The purpose of this document is to collate my learnings, research and tips on gerbil keeping, so others (and their gerbils) can benefit from it. I intend to keep expanding and updating it over time, and hope you find it useful.
Your Gerbils’ Enclosure
If you bought a cage at a pet shop, it is almost certainly inadequate and way too small for your gerbils. In the past the minimal ethical space per single gerbil was considered to be 10 gallons (so 20 gallons in total for a pair of gerbils). Pet shop cages are nowhere near that.
And we now know that the ethical minimal space is 20 gallons per gerbil, or 40–50 gallons in total for a pair of gerbils. This is what you should aim for, as a minimum.
Good options to achieve this would be to use a fish tank (you can get one for cheap second hand), or get something like an IKEA Detolf. If needed search for “Detolf gerbils” or “tank gerbils” on YouTube or Google and get links such as this for inspiration.
You will also need a cover for whichever enclosure you decide to use (gerbils can jump quite high, and will find a way out if you leave the enclosure uncovered). Luckily if you don’t find a readymade cover, building a DIY one is fairly simple (see this example).
A good (optional) way to extend the enclosure even further would be a topper (placed on top of the tank, thereby providing your gerbils with another floor). There are various options out there, and you can also build one yourself fairly easily and cheaply using a wood sheet, wood sides, and mesh.
And lastly, if you are really struggling budget-wise, you can also consider a bin cage as a starting point.
Gerbils Are Social Animals
Gerbils are social animals, and should normally be kept in pairs or trios. A pair is the most stable social structure, though a trio can work as well (especially in the case of males, whereas females are more likely to “de-clan” if kept in more than a pair).
With very rare exceptions aside (see below), you should never keep a gerbil by itself. A lone gerbil will be stressed, anxious and depressed. If you find yourself with a single gerbil, you should bond it with another gerbil (of the same gender) as soon as possible. See here for a guide on the process.
The only circumstance where keeping a gerbil alone may be understandable is if one of your gerbils died, the remaining gerbil is already close to the end of its life (about 4 years), and you do not want to have gerbils after it dies too. Know that if you decide to leave it without a friend, you would need to free up a lot of your time to spend with it so it has some company. That said, human company is not a proper substitute to having another of its kind with it, which is why this should only ever be contemplated if your lone gerbil is near the end of its life.
Some play fighting, or play chasing, is normal. But if your gerbils engage in serious fighting they may be in the process of “de-clanning”. Should this happen, it will result in injury and possibly death if you do not intervene. I would recommend reading this article for an in-depth explanation of the topic.
Deep Bedding
Gerbils are burrowing animals. It is crucial that they have plenty of opportunity to dig complex and deep tunnels, where they will actually spend most of their time.
In practice this means you need to provide them with plenty of bedding, and make it at least 30cm deep (the more the merrier). Normally gerbil owners opt for wood shavings as the base of the bedding. I would recommend mixing in paper based bedding, and hay too. So about 70%-80% wood shavings, with the rest being paper based bedding and hay. This combination makes it easier for them to dig tunnels that wouldn’t collapse (wood shavings alone may be a bit unstable).
When you fill the enclosure with bedding, compress it a bit with your hands while you fill (so pour a bit, push to compress, pour more, push to compress, etc). This makes the end result a bit more dense, which means it’s easier for the gerbils to dig stable tunnels in it.
I would also recommend burying stuff (wooden structures, empty plant pots, hay woven tunnels, etc) in the bedding for them to discover and make part of their underground realm. Here is an example.
Lastly, please note that the bedding should not be scented. Gerbils have a sensitive sense of smell, and strong scents may disturb them. Keep your bedding scent neutral (so absolutely no “lemon scented bedding”, for example).
An Exercise Wheel
In the wild gerbils have massive burrows to dig and explore, and miles on miles of territory to cover. As in captivity their space is more limited, it is important they are provided with a way to exercise.
You should therefore have an exercise wheel in their enclosure. The wheel should not be made of plastic (as they can chew it, and plastic would be harmful if swallowed), should not have metal bars (those may result in injury), and should be big and vertical (a small wheel, or a saucer wheel, would force a gerbil to arch its back while running, which is painful and can result in deformities over time).
In other words, you should get a big wooden wheel (at least 28cm in diameter) such as this one. Normally one wheel would be enough, as your gerbils should be good enough at taking turns. However keep an eye on things, and if it become a source of constant tension between them, you can consider adding a second wheel.
A Sand Bath
It is very important that gerbils have access to sand. They use it to clean themselves, and may also choose to use it as their bathroom area. Most people provide the sand in what is called a “sand bath”, which is basically a dish or pot with sand in it. You can find plenty of examples if you search for “gerbil sand bath”, though any container of reasonable size will do.
A popular alternative to a dedicated sand bath is to have an area of the enclosure with sand for floor. You would need to separate that area from the bedding area, otherwise the gerbils will bury the sand in bedding. See an example here for such a setup.
Note that you do not need to replace the sand if the gerbils use it as a toilet. Simply sift out any poops or urine sand clamps when doing your daily spot cleaning.
Providing Enrichment
It is important to keep your gerbils sufficiently stimulated in captivity, to avoid severe boredom — which in turn will lead to depression and obsessive/harmful behaviors such as bar chewing (no, gerbils don’t “love chewing bars”, if your gerbils repeatedly chew bars it is often a sign of boredom and stress).
By far the most important element of enrichment is a sizeable enclosure with deep bedding. But while required, it is not enough. On top of that, you would need to periodically add in stuff for them to explore and chew, to keep things fresh and interesting.
You can add sprays, millets, wood chews, hay tunnels/mats, cork tunnels, and vine branches. Search for “gerbil chew toys” to find many, many examples for items you can provide for their enrichment.
And of course, the most popular gerbil chew toy of all — an empty toilet roll. Simply keep these once you are, mmm, done, and give them to your gerbils to chew. They would appreciate it, as well as cardboard in general (just make sure the cardboard doesn’t have print on it, as chewing ink can make them sick).
Scatter feeding (more on that below) and variety in their food also helps keeping your gerbils entertained. Periodically add in different fruits and vegetables, scatter a bit of “gerbil flowers”, a few “gerbil chewing sticks”, and so on.
Setting Up The Enclosure
How you set up the enclosure would normally depend quite a lot on whether you have a topper or not.
In an enclosure without a topper (for example, just a fish tank on its own), most people use some sort of divider (from wood or cardboard) to split the enclosure into two areas. The first (bigger) area is where you have the deep bedding. The second (smaller) area is for accessories such as the wheel, the sand bath, and so on. This split is aimed at preventing your gerbils from burying the accessories in the bedding.
If, however, you do have a topper, put said accessories (wheel, sand bath, etc) in the topper. This frees the bottom part (e.g., the fish tank) for deep bedding exclusively (and as we said before — the more bedding, the merrier).
Cleaning The Enclosure
Gerbils are very clean, and are the least smelly of all rodents. This is as they are desert animals, so have very little liquid in their waste. Assuming you have a decently sized enclosure with deep bedding, you would normally only need to replace the bedding once every 2–3 months.
When replacing the bedding, it is recommended to keep a bit of their old bedding and mix it in with the new bedding (so that the cleaned enclosure will still have a bit of a familiar scent for them, which would help reduce their stress after the cleaning).
You should spot clean the enclosure once a day (normally when feeding them). This basically means picking up any visible poops and tossing them away. Note that oftentimes (though not always) the gerbils will pick a particular place in the enclosure (for example — their sand bath) to serve as their bathroom, making it simple to clean.
Also note that if you don’t have a topper for the tank, most would use some sort of divider (again, from wood or cardboard) to split the tank into two areas. One area (usually most of the tank) for deep bedding, and the second area for the wheel and sand bath. If you do have a topper (or get one later) those things (wheel and sand bath) would go there, and the tank would be used for deep bedding across all of it.
Feeding Your Gerbils
Their core food should be pallets and/or muesli (ideally combine both). Make sure you buy types that are explicitly meant for gerbils (their dietary requirements slightly differ from those of hamsters, for instance).
The packaging will tell you how much to give each day. This should be scattered (normally once a day) on their bedding, to encourage foraging which is their natural behavior and helps break their boredom. When you scatter pick up leftovers from the last scatter, though normally there should be very little or none at all (assuming you are not overfeeding them).
You can also give them some wet food (fruits and vegetables, see some ideas here) in very small quantities, sliced very thin and with as little moisture as possible (use kitchen roll paper to soak liquids from it before giving it to them). Slicing thin would ensure it doesn’t rot if they hide it in their burrows instead of eating it, and removing moisture would reduce the risk of diarrhea (gerbils are desert animals, so their bowls can’t handle much in way of liquids).
They also need access to fresh, clean drinking water constantly available. Most people use either a drinking bottle with a metal sipper tube, or a water dish. Personally I recommend using a water dish (not a bottle), as drinking from a dish is more natural for the gerbils. Either way you should be changing the water daily, and (if you ended up using a bottle) checking for leaks or blockages daily.
Personally I also recommend adding a handful of hay once a day. They do not eat it, but enjoy chewing it and using it in their burrows.
Taming Your Gerbils
Taming your gerbils is the process via which you can (sometimes) get a gerbil to accept physical contact such as sitting on your hand.
There’s a pretty good guide here, and plenty of video guides such as this one. Keep in mind, though, that not every gerbil can be tamed — and that is completely fine. They are a ton of fun and great pets even if they choose not to sit on your hand.
Additional Tips
- While gerbils can climb, they do not live vertically in the way rodents such as rats do. This means that they need significant continous floor space. Having multiple small spaces connected vertically won’t suffice.
- Make sure the sand you buy is plain (no added stuff such as Calcium), and not too fine (you don’t want them inhaling the sand, as that could cause lung issues). Normally this would mean buying gerbil specific bathing sand, or buying playground sound (which is much cheaper). If you end up buying playground sand (as opposed to pet specific sand), you should bake it (450 degrees Fahrenheit for 30–45 minutes) to remove any harmful elements.
- Some gerbils (not all) squeak from time to time. As long as they are not fighting occasional squeaks are normal. They could mean a lot of things, some of which are actually positive (being excited or happy), or even mean nothing at all.
- Gerbils should not be walking on bars. It is very uncomfortable for them (just imagine walking on bars yourself), and may also result in injury and broken legs should they slip. If you have an area of the enclosure which has bars for floor, you should cover said bars with something else, such as a cardboard.
- Gerbils love to throw their bedding around. This is normal for them, but can result in other stuff getting buried. So you would normally want to keep items such as their wheel, their sand bath, their water dish, etc, away from the bedding. Place them on a raised platform, in the topper (if you have one), in an area of the enclosure with low or no bedding, and so on.
Learning From Others
If you want to continue your gerbil education journey I highly recommend checking out videos by creators such as The Gerbil Vine, Fins & Whiskers and Pet Connections International.
Also, consider participating and seeking advice in forums such as this subreddit (where I hang out too), and this Facebook group.
Good luck, and happy gerbil keeping!
