Gerbil Habitat in Your Very Own Home
So you’ve decided to buy a gerbil, or maybe you’re contemplating on getting one. Either before you’ll have to make sure you have the right habitat for your gerbil.
the best way to go would be to get a 10 gallon aquarium which should fit two gerbils perfectly (and i do mean two, please don’t purchase a single gerbil, they get so lonely 
), just remember to get one with a proper animal top.
If you’re already thinking about buying more than two, or breeding them, then you should consider a bigger tank. The general rule is this:
a ten gallon tank is enough for one or two gerbils
a fifteen gallon tank is enough for three gerbils
a twenty gallon tank is enough for four gerbils
a thirty gallon tank is enough for five to six gerbils
remember you can never have enough gerbils!! (actually you can, and they can be quite a hand full at times, but that’s nothing compared to there furry little smiles).
Why Aquariums Make the Best Habitats
let’s compare them to the competition:
Gerbil Cages: these are also quite common but have some serious drawbacks in my opinion.
- Gerbils like play around or more accurately dig around with there bedding. while it’s all fun and games for the gerbil, for you not so much. you see gerbils don’t really care that your wife spent all morning cleaning the house, in fact they’ll probably see it as a challenge. he’s in his cage thinking “hmm let’s how bedding i can get on the floor in the least amount of time”. You’ll be surprised at the results every single time.
- Multi-leveled cages can be a serious hazard to young pups. They could potentially fall and break a leg and what not.
- In wire cages your gerbil will see another great challenge, the wires themselves. Gerbils tend to gnaw on them relentlessly, and the end result can be summed up by the ancient phrase: not good for cage, not good for gerbil.
The third option currently on the market is a plastic habitat, which i seriously suggest avoiding.The furry little fellas always seem to find a way to get away from them.
It’s All About The Bedding
The next most important thing about your gerbil’s habitat is the bedding. Gerbils are burrowing digging animals by nature, therefore require allot of bedding to play around in. It’s also quite essential for absorbing urine. That said, that don’t urinate all that much so for a two gerbil 10 gallon aquarium habitat , changing the bedding every two or three weeks should suffice. Gerbil cages shouldn’t smell if the bedding is changed regularly.
The best and undisputed heavyweight champions of bedding are the Aspen, Corn Cob and Carefresh beddings. They make for the safest and funnest environment for your gerbil.
A very important rule of thumb is to fill the aquarium to about 1/3 full with bedding. This way the gerbils can dig there food in it, play with it and generally have a good time according to theirs nature.
Final Notes on Bedding:
Whatever you do, please don’t use Cedar or Pine Bedding; they can be harmful to mature gerbils, but the main concern is the pups. They’ve been known to cause respiratory problems and even liver damage.
Nesting Box
I would recommend purchasing a wooden nesting box. I hate the plastic ones since my little maniacs chew through the whole thing in about a week. For nesting material I just rip bits of tissue paper, it does the job perfectly.
