Gerbil Care 101 – Before You Buy…

Gerbils are pretty easy pets to look after, but as they are different to other common small animals, there are a few extra things you need to know before owning them.

I’ll keep it simple – but you can look into these in more detail as you read up on your new (or possibly new) pets.

Gerbils Live in Clans:
Gerbil should ideally come in groups of two (especially if they are females) – or more if that is how you found them already.  However, if a group of females is divisible into groups of two or three – then split the females young (they often squabble when older if in larger groups anyway).  

Please don’t choose to make a gerbil single by splitting it from a group – seeing as every forum you go on for advice, people will ask if it has a friend and suggest that you get one.  So just get two in the first place them everyone is happy – including the gerbils.

If you are just reading this and have just bought a single gerbil today and there were more in the store – go back and get one right now – with some of the original bedding – and they will most likely be instant friends again.  Time is of the essence.

If it was yesterday you brought a single – you can still go grab another one of the same sex – but you won’t be able to put them straight together as they will most likely fight.  They can still be friends in the end – but you would need to do a split tank introduction instead to re-introduce them – which takes longer.  

Gerbils Don’t Like Strangers:
Please don’t ever put two or more gerbils together in the the same place if they have never met before – even if this place is unscented, filled with water or after having dipped them in vanilla, or whatever else anyone told you was best.

Gerbils can only really become long-term friends in pairs after experiencing a gradual getting-to-know-you called a ‘split tank’ introduction.  This is the safest and most successful way to introduce gerbils over the age of 8 weeks.  Pups under 6 weeks are different.

Gerbils love other gerbils though – don’t worry about that.  They will make friends with virtually any other gerbil using this method – sometimes it takes a week, sometimes a month – but done right – they can be the best of friends.

Gerbils Aren’t Hamsters:
Don’t assume they are just like hamsters only with a tail, or that they are like degus or rats as they HAVE a tail.  

Just like virtually all small animals – they have their own version of things and taking care of them is specific to them.  Some things might overlap in general – but don’t always be fooled by pictures or words on product packaging.  Just look at what the product actually IS rather than what it says.

For example – gerbils really don’t do well in balls (due to the shape of their bodies and the fact they like to hide under things for safety) but most of them love wheels.  However due to them being gerbils and not anything other rodent – these wheels need to be solid plastic with no wires, bar or supports and over ideally more that 8″ in diameter so they don’t have to bend backwards to run.

All sorts of wheels for sale have pictures of gerbils on them though (like many many other unsuitable products) – so don’t always believe what you are told from a company trying to sell as many of their products as possible.

And before you ask if a gerbil can live in a hamster cage – the answer is the same.

Think about what animal you are buying and match up its habits.  I mean, if you are buying two or more animals that like to burrow in deep bedding, chew plastic and run around in large spaces – I’m sure you won’t find a hamster cage that fits the bill anyway…

Gerbils Need A Secure Home:
The most important things you need to consider for your gerbils would be: a secure home; you cannot care for a gerbil if you can’t keep it safe – so you need to think about your gerbils tool kit before you can say you have a secure home – so bear in mind the following:

Sharp Teeth – which can chew through thick plastic and wood if they want.  Look out for obvious sticky-out bits or inward-facing corners in plastic and wood enclosures as these will be the weak spots – and will become doorways.  Avoid cages connected with plastic tubes – even if they have metal caps on them – it’s the joins in the tubes that are the weak points.

Big Feet – which can be used to jump over a foot straight up in the air.  Never have any area of your gerbil home that is ‘open’, you must always have a lid for their safety.  Just because it might look too high for them for now – doesn’t mean it will be too high overnight.

Gerbils can renovate their tanks in just a few hours, and what was originally 6 inches of bedding all over can become 12 inches at one end and none at the other – the perfect escape ramp.  And even if people say ‘they have never done it before’ doesn’t mean that they won’t do it in the future.

Built in Digger – gerbils dig forwards and kick backwards – all the bedding goes everywhere – and they need a home that keeps it all inside – like a tank or gerbilarium.

Cages with their shallow bases just do not work for gerbils – and will run you out of vacuum bags very quickly – and as they need deep bedding to make all their much-loved tunnels – you just can’t get the depth in a shallow base.

Gerbils Breed Like Rabbits:
Make sure – 100% sure – that if you are going to buy more than one gerbil to start your collection – that you check their sexes YOURSELF before they come home.  

Don’t believe what a friend, advert or pet store tell you without looking yourself.  And males over 8 weeks can easily be identified as males so it isn’t hard to do.  If you still aren’t sure – at least look at them side by side and see if they are the same?

Gerbils that are different sexes (or females who have been living with different sexes) may well be pregnant.  This sounds cute I know (and baby gerbils really are cute) but this actually spells bad news for you too.  This means you have to split up your original gerbils into two separate tanks very soon.   

Females can’t stay together when having pups (as they may well eat the pups) and you would need to split up the male from a female just before her second litter. Yes, the second litter.

Gerbils have two litters in a row and so there is no point taking him out straight after you spot the first litter of pups as she will already be pregnant with the second. And of course you can’t get pregnant when you are ALREADY pregnant so he can’t do any more harm – he can certainly help her raise the first lot though.  

AND – because in two litters they could have had at least 6 pups possibly 10 – there is no way you can leave all the pups with the parents – so your tank number swill start expanding.  Luckily these pups aren’t fertile until they are around 12 weeks old – so you will have time find them homes without stretching to a 4th or 5th tank!

Ergo, this means that the gerbils you brought as a clan won’t be able to be kept like that for long – which is sad for everyone.

However, if you are going to acquire some gerbils from a home that isn’t suitable – you may not have a choice in the matter. But if you don’t want babies or you don’t have room or the finances to split up these new gerbils into new tanks and possibly keep their pups too – then only opt to get males (and check them yourself).

Gerbils Like To Destroy Things:
This one is the easiest to remember and can save you a lot of heartbreak: whatever you put in your gerbils tanks – it won’t ever look the same again.

Toilet tubes will be gone in minutes, the bedding shredded paper and hay plus any fragile toys will all be moved and chewed within hours, toys made with string, tape or hay could be pulled to pieces the same day, and even wooden houses and bridges will eventually succumb to the need to chew from your gerbils.  One day you will find just their house has a new doorway, a few weeks later it will just fall over…

I mean – I am not saying don’t buy these things – as your gerbil needs them – but I mean don’t spend a fortune on something based on its appearance only.  It’s original appearance is but fleeting in its life – how much fun a gerbil can have with it is more important.

Only ceramic toys can stand the test of time – but as they are heavy, they can only be used in certain places in your tank or gerbilarium.  Safety first.