent food and then pick out things like sunflower seeds etc. I want to know wether conflakes with lesser fat are good for them , and the other thing is that I've read on the Internet that some people are giving them cat/dog food . Well, while in that food there is also meat I don't know wether it is good for our Gerbils or not ? 5. Could you specify some minerals by name so that we could give those to them - they ignore mineral blocks for rodents - is it maybe good to give them that mineral sand for birds (while they are eating many things from our Budgerigars food) ? From vitamines - so far they are geting liquid B-complex in the water ( should we give those to them only during specific periods or during lifetime) and solid A,B-complex D3 and E in their food . 6. Is it O.K. to give them raisins , and how many daily ? Well I think that's it for now . I really hope that I didn't bother You too much . Thank you in advance ! Dejan and Nives Grtz from Bart and Maggie !