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Basic Gerbil care
Housing
Gerbils love to dig, therefore must be in a cage with a very deep base. An aquarium (no water of course) works the best. A pair of gerbils require at least a 10 gallon aquarium and a trio of gerbils, at least 20 gallons or 10 gallon with topper. Bigger is better, and a pair of gerbils would be very happy in a 20, 30 or even 40+ gallon tank! Go as big as you can afford.
An aquarium must have a mesh lid, gerbils can jump and you will want to have deep bedding for digging tunnels. Wire cages are ok as long as they have a very deep base, and may be more expensive than an aquarium. Gerbils can chew through plastic, another thing that makes it much harder to find a good wire cage. Plastic "critter trail" or Habitrail type cages do not offer proper ventilation and are difficult to clean, not to mention expensive and small.
Keep the cage away from drafts and noisy stressful rooms if possible, and if you have cats/dogs/ferrets, make sure the gerbils are not accessible to them and their cage is sturdy.
An aquarium must have a mesh lid, gerbils can jump and you will want to have deep bedding for digging tunnels. Wire cages are ok as long as they have a very deep base, and may be more expensive than an aquarium. Gerbils can chew through plastic, another thing that makes it much harder to find a good wire cage. Plastic "critter trail" or Habitrail type cages do not offer proper ventilation and are difficult to clean, not to mention expensive and small.
Keep the cage away from drafts and noisy stressful rooms if possible, and if you have cats/dogs/ferrets, make sure the gerbils are not accessible to them and their cage is sturdy.
Bedding
Cedar: NEVER use cedar bedding, it contains phenols that are extremely irritating to the gerbil's respiratory system and can cause skin irritation too.
Pine: Pine can have similar effects, and although less dangerous, it should preferably only be used if it has been Kiln dried. (Baked at extremely high temperatures to remove oils.)
Aspen: More expensive than pine, but safe for gerbils, looks great in the cage.
Hemp: Same as aspen, safe. Can have rough edges but generally ok.
Carefresh and similar beddings: Tend to be expensive and dusty (even the bags that say "dust free") and does not hold tunnels well. Not the best bedding, but could be used.
Shredded paper: Practically Dust free, hypoallergenic, and holds tunnels well. Cheap, can be shredded yourself. Its what we use and local schools sometimes give us bags for free. The cons are that its not very absorbent and doesn't look as good as other beddings in the cage. Use shredded paper that is mostly white and doesn't have a lot of ink if possible.
Hay: great mixed into other bedding, gerbils love to nibble on it, but terrible as a bedding itself, it does not hold tunnels well, its expensive and will mold if wet.
Peat dirt: It may be very fun for gerbils to dig in and seems natural. You could use this, but it tends to hold a lot of moisture and there isnt really a reson to use it instead of a cheaper and better bedding. It may also get hard to clean. However, gerbils will enjoy a jar of this in their cage to dig in once in a while!
Play sand/chinchilla sand/Pool filter sand: Great for a little sand bath, but not good as a main bedding. Gets smelly easily and gerbils can't make tunnels in it well. Play sand must be baked before use.
Eco "crinkle" bedding: Very fun to burrow in, safe, looks good in a tank. not very absorbent however and may need cleaned more often than some other beddings. This bedding would be best mixed with another more absorbant and dense bedding, but can be used on its own. Sold at most Petlands around Winnipeg.
Straw: Hard to burrow in, could cause allergies, can have sharp pieces. Not very good or effective for gerbils.
Corncob bedding: An ok bedding, very good odour control however can mold easily and hard to burrow in.
Summary
Generally good beddings: Could be used: Do not use:
-Aspen -Carefresh -Cedar
-hemp -Pine -Hay (by itself)
-Eco bedding -Peat dirt -Sand
-Shredded paper -Corncob -Straw
Pine: Pine can have similar effects, and although less dangerous, it should preferably only be used if it has been Kiln dried. (Baked at extremely high temperatures to remove oils.)
Aspen: More expensive than pine, but safe for gerbils, looks great in the cage.
Hemp: Same as aspen, safe. Can have rough edges but generally ok.
Carefresh and similar beddings: Tend to be expensive and dusty (even the bags that say "dust free") and does not hold tunnels well. Not the best bedding, but could be used.
Shredded paper: Practically Dust free, hypoallergenic, and holds tunnels well. Cheap, can be shredded yourself. Its what we use and local schools sometimes give us bags for free. The cons are that its not very absorbent and doesn't look as good as other beddings in the cage. Use shredded paper that is mostly white and doesn't have a lot of ink if possible.
Hay: great mixed into other bedding, gerbils love to nibble on it, but terrible as a bedding itself, it does not hold tunnels well, its expensive and will mold if wet.
Peat dirt: It may be very fun for gerbils to dig in and seems natural. You could use this, but it tends to hold a lot of moisture and there isnt really a reson to use it instead of a cheaper and better bedding. It may also get hard to clean. However, gerbils will enjoy a jar of this in their cage to dig in once in a while!
Play sand/chinchilla sand/Pool filter sand: Great for a little sand bath, but not good as a main bedding. Gets smelly easily and gerbils can't make tunnels in it well. Play sand must be baked before use.
Eco "crinkle" bedding: Very fun to burrow in, safe, looks good in a tank. not very absorbent however and may need cleaned more often than some other beddings. This bedding would be best mixed with another more absorbant and dense bedding, but can be used on its own. Sold at most Petlands around Winnipeg.
Straw: Hard to burrow in, could cause allergies, can have sharp pieces. Not very good or effective for gerbils.
Corncob bedding: An ok bedding, very good odour control however can mold easily and hard to burrow in.
Summary
Generally good beddings: Could be used: Do not use:
-Aspen -Carefresh -Cedar
-hemp -Pine -Hay (by itself)
-Eco bedding -Peat dirt -Sand
-Shredded paper -Corncob -Straw
Diet
Commercial foods:
Gerbils require a good food mix. A few good brands are Brown's hamster and gerbil mix, Hagen Gourmet hamster and gerbil, Gerri Gerbil and Versele laga. Good quality lab blocks can be used and are a complete diet, but they are uninteresting to gerbils since they naturally forage and enjoy variety. Oxbow gerbil pellets are a good source of fiber and nutrients and are great added to a food mix for better nutrition, but by itself they don't offer all the energy and nutrition a gerbil needs since they are mostly made of hay, and gerbils tend to not like this food and get bored with it very fast. Oxbow rat food, surprisingly, seems to be better suited for gerbils (especially breeding ones) since it contains better sources of protein, more varied ingredients and is preferred by gerbils, though it too should be used in addition with a gerbil food mix to offer the best nutrition possible.
A good gerbil food will have a good quality food mix, and lab blocks or pellets added to it.
Homemade diet: (Homemade diets can vary as it's not always the same grains, etc.)
A good homemade diet can be better than any commercial diet, if done correctly.
It should still have a large amount of pellets/blocks since these contain essential nutrients.
WPG's homemade diet:
-50% pellets consisting of
4-5 parts oxbow regal rat food
2-3 parts Blue Buffalo senior dog food (or other high quality dog food with low fat) *
- 50% grain mix consisting of
½ part quinoa or nyger seed (high in protein and nutrients)
½ part flax
1 part barley
1 part brown rice pasta
1 part spelt or kamut flakes
2 parts rolled oats
1 part millet
+ loose timothy hay and added pumpkin seeds, dried banana chips and sunflower seeds as treats.
* This diet is for pregnant or nursing gerbils and is meant to be high protein. For non-breeding gerbils, I give less to no dog food and quinoa, and can replace it with Oxbow gerbil or rat food.
How to calculate percentages in homemade diets:
Lets say I have a diet that is 60% oxbow gerbil and 40% Hagen gourmet mix. I want to calculate the protein level. Oxbow gerbil has 15% protein, so you would do 15 x 0,60 (the percentage) = 9 then, Hagen gourmet has 13.5% protein, so you would do 13.5 x 0,40 = 5.4
Then you add 9 and 5.4 together and your diet has 14.4% protein. You can do this with as many ingredients as you want and with fat, fibre, etc. too to figure out if your food mix is appropriate for gerbils. Remember, however, that some protein sources are better than others, as they are better absorbed by the body. Protein coming exclusively from things like soy are less healthy for gerbils and the protein levels on the food bags can be misleading for this reason.
Veggies and fruit:
Ideally, gerbils should have a bit of fresh produce to eat at least a couple of times per week. Some gerbil favourites are apple, carrot, grapes, kale, and dandelion greens. They can have most fruits or veggies, but no pits or apple/pear seeds. They cannot have avocado, iceberg lettuce, sour citrus fruits or chocolate, and should not have too much lettuce. They should not have very watery foods such as watermelon, it can give them diarrhoea. if picking dandelion greens from outside, make sure they are washed and were not sprayed with pesticides, not near a road or somewhere near animal excrements. If you're not sure if a food is safe, don't feed it, or look it up online first!
Other:
Gerbils can have cooked egg, cooked quinoa, bits of chicken, crickets and mealworms (from a pet store, not caught), which provide healthy protein sources. They can also have cooked rice and healthy cereal once in a while, and gerbils will nibble on timothy hay as it keeps their teeth in good shape. They also enjoy having a millet spray in the cage as a treat.
Gerbils require a good food mix. A few good brands are Brown's hamster and gerbil mix, Hagen Gourmet hamster and gerbil, Gerri Gerbil and Versele laga. Good quality lab blocks can be used and are a complete diet, but they are uninteresting to gerbils since they naturally forage and enjoy variety. Oxbow gerbil pellets are a good source of fiber and nutrients and are great added to a food mix for better nutrition, but by itself they don't offer all the energy and nutrition a gerbil needs since they are mostly made of hay, and gerbils tend to not like this food and get bored with it very fast. Oxbow rat food, surprisingly, seems to be better suited for gerbils (especially breeding ones) since it contains better sources of protein, more varied ingredients and is preferred by gerbils, though it too should be used in addition with a gerbil food mix to offer the best nutrition possible.
A good gerbil food will have a good quality food mix, and lab blocks or pellets added to it.
Homemade diet: (Homemade diets can vary as it's not always the same grains, etc.)
A good homemade diet can be better than any commercial diet, if done correctly.
It should still have a large amount of pellets/blocks since these contain essential nutrients.
WPG's homemade diet:
-50% pellets consisting of
4-5 parts oxbow regal rat food
2-3 parts Blue Buffalo senior dog food (or other high quality dog food with low fat) *
- 50% grain mix consisting of
½ part quinoa or nyger seed (high in protein and nutrients)
½ part flax
1 part barley
1 part brown rice pasta
1 part spelt or kamut flakes
2 parts rolled oats
1 part millet
+ loose timothy hay and added pumpkin seeds, dried banana chips and sunflower seeds as treats.
* This diet is for pregnant or nursing gerbils and is meant to be high protein. For non-breeding gerbils, I give less to no dog food and quinoa, and can replace it with Oxbow gerbil or rat food.
How to calculate percentages in homemade diets:
Lets say I have a diet that is 60% oxbow gerbil and 40% Hagen gourmet mix. I want to calculate the protein level. Oxbow gerbil has 15% protein, so you would do 15 x 0,60 (the percentage) = 9 then, Hagen gourmet has 13.5% protein, so you would do 13.5 x 0,40 = 5.4
Then you add 9 and 5.4 together and your diet has 14.4% protein. You can do this with as many ingredients as you want and with fat, fibre, etc. too to figure out if your food mix is appropriate for gerbils. Remember, however, that some protein sources are better than others, as they are better absorbed by the body. Protein coming exclusively from things like soy are less healthy for gerbils and the protein levels on the food bags can be misleading for this reason.
Veggies and fruit:
Ideally, gerbils should have a bit of fresh produce to eat at least a couple of times per week. Some gerbil favourites are apple, carrot, grapes, kale, and dandelion greens. They can have most fruits or veggies, but no pits or apple/pear seeds. They cannot have avocado, iceberg lettuce, sour citrus fruits or chocolate, and should not have too much lettuce. They should not have very watery foods such as watermelon, it can give them diarrhoea. if picking dandelion greens from outside, make sure they are washed and were not sprayed with pesticides, not near a road or somewhere near animal excrements. If you're not sure if a food is safe, don't feed it, or look it up online first!
Other:
Gerbils can have cooked egg, cooked quinoa, bits of chicken, crickets and mealworms (from a pet store, not caught), which provide healthy protein sources. They can also have cooked rice and healthy cereal once in a while, and gerbils will nibble on timothy hay as it keeps their teeth in good shape. They also enjoy having a millet spray in the cage as a treat.
Toys
Gerbils can get bored without toys! Here are a few of the best toys to give to your gerbil:
-Wooden toys
You can buy wooden houses and bridges at the pet store, wooden chew toys, or cut branches for your gerbils. Some safe woods include apple, maple, dogwood, pecan, aspen, ash, poplar, elm, sycamore, hazelnut and magnolia. They will spend hours chewing them up and climbing on wooden structures!
-Cardboard
You will quickly notice that gerbils love to chew, and cardboard can be a useful thing to keep them from destroying expensive wooden toys. Some gerbils will completely shred a piece of cardboard in 2 minutes, and some will make it last a week.
Some good cardboard toys include toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, cereal boxes and package boxes.
Make sure the cardboard you give them is not a plastic kind does not have any glue/tape on it.
-Wheels
Most gerbils love to run on a wheel, and although not a requirement, it can be loads of fun and provide good exercise. A gerbil wheel should be at least 6.5 to 8 inches in diameter, and be either metal mesh or plastic (although plastic will eventually get chewed up) traditionnal wire wheels with bars can be dangerous as gerbils can get feet and tails caught in the rungs and break them.
-Sand baths
(see health section)
-Wooden toys
You can buy wooden houses and bridges at the pet store, wooden chew toys, or cut branches for your gerbils. Some safe woods include apple, maple, dogwood, pecan, aspen, ash, poplar, elm, sycamore, hazelnut and magnolia. They will spend hours chewing them up and climbing on wooden structures!
-Cardboard
You will quickly notice that gerbils love to chew, and cardboard can be a useful thing to keep them from destroying expensive wooden toys. Some gerbils will completely shred a piece of cardboard in 2 minutes, and some will make it last a week.
Some good cardboard toys include toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, cereal boxes and package boxes.
Make sure the cardboard you give them is not a plastic kind does not have any glue/tape on it.
-Wheels
Most gerbils love to run on a wheel, and although not a requirement, it can be loads of fun and provide good exercise. A gerbil wheel should be at least 6.5 to 8 inches in diameter, and be either metal mesh or plastic (although plastic will eventually get chewed up) traditionnal wire wheels with bars can be dangerous as gerbils can get feet and tails caught in the rungs and break them.
-Sand baths
(see health section)
Health
-Bathing:
Never bathe a gerbil in water unless absolutely necessary, they are desert animals and would not get wet in the wild. Water can wash away essential oils in their coat, make them more susceptible to colds and respiratory infection, and stress them out.
Instead, a small jar or pan with some small animal bath sand in it (not to be confused with chinchilla dust) will get grease and particles out of their fur and make them all shiny and clean! Gerbils tend to love digging in sand and rolling around in it.
Ideally a sand bath should be offered every 1 to 2 weeks or so, however they are not absolutely necessary to a gerbil's health.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Never bathe a gerbil in water unless absolutely necessary, they are desert animals and would not get wet in the wild. Water can wash away essential oils in their coat, make them more susceptible to colds and respiratory infection, and stress them out.
Instead, a small jar or pan with some small animal bath sand in it (not to be confused with chinchilla dust) will get grease and particles out of their fur and make them all shiny and clean! Gerbils tend to love digging in sand and rolling around in it.
Ideally a sand bath should be offered every 1 to 2 weeks or so, however they are not absolutely necessary to a gerbil's health.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Interacting with your gerbil
UNDER CONSTRUCTION