Gerbil Care for Beginners

Quick answer

Gerbils are lively, curious and easy to watch, but they need company and somewhere to dig. Keep a same-sex pair in a large glass tank or "gerbilarium" with 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) of bedding, feed a gerbil pellet with hay and small amounts of fresh food, offer a sand bath, and never pick them up by the tail. Most live around 2 to 4 years.

Why gerbils make good first pets

Gerbils are active during the day as well as at night, which makes them more fun to watch than nocturnal hamsters. They come from dry grasslands and deserts, so they drink little, produce small amounts of urine and smell much less than many small pets. Most tame well with patient handling.

The catch is that they are fast, wriggly and easily hurt if dropped. They suit children best when an adult is in charge of their care and handling.

Company: keep at least two

In the wild, gerbils live in family groups. A single gerbil usually lacks the social contact it needs, so start with a same-sex pair. Littermates are the easiest choice, as they have grown up together.

Two adults that don't know each other can fight seriously. Introducing them takes a split-tank method and patience, so ask an experienced keeper or vet before you try. Avoid mixed-sex pairs unless both are neutered: gerbils breed young and often.

Even settled pairs can fall out. Watch for chasing that doesn't stop, bites (often on the tail or rump) and one gerbil being kept from food. Separate them if you see blood, and ask for advice.

Housing

A glass or solid-sided tank with a secure mesh lid suits gerbils better than a barred cage. They dig and kick bedding out of barred cages, and some chew the bars until they wear their noses sore.

Size: go as big as you can. Many care guides suggest a floor of at least 100 x 50 cm (about 40 x 20 inches) for a pair, roughly a 40 US gallon (150 litre) tank, and more is better. Height matters too, because the bedding needs to be deep.

Bedding: gerbils are serious burrowers. Fill the tank with 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) of a mix such as paper-based bedding, dust-extracted wood shavings and hay. A deep mix holds tunnels well. Avoid cedar and pine shavings that are not kiln-dried, sawdust and anything scented.

Setup checklist:

• a nest box or hide with more than one entrance, plus one more hiding place than you have gerbils;
• a solid exercise wheel of a large diameter, with no rungs, gaps or central axle that could trap a tail or foot;
• cardboard tubes, boxes and untreated wooden toys to chew and shred;
• a heavy food bowl and a water bottle;
• a sand bath (see below);
• plain paper or hay for nesting, not fluffy fibre bedding, which can tangle limbs.

Keep the tank indoors at room temperature, roughly 20 to 24°C (68 to 75°F), away from direct sun, radiators and draughts. A glass tank in a sunny window can overheat fast.

Diet

Feed a complete gerbil pellet or nugget, measured out daily, rather than a seed mix. With muesli-style mixes, gerbils pick out the tasty, fatty bits such as sunflower seeds and leave the rest, which can lead to deficiencies and weight gain. Seeds are fine as an occasional treat.

Add:

• a handful of hay to nibble and nest with;
• small amounts of fresh vegetables a few times a week, such as carrot, broccoli or cucumber, washed and in small pieces;
• fresh water every day, even though they drink little.

Avoid onion, garlic, chocolate, sweets and very sugary fruit. Remove uneaten fresh food the same day, as gerbils hoard it in their burrows where it can rot.

Like all rodents, gerbils' front teeth never stop growing. Plenty of cardboard, untreated wood and hay to gnaw helps keep them worn down.

Sand bath

Gerbils groom by rolling in sand, which keeps their coats from getting greasy. Offer a shallow dish of chinchilla bathing sand (sand, not the much finer chinchilla dust) a few times a week, or leave it in if they don't use it as a toilet. Never bathe a gerbil in water.

Handling

Let new gerbils settle for a few days. Then start by resting your hand in the tank with a seed on your palm, and let them climb on. Once they are comfortable, scoop them up in cupped hands, low over a soft surface or the tank itself, so a jump or fall is short.

Never pick a gerbil up by the tail. The skin can strip off the tail (sometimes called tail slip or degloving), leaving the bone exposed. It won't grow back and usually needs a vet. If you need to steady a gerbil, hold only the base of the tail while supporting its body.

Cleaning

Spot-clean soiled areas and leftover fresh food every few days. Because gerbils make little mess, a full bedding change is usually only needed every few weeks. Leave some clean old bedding in, so the tank still smells familiar and some tunnels survive. Wash food bowls and the water bottle regularly.

Health signs to watch

Gerbils are small and hide illness, so weigh them weekly on kitchen scales and check them daily. Contact a vet who sees small mammals if you notice:

• not eating or drinking, or weight loss;
• diarrhoea or a dirty rear end;
• a red, crusty or bald nose (often linked to stress, humidity or bar-chewing);
• lumps, especially on the belly where males have a scent gland;
• overgrown or broken teeth, or difficulty eating;
• wounds from fighting;
• breathing problems, a hunched posture or lethargy;
• a bare or injured tail.

Some gerbils have brief seizure-like episodes, often after a sudden fright or handling. Many come round within a few minutes and seem fine. Keep the room quiet, don't handle them while it is happening, and tell your vet. Get help quickly if an episode lasts more than a few minutes or keeps happening.

For comparing gerbils with other small pets, see the Small Pets Guide and Hamster Care for Beginners.

When you're ready, ask sellers for littermates of the same sex and check they look bright and well before you buy; you can find small-pet listings on Paalo.