Meat and a question

[Jenn Cymanski]

Hi all,   I'm new to the list, and I'm the proud owner of three gerbils:  Thomas More (Black, approx 4 years old) and Anthony and Augustine (Lilac, approx 1 1/2 years old)   Gerbils can eat meat.   You can even buy crickets from the pet store for them, if you desire.  I usually give mine a bit of steak when I'm cooking (make sure any meat you give is well cooked and not seasoned)  The older one prefers bits of filet mignon (he gets that rarely) and the 2 younger gerbs I have like ground beef.   And now a question:  has anyone here raised gerbils wtihout supplemental water (water bottles)?  Since gerbs are desert creatures, they get enough moisture through metabolism.  One of my veterinary teachers told us this, and I've had great success.  All three of my boys have not had water bottles since this past Christmas and all are thriving.  Cages are a lot less messy too.  I'm just curious to see if others have done this.   Thanks, Jenn