Definition: Nocturnal – occurring or active at night.
Well they certainly can be VERY active at night, especially if you have something really important to do the next day or you are trying to watch a late night movie.
But technically (and biologically) they are not strictly nocturnal – which means that their bodies are not affected by the same circadian rhythms as say hamsters or owls. They are more than happy to be awake at 2am moving all the bedding from one corner to the other or chewing their wooden house at 10pm.
Asleep, awake, asleep awake – that is their pattern.
That means that you and your family can enjoy gerbils all day and into the evening – great little pets to have around for the family to enjoy and get involved with.
None of that “Don’t wake the hamster up – it will be really grumpy!” – just call you gerbils’ name or blow into the tank and they will most likely come out to see what’s going on – gerbils don’t like to miss a thing.
But if we go back to definitions – after watching you gerbil devour a toilet roll tube after throwing it in the tank to see if they wake up – they aren’t technically diurnal either (mainly active during the day) and although crepuscular (active during the hours of twilight) is much closer for their wild counterparts it still isn’t quite right for our pets. So what are they?
How about Metaturnal?
This is defined as “an organism which has sporadic and random intervals of activity during the day or night in which food is acquired and socialising occurs” and this is much closer for my gerbil clans for sure.
I will always find one or two clans bustling around or chewing something whenever I walk in the room. The only time I am likely to find them ALL asleep would be if I have to get up early for work – they clearly don’t like getting up at 7am.
Just watching them now there is the odd clank or scuffle and, woah, just then a whole tissue box flipped on its side! I wonder if they keep each other awake as well as me?
Mind you if the treat tub opens – they all wake up immediately…
So in answer to your question of “Are they nocturnal?” – the simple answer is no (but they may well still keep you up at night!).
Photo by unnormalized 