Fun Gerbils As Pets Quiz

Here is a little fun quiz based on some of the most common questions and discussion online about care, health, nutrition and housing that are online.

Just for fun – and answers given below.  Most Questions have more than one answer.

Which of the following are known gerbil colors:

• Sapphire
• Turquoise
• Silver Nutmeg
• Nutmeg
• Saffron
• Pepper

Which of the following abbreviations are not known gerbil colors:

• BEW
• PEW
• YEW
• REW
• GEW
• TEW

Which of the following foods listed are safe for gerbils to eat:

• Grapes
• Carrots
• Onions
• Bananas
• Rhubarb
• Broccoli

Which of the following woods is NOT considered safe for gerbils to chew:

• Hazel
• Ash
• Grapevine
• Yew
• Hawthorn
• Apple

Which of the following foods are not recommended to give gerbils as a treat:

• Raisins
• Plain Cheerios
• Whole Avocados
• Garlic Cloves
• Hazelnuts in shells
• Plain Popcorn

Which of the following are common gerbil health conditions to watch out for:

• Scent Gland Tumours
• Ingrowing Toenails
• Seizures
• Chicken Pox
• Lost or Damaged Teeth
• Respiratory Infections

Which of the following are essential for a successful gerbil Split Tank Introduction?

• A small tank with secure but removable divide
• A large tank with a secure but permanent divide
• Multiple houses, tunnels and ledges
• No houses, tunnels or ledges
• No bedding changes at all
• Regular bedding changes all the time

Which of the following could cause a gerbil declan (a serious fight):

• Adding new toys and treats to the enclosure
• Adding new gerbils to an existing group
• Adding multiple water bottles
• Adding fresh fruit and vegetables
• Adding other gerbils houses and tunnels to the enclosure
• Removing gerbils from an existing group

Which of the following things could be a sign of a potential gerbil declan:

• One gerbil eating next to another gerbil
• One gerbil sleeping on top of another gerbil
• One gerbil sleeping on its own up on a ledge
• One gerbil chasing another gerbil all the time
• One gerbil eating more than the other gerbils
• One gerbil running into the sides of the tank

Which of the following things could benefit an elderly or sick gerbil:

• Adding ladders, tubes and ledges to get food and water
• Moving them to a longer, flatter tank
• Scatter feeding
• Offering more nutritious foods
• Adding a heat mat under on end of the tank
• Adding a tall tank topper

Gerbils as Pets Answers – and explanations where necessary…

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Which of the following are known gerbil colors:  

Answer: Sapphire, Silver Nutmeg, Nutmeg and Saffron are all known gerbil colors.

Turquoise and Pepper are just for fun – unless you are in the business of breeding new colors?

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Which of the following abbreviations are not known gerbil colors:

Answer: YEW, GEW and TEW are all just made up.

BEW – stands for Black-Eyed White (ee colorpoints)
PEW – stands for Pink-Eyed White (pp colorpoints)
REW – stands Ruby-Eyed White (which is not a colorpoint)

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Which of the following foods are safe for gerbils to eat:

Answer: Grapes, Carrots, Bananas and Broccoli are all safe foods for gerbils.

Onions contain high levels of oxalic acid which can be bad for gerbil kidneys and Rhubarb contains very high levels of oxalic acid.  Avoid both if you can.

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Which of the following woods are not considered safe for gerbils to chew:

Answer: Hazel, Ash, Grapevine, Hawthorn and Apple are all safe woods.  
However – make sure the trees are correctly identified, aren’t too near main roads or other sources of pollution or agricultural chemicals or pesticides (which will have been absorbed into the tree tissues), and have any flowers, seeds, excess lichen and catkins that aren’t also safe to eat taken off.  Many people also recommend baking the branches to rid them of any bugs before introducing to your gerbils’ enclosure.

Yew contains taxane alkaloids – very very bad things for a gerbil (or a human)

See What Can Gerbils Chew On? for more ideas for chewing treats and toys…

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Which of the following are not recommended to give as a treat:

Answer: Whole Avocados and Garlic Cloves are not recommended for gerbils as Avocado skins and stones contain persin – amongst other things – that wouldn’t be good for a tiny mammal to ingest.   And Garlic – and other members of the same family including onions, shallots and chives – contain compounds that can break down red-blood cells and many vets suggest that there are no benefits to feed garlic (et al) to pets (especially birds) as they only contain things that other foods also contain anyway – but minus the toxins…

Raisins, Plain Cheerios, Hazelnuts in shells and Plain Popcorn are all safe treats for gerbils.

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Which of the following are common gerbil health conditions to watch out for:

Answers:

• Scent Gland Tumours – these start as a pimple on the scent gland – mainly in older male gerbils, but can be found in females too.  Surgery is the only effective treatment
• Seizures – gerbils of any age can suffer from various seizures and they range from causing gerbils to ‘freeze’ wherever they are or serious seizures which can cause death in weaker older gerbils.
• Lost or Damaged Teeth – the main cause of weight loss in gerbils – and the easiest to fix.  Once spotted and corrected, gerbils can live a completely normal life -but will be prone to further issues – equally easy to fix.
• Respiratory Infections – common in younger pups – causes ‘clicking’ when you listen to them.  Needs antibiotics to cure the infection and to stop it spreading through your clans.

Ingrowing Toenails and Chicken Pox are not conditions that gerbil owners need to watch out for at all…

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Which of the following are essential for a successful Split Tank Introduction?

Answer: To make a split tank introduction a success you need your gerbils to be in close contact with each other, with no distractions, and for them to be in a place where their scents can freely mix.  It also needs to be the same place where they meet for the first time without the divide.  So they need the following:

• A small tank with secure but removable divide
• No houses, tunnels or ledges
• No bedding changes at all

Regular bedding changes all the time – will put you back to square on with the mixed scents

A large tank with a secure but permanent divide – a large space means they won’t keep meeting all the time and get used to each other and the permanent divide is useless when the time comes for them to meet up

Multiple houses, tunnels and ledges – will only distract them, and give them more places to call their ‘own’ rather than working together to share the space.

For more information about doing your own Split Tank Introduction – do read my series starting with Split Tank Introductions – What is a Split Tank? and move on from there.

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Which of the following could cause a declan (a serious fight):

Answer: The point of a stable clan of gerbils is that they protect themselves against other gerbils and all live in a strict hierarchy with all those present – and all of the following could upset that delicate balance:

• Adding new gerbils to an existing group
• Adding other gerbils houses and tunnels to the enclosure
• Removing gerbils from an existing group

Adding new toys and treats to the enclosure, Adding multiple water bottles and Adding fresh fruit and vegetables shouldn’t affect this balance as they are all very normal things for the clan to encounter, although if you have a tense clan set up (like a large groups of mixed females) always take everything slow and steady, some gerbils only need a tiny excuse to start trouble…

Not sure how to spot a declan – take a look at What is a Gerbil Declan? or Will My Gerbils Declan?.

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Which of the following could be signs of a potential declan:  

Answer: Signs of a declan are clear once you know what you are looking for and can happen for a variety of reasons – including but not limited to answers to the above question.  Always be on the lookout for the following

• One gerbil sleeping on its own up on a ledge
• One gerbil chasing another gerbil all the time
• One gerbil running into the sides of the tank (usually you only hear the bang)

One gerbil eating next to another gerbil – totally normal
One gerbil sleeping on top of another gerbil – totally normal
One gerbil eating more than the other gerbils – totally normal (greedy guts)

More details on declans include What are the Signs of a Gerbil Declan? and How do I Stop My Gerbils Declanning?

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Which of the following could benefit an elderly or sick gerbil:

Answer: Anything you can do to save your elderly or sick gerbil wasting energy of using sore body parts – added to anything you can do to increase your gerbils intake of energy are going to be of great help for recovery or easing of symptoms, so;

• Moving them to a longer, flatter tank – perfect for making things easy
• Scatter feeding – preferably in places they usually already are
• Offering more nutritious foods – less time eating – more nutrition per bite
• Adding a heat mat under on end of the tank – everyone likes to be warm

Adding a tall tank topper – will make your gerbils life more troublesome as it will have to travel to places far away over a mini assault course – not everyone’s idea of fun when they are ill or have sore joints wouldn’t you agree?

Added ladders, tubes and ledges to get food and water – while it can seem nice to see them still active in their enclosure, you are sort of forcing them to do things that might be uncomfortable or a waste of energy for the poor little ones.  What hospital do you know that makes sick patients walk up on to the roof to get their dinner?  The worst part is – that if it is too much effort to get to food and water – some gerbils (and people) just don’t bother – often making themselves more ill than they were before…

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How did you do on the Gerbils as Pets Quiz 2017?

I am sure you knew most of it for sure – some you may have needed to look up – but if you want to find out more about some of the topics – there are plenty of topics and articles on RodentZone right here that could help you do further reading and research…

Just look in the categories on the right sidebar including – safe foods for gerbils, split tank introductions, gerbil colour guides and more…