How to Care For Gerbils

Gerbils are rodents that originally hail from the deserts of Mongolia. Their native color is brown, but due to patient breeders and living in captivity, you can now obtain gerbils in white, yellow, black, mottled and everything in between. Gerbils make great pets. They are generally diurnal, unlike hampsters, and they are social animals who enjoy companionship. If you are thinking about getting gerbils as pets or you already have one, these are some handy tips to help keep your gerbil healthy and happy.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Spacious rodent cage
• Small rodent food bowl
• Water bottle (the best are the ones with the little metal balls inside)
• Gerbil food
• Exercise wheel
• Pieces of wood or pine cones, for the gerbil to chew
• Cyprus or other type of mulch or bedding

1. Purchase the items needed for your gerbil beforehand or at the time you buy him. If you wait, the gerbil will chew out of the carrying container the store put him in and get loose. Cages vary greatly, from a 10 gallon aquarium to an old-fashioned wire cage to a plastic set with the colorful tubing. The choice is yours. You can also get a combination of the aforementioned cages such as an aquarium base with a plastic lid that has tubing running into the bottom forming a second level. See what's available at the store and be creative.
2. Spread about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of mulch or bedding on the bottom of the cage. Make sure your gerbil has a water bottle with a constant supply of water and a small food bowl (a condiment bowl works well), filled with gerbil food which will be a combination of seeds and pellets. In addition, add something your gerbil can chew on. They enjoy pine cones or small pieces of wood found outside. They don't much care for the painted ones from pet stores, so save money and just look outside. Gerbils need constant exercise. Some cages come with an exercise wheel as part of the set up. If your cage doesn't, purchase one.
3. Put your newly purchased gerbil in his new home. It is okay to pick him up with your hands to do so; they are very friendly. But, keep in mind that they are fast and he is nervous about his new surroundings, so you need to take care not to drop him. Hold him gently by the base of the tail for extra security.
4. Check your gerbil's food and water frequently. Change out the bedding when it develops an odor. While you are changing out the bedding and cleaning up the cage, put your gerbil in a container that he cannot easily jump out of or chew through. Pet stores make small carrying cages for rodents that are perfect for this purpose.
5. Handle your gerbil frequently. The more you handle her, the more friendly she will become and the less nervous. If you never hold her, she will not want you to when the need arises.

Tips & Warnings

• Gerbils chew all the time. If you purchase a plastic cage, it's only a matter of time before you will have to replace parts due to the gerbil's chewing holes through the plastic.
• Gerbils enjoy company. Consider purchasing two gerbils but make sure they are the same sex unless your goal is to open a gerbil producing factory. Like most rodents, they breed very quickly.
• Do not purchase the soft, cloth bedding that looks similar to terry cloth. As it comes apart, the strings from the cloth can wrap around the legs and other parts of the gerbil, and can they can ultimately lose limbs. This is particularly dangerous to baby gerbils.