Happy Birthday Janay!

[Tobi]

Dear Janay,
Wishing you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Smilie holding present

You are a treat to have on our forum.
I hope you have a happy day!

[Knight of Albion]

Happy birthday, dear Janay. Have a lovely day and a wonderful year ahead.

[Catherine]

Happy Birthday Janay. All the best today and in the year to come.

[LPC]

I wish you a very happy birthhday, Janay! May the coming year bring you yet more happiness and success! Many blessings to you for your love of animals.

[Janay]

Hi all I just read this.

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me.
Simon was just near me when I watched the minions vid ... he could hear it, and he probably fault I was just playing it to myself. I better go and set the record straight.

I had to work yesterday. My job never lets me have my birthday off, because it is too close to Christmas. But apart from that it's been quite nice. I spent most of the night playing DOTA my favourite online game with Simon.

I also spent some time watching my gerbils try out their new dust bath (two of them still need to figure out how it works) lol.


Thank you again.


Janay xxx

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[Tobi]

It sounds like you had a really chilled nice day (outside of work of course)

A Gerbils' dust bath...? I have never heard of that, but I know little about the things that Gerbils like. If/when you get chance, explain the mechanics of that!

[Catherine]

I am glad you enjoyed your birthday. Too bad you couldn't get the day off. Most jobs just won't let you have a day off to celebrate a birthday. I think someone should start a petition or something. No more working on our birthdays.

There is always next year.

[Janay]

(12-16-2014, 03:14 AM)Tobi Wrote: A Gerbils' dust bath...? I have never heard of that, but I know little about the things that Gerbils like. If/when you get chance, explain the mechanics of that!

The name is a bit misleading really, because it's not actually "dust" as such that is used, but a special type of sand that is safe for gerbils, you can call them "sand baths" aswell. Gerbils do not like bathing in water and it's not good for them to get their fur wet. Instead, they keep themselves clean by grooming themselves (licking their fur the same way cats and dogs do) and also by bathing in sand. The sand basically absorbs the excess oil in their fur, resulting in them maintaining a nice clean coat.
Up until now, I've always just let my gerbils groom themselves, as they always have lovely coats and seem to keep themselves clean, however, I was trying to think of something different I could do in their cages to keep them occupied when I'm busy, and I decided to get them a dust bath as I think it seems like something interesting / mentally stimulating for them to do each day.

You have to buy a special type of sand that is made especially for gerbils to bath in - you can't use any sand/dust, as it could be harmful to them and cause them to develop a respiratory illness. You get a nice shallow ceramic bowl, and fill it with the sand (about 3 quarters of an inch deep is enough), and put it in their cages for about 10 minutes each day. It's best not to leave the bath in their all day - as they sometimes start to kick the sand out, or they might decide to start using the bath as a potty instead, lol.

I've given Parker Felix and Mani their dust bath about 5 times now. So far, Mani is still the only one who has figured out what he is supposed to do with it (although I have only seen him use it once so far). The other two still tend to sit in it, and look at me strange as if to say "ok, is there a reason why you've put this here?".
It can sometimes take a while before their natural instinct to bath in sand kicks in, so I think they will get there eventually.


It's one of the most adorable things watching a gerbil taking a dust bath, there's loads of vids on YouTube of gerbils dust bathing. This vid is so sweet, and show's exactly how they use the sand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O50O38Smt7k

If/when my gerbies all get the hang of it, I might try to film them on my phone and put it up here on the forum.

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[Catherine]

They are funny when they "bath". I am sure they will catch on. Maybe they don't want to bath if you are watching. It is a desert thing. They don't have water to bath in so they have learned to use soft sand. It works and I guess it feels good because they like doing it.

I would love to see video of your gerbils bathing, if they ever let you see them doing it.

[Cibach]

I'm so sorry to be so late with this but

HAPPY BIRTHDAY from us here too.

PENBLWYDD HAPUS I CHI!!!