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Does a gerbil need a waterbottle?
YES! Two gerbils will drink about 2 or 3 oz A DAY. And
they will drink more than once a day.
I caught my four older gerbils hitting the bottle to prove
they do indeed drink and need that fresh water source.
Left, Larry the sapphire. Right Stripe the pied/ mottled
black.
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Left, Tater, the nutmeg. See the unticked part of her head
from between the eyes to the neck?
Right, Spud the light pied dove. He was just standing there
with front paws up in air.
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| There is supposedly a veternarian college that is teaching their
students that gerbils do NOT need a waterbottle! THIS IS FALSE!
In the desert, in early morning, there is a dewpoint and for several
moments there is moisture that condenses out of even that dry air
on any hard surface. A gerbil in the wild can then go around and
lap up dew and lick things and get moisture. We can't replicate
this in the tank or cage, because to mist stuff to let them lick
means humidity problems, getting bedding and everything else wet
and encouraging the growth of molds, mildew, and the black thready
aspergillis-which is fatal to small animals if the spores are inhaled.
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| EVERY DAY you should take your waterbottles, rinse them, refill
them-even if they're not empty yet. Once they are rehung-tap the
ball a few times with your fingertip to see if you get water freely
dispensed or not. Sometimes the bottle seems to be working fine,
but it's not. The gerbils can't get water, dehydrate, and die. Dehydration
can KILL IN HOURS. If your animals are really healthy otherwise,
they can take 2-3 days, but it's not at all good for them. They
need access to fresh water ALL THE TIME. *IF* you have a temporary
shortage of waterbottles, giving them one a few times a day for
10-20 minutes to let them drink will work-get another bottle as
soon as you can. |
| Licking things may seem a cute thing to you...but it's a sign
something's WRONG. Tiny pups around 3 weeks or so may do so when
learning where to get something to drink as mom starts weaning and
drying up. Any pup or gerbil over 4 weeks doing a dedicated job
of it, is thirsty. Or pups that should be weaning (around 4 weeks
old and up) that suddenly try cornering mom en-masse to nurse when
they've not been doing much of that lately. Check that waterbottle
to see if it's dispensing water properly!!!!!!! Any gerbil licking
and licking and licking at the waterbottle or near it on the aquarium
glass, unless you JUST redid the waterbottle and it may have a few
drops of water on the outside yet...is thirsty. I make a habit of
every time I reach in the cage for any reason I tap the waterbottle
ball with a finger and see if it's working. When there is more than
one gerbil, sometimes they decide to drink together with a minimum
of shoving, fighting, jockeying, and squeaking. That means things
are ok. IF there are two or more fighting hard to get at that bottle,
furiously nasty squeaking, and the like, there is a problem, or
the bottle was not working and now that you've redone it, it's working
and they're THIRSTY. You might temporarily hang another bottle for
a few moments if there's more than two gerbils so they can drink.
Licking is NOT salt craving. Licking is THIRST. |
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