The gerbil is a stinky beast
Mar. 20th, 2013 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunsen_hA hamster tends to choose one particular location in its habitat to relieve itself, usually a spot as far removed as possible from its nest. I gather that it's relatively easy to train a hamster to use the equivalent of a litter box, i.e. a small pan with absorbent material — put some of its old waste into the pan as a guide, and it will get into the habit of using the pan.
Gerbils, not so much. A gerbil will relieve itself wherever it happens to be.
This makes an enclosed exercise wheel particularly nasty. A wire-frame wheel wouldn't be as bad (at least if it was inside a cage), but the combination of the "liberating" effect of the exercise, the containment of an enclosed wheel, and the gerbil's willingness to tread in its own wastes makes such a wheel quite disgusting, very quickly.
Gerbils, not so much. A gerbil will relieve itself wherever it happens to be.
This makes an enclosed exercise wheel particularly nasty. A wire-frame wheel wouldn't be as bad (at least if it was inside a cage), but the combination of the "liberating" effect of the exercise, the containment of an enclosed wheel, and the gerbil's willingness to tread in its own wastes makes such a wheel quite disgusting, very quickly.
