Make a Comfortable Home for Your New Gerbil

What kind of bedding should you use? Which toys are safe and which ones aren't? This Step-by-Step guide to making a home for your gerbils will answer all your questions!

Steps

Cage

  1. Gerbils should not be kept in a hamster cage - these are useless and boring to them. The wires are also unsafe as some of the dimensions are too small. It is vital that gerbil have room to dig, with a minimum of {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of a good substrate such as Megazorb, Finacard, Carefresh or Bedexcel. Don't use a cage that is all plastic; these little animals will chew right through it!
  2. Modular systems such as Rotastak and Habitrail are really not suitable for any rodent. They have a host of serious health and enrichment problems as well as being vastly too small. In addition with gerbils, you run the risk of one gerbil deciding to 'claim' a section of the cage which can lead to serious fighting, separation, declanning and even death.
  3. Gerbils should be kept in an aquarium with either a mesh lid or ideally a wire topper on the top. Since gerbils must be kept in pairs a good minimum for a pair is {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} glass tank with a wire topper. A special tank for a gerbil is called a gerbilarium. The topper means you can fill the tank section solely with substrate and the wire section allows a place for a medium sized silent spinner, hammocks and rope toys and most importantly, gives a place for water and a dust bath where it will not become contaminated or buried.
  4. Make sure that the lid and/or cage door are tightly closed, and even try testing them by nudging them a little. This is important, because gerbils can jump and will leap right out of their cages if there is no lid.

Bedding

  1. Add at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of bedding to the tank floor. In their natural habitat, gerbils dig complex burrow systems, and gerbils (like any animal) are happiest when they can emulate natural behaviors demonstrated in the wild. Aspen wood and Carefresh make excellent substrates, although Carefresh must be mixed with hay to support burrows. It doesn't hurt to also provide small disinfected stones, as the gerbils will use these to provide further support to their burrows. For nesting material, rip facial tissues or toilet paper into strips. (toilet paper works best)

Toys and Accessories

  1. Provide them with something to chew on - cardboard and wood work well, but do not let them have plastic to chew on as this can make them sick.
  2. Add a medium sized exercise wheel. Do not get a wheel with bars. Gerbils tend to get their tails caught between the bars. Rather, get a mesh wheel or a silent spinner. Silent spinners are made of hard, durable plastic that most gerbils cannot chew. Watch for signs of wear, though. If your gerbils do begin to chew on it, switch to mesh.
  3. Attach a water bottle to the side of the cage. Refill it everyday with fresh water, or sooner if needed.
  4. Add toys. There must be an all-day accessible block of chewing wood, because a gerbil's teeth are always growing. Make sure you add a little 'hiding place' because even if they're the best of friends, gerbils need a little privacy from their companions. Pet stores offer many plastic hideaways, but gerbils will chew them through quickly. A very inexpensive toy would be to use the cardboard toilet paper roll or paper towel roll. Though they will chew it up within a few hours, they provide lots of entertainment! Don't get any plastic toys, though!
  5. They will bury their food in their substrate anyway, so skip the bowl. Just spread the food directly on the bedding, and watch them to make sure they are eating. This is called scatter feeding and encourages their natural instinct to forage. You can string small veggies on a metal Kebab stick made especially for rodents (but avoid ones with plastic tops).



Tips

  • Gerbils love treats. Here is a list of good gerbil treats: fruits/veggies such as carrots, apples, pears and zucchini. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds and nuts such as peanuts, pecans and raw unsalted cashews are also good treats. Treats shouldn't make up more than ten percent of the gerbils diet.
  • Another good bedding is hardwood shavings. Don't use softwood shavings like pine or cedar, as they contain aromatic oils that are damaging to the lungs of small animals.
  • Gerbils love hammocks and rope toys. Many nests and hammocks made for rats are suitable. Make sure you suspend them, if they are just left on the floor your gerbils will chew through them pretty quick. Don't worry if they add a second entrance to their hammock - a lot of rodents like having more than one exit hole and a lot of well-made hammocks and nest have two to avoid this.
  • Fabric is very dangerous to chewers like gerbils. The strands can kill if accidentally ingested, and if they use bits in their nest, they can lose toes or feet caught in them. If you use any fabric, it should be fleece.
  • Some good things to feed gerbils are flax and sesame seeds, split peas and spelt.
  • Make sure they have somewhere to create tunnels and a nesting place.
  • Do not get a mesh wheel. It causes bumblefoot in gerbils.
  • Make sure you change the water daily. Stale water can make your gerbils ill.
  • You can buy cotton pods from most online pet shops. These provide interesting chewing material and then allow the gerbil to release and spread around their own soft bedding!
  • You can connect multiple cages with extra tubes to make a gerbil mansion.

Warnings

  • Make sure that your cage is good, so that your little bud can breathe.
  • Don't use treated wood! This is harmful to the gerbil's digestive system!
  • Don't use the 'fluff' nesting material from pet stores. Tiny feet can get entangled and they cannot digest it and may even choke.
  • Remember that you can never introduce an adult single gerbil to an adult single gerbil without a split cage. You can also never introduce a single gerbil to an established group or pair it will be killed.
  • Never buy gerbils as singletons. Gerbils are highly social animals that form tightly knit family groups called clans. Singletons are at risk for a variety of problems from depression to an outright psychotic break, which manifests itself as severe aggression. Always buy gerbils in pairs. A single gerbil is a miserable gerbil, and they make very poor pets.
  • Always make sure you pet is properly drinking from its water bottle, some do not like water bottles. In this case get a small container and put it in the cage filled with water.
  • Never put a non holed lid on top a aquarium.The gerbil could suffer but might not be able to survive depending on how long it has been on top for.

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