Gerbil Manor - Advice Wanted

[BrandonsBirbs]

My mum is a social worker and had to take 9 gerbils away from a family due to neglect. There's 5 boys in one cage and 4 girls in another (one of the boys is dad to them and one of the girls is mum).

Their cages are genuinely huge and they have a lot of enrichment so I'm a bit surprised they were classified as being neglected but they are very unclean.

Anyway, mum couldn't find a sanctuary to take them and felt they were just in danger now as their owner had left them in a previous accommodation which she hadn't been to in over a week, so we have taken them in whilst a sanctuary responds to my mum about taking them in.

Thing is, I want to keep them and be that sanctuary for them, I'm at home 5 days out of 7 and love our current 2 gerbils.

My missus greatly disagrees with me, she's not so inclined about animals and really doesn't want to keep them. I need to convince her, any advice?

 

[HeathersFeathers1212]

My mum is a social worker and had to take 9 gerbils away from a family due to neglect. There's 5 boys in one cage and 4 girls in another (one of the boys is dad to them and one of the girls is mum).

Their cages are genuinely huge and they have a lot of enrichment so I'm a bit surprised they were classified as being neglected but they are very unclean.

Anyway, mum couldn't find a sanctuary to take them and felt they were just in danger now as their owner had left them in a previous accommodation which she hadn't been to in over a week, so we have taken them in whilst a sanctuary responds to my mum about taking them in.

Thing is, I want to keep them and be that sanctuary for them, I'm at home 5 days out of 7 and love our current 2 gerbils.

My missus greatly disagrees with me, she's not so inclined about animals and really doesn't want to keep them. I need to convince her, any advice?

Explain to the missus that you want to give the gerbils a safe and happy home and that you will take good care of them and keep them clean,fed and watered,and she won't have to do anything. I hope she gives your permission to keep them! Just keep the males and females separated or you'll end up with many,many more! I had two when I was a child and I ended up with 14. They are cute and make good pets. Good luck!

 

[tlcmurphy]

Oh Boy…
There’s a saying here, “Happy Wife, Happy Life”

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Oh Boy…
There’s a saying here, “Happy Wife, Happy Life”

About that...

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Explain to the missus that you want to give the gerbils a safe and happy home and that you will take good care of them and keep them clean,fed and watered,and she won't have to do anything. I hope she gives your permission to keep them! Just keep the males and females separated or you'll end up with many,many more! I had two when I was a child and I ended up with 14. They are cute and make good pets. Good luck!

That's sweet! I do all the looking after of our current two, the missus is just a bit of a clean freak so gets annoying with the dust from the two.. I'm sure 11 will create even more haha. I hope I can convince her, thank you!

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

I think the boys need to go elsewhere just so that they'll be separated, seeing a lot of fighting/dominance displays with them.

The girls get on so well together though, definitely want to keep them

Only thing I've noticed about the girls is they like to climb to the top and gnaw on the metal wire of the cage? I've given them some extra wood and things to bite, but they continue to do so