Hello my fellow gerbil keepers! I wanted to share my experience with Angel's Burrow, a breeder in Barrie, ON. If you're looking to adopt and live in Canada/the US, this post is for you!

My background

I've been keeping gerbils for 10+ years and always adopted from PetSmart, or in the case of my last pair, Kijiji (lol). After my last little guy passed in April this year and I was ready to move on, I started looking for a breeder because I didn't want to support commercial pet stores. I spotted Angel's Burrow on the American Gerbil Society breeder directory, found their Instagram/Facebook, and sent a direct message.

The adoption process

I'd never worked with a breeder before, so I took the opportunity to make a specific request: two males, dark eyed, different colours (any coat). I pre-paid so I could get first/early choice (they operate on a first come, first serve basis, or at least they did when I started my journey), and the process from there was straightforward.

After I specified my preferences, she periodically sent pictures of the available pups for me to accept or reject. It ended up taking a few months mainly due to the earlier litters having red eyes and later litters being mostly female. You can't control nature! But unpredictability is to be expected. They have a TON of different coats available and take requests for pairings, so if you have something in mind, DM them!

What I really appreciated is that she sent photos so I could actually see the gerbils, rather than just get a list of what was available. It helped a lot with the decision-making process (and who doesn't love pup photos?). During our exchanges, Angel was very professional, informative, and replied in a timely manner. I only had to fill out an adoption form and a transportation form, so from a paperwork standpoint it was very simple.

The only downside of this system is that it was unclear where I was on the priority list. At one point I was sent a picture of the available pups and most of the males had been taken already, which surprised me as I'd prepaid months prior. It's possible that I was further down the list than I thought, or that because I wasn't picky on the colours, people who were picky were given priority. In the grand scheme of things, they're a new business and likely still ironing out some details, so it's just a hiccup in an otherwise stellar service.

They also have optional adoption certificates, pedigrees, and pup portraits available for purchase, but I didn't get any so I can't comment on those.

In the end I adopted a Burmese male (Mocha, 10 weeks old) from the aforementioned litter, and once she was able to confirm the genders of a more recent litter, a pied Rex (Marble, 7.5 weeks old). I've never had a Rex/curly-coated gerbil before and wasn't specifically hoping for one, so it was very cool to have that option! I don't know how many breeders specialize in Rexes, so if you're interested, Angel has them available for adoption in different colours. She introduced the boys and made sure they were getting along, so that by the time they got to me they didn't need a split cage.

Delivery day

My little guys were shipped via Mel's Neighborhood, a rodent transportation service. Every month Mel lists the date, time and locations she'll be in in each city (it's usually a public space like a gas station). The van was clean, the rodents looked well-kept, all the containers were clearly labelled, and Mel was an absolute delight! I definitely felt like my gerbils were in good hands.

Earlier on when they first launched, AB had carriers for the gerbils that you could pay for but I think this may have been discontinued, put on hold, or may be distance-dependent. Unclear since it's currently still listed as a service on FB/IG, yet I had to bring my own carrier. While Angel's Burrow is in Canada, Mel lives in the US and does cross-country trips every month, so you can still get them shipped to you (see the map for available states on their FB/IG, you'll have to DM them for more details as I'm not sure how it works with the states they don't have listed).

Marble & Mocha

I did a quick exam when I got home, and saw that their fur looked uniform with no patches missing, their eyes were bright, noses looked clean, no apparent breathing issues, healthy weight, and I later observed that their poop/pee was normal. Overall, they looked very well-kept.

Behaviour-wise, I don't know if it's because I was lucky, but they were very friendly right away! Within 24 hours they were eating from or sitting in my hand. Mocha is a bit more skittish and mostly put his front paws on my hand at best, but he's since become more comfortable sitting and eating in my hand over the last two weeks. Marble was friendly right off the bat and is okay with being taken out of the cage for a short period of time, but gets shy if you do it too often. Zero biting from either gerbil. Reviews on Google and Facebook posts indicate that others are also getting calm and friendly gerbils, so they're clearly doing something right!

It's obvious that they're very well taken care of and used to being handled by people, and given that they're registered with the AGS, I have no doubt in my mind that they're dedicated to providing excellent gerbil care.

In conclusion

Angel's Burrow is an AGS-registered ethical breeder and provides professional customer service, breeds healthy gerbils, and is someone I plan to adopt from again in the (hopefully very distant) future. 10/10!

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Disclaimer: I was not paid/asked to post this review, these are my honest thoughts and I wanted to share my experience for anyone interested in getting gerbils from a breeder.

So basically I’m planning to get 2 gerbils early next year and I want to set up their enclosure so it’s ready. I’ve listed below the links of some of the stuff I might be purchasing from pets at home, I know pets at home isn’t very reliable and so I have done my own research but obviously not everything the internet says is true. If anyone sees anything wrong with any of the stuff listed please let me know, and why:)

Carrier - https://www.petsathome.com/product/pets-at-home-mouse-hamster-gerbil-rat-and-degu-carrier-pink-2/7152290P?productId=7152290&purchaseType=one-time&size=size2

Tunnel Hide - https://www.petsathome.com/product/woodlands-small-pet-play-tunnel/34133P?productId=34133&purchaseType=one-time&size=oneSize

Carrot Hide - https://www.petsathome.com/product/woodlands-carrot-small-animal-cottage/P3955?productId=7132923&purchaseType=one-time&size=small

Hay tunnel - https://www.petsathome.com/product/woodlands-small-pet-hay-tunnel/P578?productId=34144&purchaseType=one-time&size=small

Medium Bridge - https://www.petsathome.com/product/woodlands-wooden-playsticks-medium/7118795P?productId=7118795&purchaseType=one-time&size=medium

Small Bridge - https://www.petsathome.com/product/woodlands-wooden-playsticks-small/7118794P?productId=7118794&purchaseType=one-time&size=small

Water bottle - https://www.petsathome.com/product/pets-at-home-glass-small-animal-water-bottle-355ml/7133509P?productId=7133509&purchaseType=one-time&volume=355ml

Bowls - https://www.petsathome.com/product/mason-cash-mini-polka-dot-sorbet-animal-bowl-assorted-small/7133592P?productId=7133592&purchaseType=one-time&size=mini

Medium Willow sticks - https://www.petsathome.com/product/woodlands-medium-willow-sticks/7101113P?productId=7101113&purchaseType=one-time&size=oneSize

Twiggy treats - https://www.petsathome.com/product/pets-at-home-small-animal-twiggy-treats/7133511P?productId=7133511&purchaseType=one-time&weight=200g

Bathing Sand - https://www.petsathome.com/product/tiny-friends-farm-small-animal-bathing-sand/7122000P?productId=7122000&purchaseType=one-time&weight=1kg

Pet friendly disinfectant - https://www.petsathome.com/product/johnsons-clean-n-safe-disinfectant-for-small-animals-500ml/12812P?productId=12812&purchaseType=one-time&volume=500ml

Hanging coconut - https://www.petsathome.com/product/small-animal-coconut-hideaway-ladder/7116398P?productId=7116398&purchaseType=one-time&size=oneSize

Hanging ladder - https://www.petsathome.com/product/trixie-natural-living-bark-wood-ladder-for-rodents-and-hamsters/7117230P?productId=7117230&purchaseType=one-time&size=oneSize

I’ve read that you ideally should have paper based bedding in the mix, but I only really find hay, wood shavings, pellets, and those bigger wooden pieces kind of bedding in my area. Right now my gerbils have hay and wood shavings and they seem to make stable tunnels in it. Will it be enough as bedding, you think?

So my mom asked why can't we just use dried and disinfected grass as bedding, and I had no idea what to say. So, why don't people just use dried and disinfected grass as bedding?

(Yes, the title is a reference to ”3 body problem”.)

(This thread is a follow-up on the thread about how I stupidly bought a 3rd gerbil which was rejected by my previous pair. I could answer in that thread, but the way reddit works, few people would see the answer.)

So, anyway, it ended happily! I found a very serious breeded who will take in my 1-month-old and pair up with one of her young pups!

I will now continue to give my two original gerbils the best life I can!

I've heard some give raw pasta for rats to chew, but how about gerbs?

I noticed my gerbil banging her food bowl against the glass, so I filled it, she took the treat and hid it, we went back and forth like that maybe 5 times in a span of 5 minutes. I'm wondering has anyone installed a bell or anything to train them? Or is this just a coincidence?

My babies are 2 years old today, how time has flown by

just thought id share these cute pics of my girls in a little cauldron 🙃

Hi everyone! I just started to notice a weird looking spot on my gerbils nose, is this anything I should be concerned about?

2 days ago, Goku looked like she was on death's door. She was moving slow, wouldnt open her eyes, wobbled when she walk, she would eat the food and water i gave her but wouldnt get up to get it herself.

I kept an eye on her. Gave her food and water periodically and kept checking she was still breathing. I moved her sister away so she could rest.

She is quite old now and i thought it was her dying of old age. I don;t have the money to take them to the vet and i thought they would only offer the option of putting her down.

So i was just hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Today, she is almost back to normal. She is getting food and water herself.

I dont know if maybe she was just unwell and now is ok. anyone got any ideas about what is going on

Hello I just saw something really suspicious and scary some sort of white strings in my gerbils poop… I checked on the internet to get an idea of what could it be and it’s very similar to worms! It’s the first time one of my pets has something like that I’m really scared and don’t know what to do especially since I’m not familiar with these type of disease… I’ll try to have an appointment with my vet late this afternoon but I’m afraid she won’t have place for me and tomorrow is November first (which is a Holliday in France so everything is closed vets too) and then it the weekend …… I don’t know what to do. Is his cage mate safe or not ? Should I completely clean both cages ( there are 2 cages in witch he goes and then I exchanges my two group for more « fun ») I have no idea what I’m dealing with I need your help please to keep all of my gerbils safe and healthy…

I’d like to know everything you may know about intestinal worms…

I'm currently using Kaytee Clean and Cozy and it's great but it's sooooo freaking expensive where I live.. it costs me €120 just to fill up the enclosure halfway😬 I often see people mixing Kaytee with other bedding but they don't show the other brand so what brands would you guys recommend?

Hello we were doing a health check but sadly we dont know the average weight the internet says 80-110g however thats for a fully grown adult and our chonky one is around 61g

Currently 3 am. I’ve had a sick gerbil for a few weeks now. She got antibiotics I thought she was ok she got better was eating and drinking. I feel awful. She has a partner. She sniffed her body and moved on infront of me just now. I removed her and will get her cremated tomorrow. What can I do besides a full tank clean and disinfect once I’m up? Thanks. 😭

Can’t get a great picture because this guy moves so quickly but I had a concern about a small patch of hairloss near my new gerbils nose. I have had him for 1 week. He is eating and drinking just fine and I have a camera in the enclosure so I see him running around playing and acting normal. He has spent quite a bit of time digging and burrowing in the substrate. I can already see they’ve made multiple tunnels and then spend hours at a time in the substrate. His nose is not red at all, and there is no blood, just a little patch of hair missing. I’m hoping it’s simply stress related or from over digging in a brand new enclosure. Advice would be appreciated. More than capable of taking to a vet if necessary but considering they are likely still stressed from the new environment I really don’t want to add more stress to him.