Gerbil care

About gerbils

Gerbils are curious, active, and social pets that make delightful companions. Caring for these small rodents requires understanding their unique needs to ensure they thrive in a healthy, stimulating environment. From providing the right habitat and balanced diet to ensuring companionship and regular health checks, proper care will keep your gerbil happy and active. Whether you’re a first-time owner or an experienced pet parent, this guide will help you provide the best care for your gerbil.

Environment

Provide a suitable environment:

  • The recommended size of enclosure for gerbils is 100x50x50cm minimum. Great examples are aquariums (40 gallons minimum), Bucastate 100 and the Ikea Detolf. Gerbils would quickly nibble wooden enclosures.
  • The enclosure must not be positioned in a draught or in direct sunlight. The best temperature to keep gerbils in is 18°c. Never let the room go below 15°c.
  • The bedding must be 10cm minimum deep, using either paper based, (e.g. teabag bedding), aspen, hemp, or spruce (e.g. Chipsi Classic) bedding. Soft Timothy hay can also be mixed to hold tunnels. Sawdust is NOT suitable due to sensitive respiratory systems.
  • As gerbils are prey animals, you must have multiple hides for them to sleep and feel safe in.
  •  Enclosures should be spot cleaned of soiled bedding and uneaten food regularly.

Diet

Feed a suitable diet:

  • It is recommended that gerbils are fed 1tbsp every day of food, which consists of seed mix and lab blocks. These can be scattered across the enclosure to encourage foraging behaviours.
  • Fresh veggies the size of their ear should also be provided a couple of times a week.
  • Sprays such as millet spray can also be placed for them to gather seeds.
  • Fresh water must always be available.

Behaviour

Allow the animal to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns:

  • Gerbils are burrowers, they need 10cm of bedding and soft hay to burrow and make tunnels.
  • Gerbils do plenty of running, and therefore need a wheel 11-12” (28cm).
  • Gerbils love to chew for enrichment and to maintain their teeth. Chew toys, cardboard rolls and plain egg cartons are great for chewing.
  • Gerbils roll in sand to clean their fur, so a sandbath needs to made with dust-free, gerbil safe sand. Gerbils also often use sand as their toilet.
  • Gerbils would encounter many digging substrates in the wild, therefore providing different substrates is preferable. Examples are beech chips, Timothy hay and coconut husks.
  • Exercise balls are NOT suitable as they pose risk to their tails and are stressful for rodents.

 

Companionship

Allow any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals: Gerbils are sociable animals, and should not be housed alone. Gerbils are best in twos, as a larger group is more likely to declan. Gerbils should live in same-sex pairs to avoid breeding. If there is a lone gerbil, it is best to pair them with another using the split-cage method.

 

Health

Gerbils can live for up to 3-4 years. During this time, they will need to be cared for and provided medical care when needed from an Exotic Vet. Most commonly, gerbils can be susceptible to respiratory issues, lumps, and injuries from declanning.

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