Feeding baby gerbils

What To Do If Your Gerbil Has Babies — Gerbil Welfare

Gerbil pregnancies are short and easy to miss. So, if you’ve woken up one morning to a litter of unexpected gerbil pups, you’re not alone.

If your gerbil has had babies, keep the cage somewhere warm and quiet. Give the mother extra food, water, and bedding. When the pups are 1 week old, start handling them. They will begin weaning during week 3, so provide a low food dish and water bottle. Separate them into opposite gender groups by week 9.

We’ll explain what to do if your gerbil gives birth unexpectedly. You’ll then learn how to care for the pups, feed, and handle them. You’ll also find out what to do with baby gerbils once they’re weaned.

Surprise litters of baby gerbils are not uncommon. The more gerbils you have, the more likely it’ll occur. Gerbils are notoriously difficult to sex. Even pet store employees and breeders get it wrong. Male and female gerbils look almost identical. So, you may think you have a pair of girls (or boys), but you may be wrong.

A female gerbil can become pregnant as early as 9 weeks old. She only needs a few minutes with a male to become pregnant. Gerbils come into heat regularly and almost always conceive the first time they mate. If your gerbil is pregnant, you may have noticed the following signs:

Increased appetite and water intake
Steady, daily weight gain
A rounded belly
Personality changes, such as sudden aggression or anxiety

However, unless you have experienced a gerbil pregnancy before, you may not notice any signs at all.

Gerbil pregnancies are short and hard to detect. According to Laboratory Animals, some pregnancies are only 25 days long. Gerbils do not become visibly swollen until a day or two before giving birth.

Most owners will not notice the pregnancy at all until the babies have been born.

How to Tell If Your Gerbil Is in Labor

The signs that your gerbil will soon give birth begin 1-2 days before the event occurs. You will notice:

That your gerbil’s belly seems much larger and rounder than usual.
If you look closely, you may see the pups moving inside.
Nesting behavior. Your gerbil will gather the softest materials she can find, and build a nest for the pups. This is a sure sign that birth is imminent.

Gerbils give birth quickly and quietly, inside or near the nest. Each pup will be less than an inch long, pink, and hairless. The litter may consist of one to ten pups, with the average being 3-6.

Labor usually happens in the early hours of the morning. You will most likely be asleep in bed while your gerbil is having her babies.

If you are lucky enough to witness the birth, don’t interfere. Your gerbil won’t need any help from you. She’ll be anxious and keeping watch for predators, so leave her alone to avoid stressing her out.

The moment she’s finished delivering the last pup, the mother will go into heat. If a male gerbil is in the cage with her, she’ll mate and become pregnant again immediately.

So, if you suspect your gerbil is about to have babies, remove the male gerbil from the cage. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a second litter of pups a few weeks later.

What To Do if Your Gerbils Have Had Babies

Most gerbil owners end up with surprise pups at some point. They’ll wake up one morning to the sound of squeaking and a nest full of baby gerbils.

If you knew that your gerbil was pregnant, you’d have been looking forward to this moment. If not, it will have come as a shock. But whether you were prepared or not, you now have gerbil babies to care for.

You’re probably wondering what to do when your gerbil has babies. Although it might seem overwhelming, caring for gerbil pups is fairly straightforward. Gerbil mothers do a fantastic job on their own.

1/ Keep the Pups Warm

Newborn gerbils can’t regulate their body temperatures, so they can quickly become too cold. According to Comparative Biochemistry, adult gerbils can alter their metabolism to help them survive in extremely low temperatures. But pups can’t do this.

Baby gerbils keep warm by huddling together in a nest, which the mother makes before going into labor. It’s your responsibility to ensure that the gerbilarium isn’t too cold or hot.

The ideal temperature for gerbils is between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the gerbilarium somewhere in the middle of this range.

For extra warmth, keep the cage covered with a blanket, away from drafts and windows. But keep it out of direct sunlight, too, as this could cause the tank to overheat.

Don’t make too much noise around the gerbilarium. Baby gerbils can’t hear until week four, but the mother will appreciate some privacy and quiet.

In the first week of the pups’ life, avoid cleaning out the gerbilarium or moving anything around inside. Don’t handle the mother or touch the babies unnecessarily. This could cause stress, which may cause the mother to neglect her pups.

2/ Give the Mother Extra Food and Water

Gerbils that have recently given birth require extra food and water. This helps them to get their strength back, regain lost nutrients, and produce milk for the pups.

Ideally, gerbils should be put on a higher-calorie diet from the moment you know they’re pregnant. Of course, if the pregnancy went undetected, this isn’t possible. So it’s crucial to ensure the mother is fed well post-birth.

If the mother doesn’t get enough calories during this time, she may resort to eating her babies. Give her at least an extra teaspoonful of gerbil food per day. Alongside this, offer daily high-calorie treats.

Avoid anything seasoned, highly processed, or contains added salt or sugar. Good gerbil treats include:

Insects, e.g. crickets and mealworms
Seeds, e.g. sunflower and pumpkin seeds
Unsalted nuts, e.g. peanuts and almonds
Small pieces of hard cheese or plain boiled chicken

Regularly check that she’s got enough water, and top up the bottle whenever necessary.

3/ Monitor the Pups’ Development

During the first few weeks of a baby gerbil’s life, they’re extremely vulnerable. They are blind, deaf, fragile, and easily hurt. They depend entirely on their mother (and you).

Gerbils are good mothers, and they usually do a great job of taking care of their babies. It’s not likely that you’ll need to intervene but check on the pups as often as you can.

Try not to disturb them as you do so. Keep light and noise levels low, and don’t touch the pups unless you have to. Check that each gerbil pup:

Looks healthy and pink, with a rounded belly
Grows bigger each day
Is breathing, wriggling, and squeaking
Is safely in the nest surrounded by its siblings

If you are concerned about any of the babies, telephone your veterinarian for advice. They may guide you over the phone or ask you to bring the gerbils for an examination.

There’s a small chance that one or more of the pups may not survive. If this happens, remove any dead pups immediately and dispose of them safely.

4/ Handle the Pups Carefully

In the babies’ first week of life, you shouldn’t handle them or touch them unless necessary. This is because:

Newborn pups become cold quickly when not in the nest
Baby gerbils are fragile and easily hurt
Handling the babies so soon after birth will cause the mother to become stressed and anxious

During the first week, only pick up a pup if it’s in immediate danger. For example, if it has fallen out of the nest and the mother gerbil doesn’t put it back.

From week two onwards, it’s safe to start handling the pups, but you must be gentle. Use a scooping motion to pick them up rather than grabbing them from above. Reaching from above can cause panic, as gerbils may mistake you for an aerial predator.

Hold each baby one at a time. Keep them low to the ground and held over something soft, like a cushion. That way, if they fall from your hands, they won’t be hurt.

Handle the pups regularly, at least once a day. This will help to socialize them and get them used to human interaction. But don’t keep them away from the nest for too long, as their mother may become anxious.

5/ Wean the Babies onto Solids

From week three onwards, the pups will be more independent and will start exploring solid food. Solid food won’t form the basis of their diet quite yet, though. They’ll still drink their mother’s milk until they’re fully weaned at 5-6 weeks of age.

You don’t need to give gerbil pups any special kind of food. They can eat the same diet as their mother. If they’re struggling to chew a larger piece of food, you can cut it up for them.

The pups will also appreciate the occasional treat, such as sunflower seeds and pieces of unsalted peanut. Don’t worry about baby gerbils becoming overweight, as the extra calories will help them grow.

By week three, you should also attach a water bottle for the babies to drink from. Affix it close to the floor of the cage so that they can reach it. Don’t use a water bowl or dish, as the babies could fall in and drown.

6/ Separate the Pups by Week Nine

Your baby gerbils will develop rapidly as the weeks pass. Gerbil pups grow quickly, and you may be surprised by how quickly they reach independence. By their fourth week of life, your gerbil pups will:

Have grown all their fur
Be able to see and hear
Be running around, burrowing, and playing together
Tolerate being handled
Eat solid food regularly alongside their mother’s milk

Around five to six weeks of age, the babies will stop suckling and be fully weaned. At this point, they’re old enough to live independently, and you can separate them from their mother.

Why Has My Baby Gerbil Died?

Raising baby gerbils doesn’t always go to plan. Gerbil pups are fragile, and they don’t always thrive as well as we’d hope. That’s why gerbils have so many babies and such frequent litters.

Sometimes, one or more of the gerbils in the litter will die unexpectedly. This is most likely to happen soon after birth. If you raise many litters, you’ll likely experience baby gerbils dying at some point.

There are many reasons that a gerbil baby might pass away. It doesn’t usually mean you’ve done anything wrong. For example, the pup may have:

Born with a congenital defect, such as a heart problem. These are invisible from the outside
Contracted an illness, such as a respiratory infection, which it couldn’t fight off
Injured accidentally, e.g. by falling from a perch
Born smaller and weaker than the others, meaning it wasn’t strong enough to suckle
Fallen out of the nest, and died of the cold
Been killed by an adult gerbil. According to Developmental Psychobiology, female gerbils may cannibalize pups that are not hers.

There’s also a chance that there were too many gerbil pups for the mother to feed. If there were more than 6 pups, this may be the case. Gerbil mothers often can’t produce enough milk to sustain large litters.

If one of the babies dies, don’t be hard on yourself; it happens in nature all the time. But keep a close eye on the others, and take them to a veterinarian if you’re worried.

What to Do with Baby Gerbils after Weaning

After six short weeks, all of your gerbil pups will have been weaned. They’ll be covered in fur, eating solid food, and spending most of their time outside the nest. This time will fly by, and you’ll soon wonder: what do I do with the pups now?

Depending on the litter size and how much space you have, you may decide to keep them all. But they shouldn’t all live in the same gerbilarium. This is for two main reasons:

Gerbils don’t understand the concept of incest. They can and will mate with their own siblings and parents.
Ideally, pet gerbils shouldn’t be kept in groups larger than two or three. The bigger the group, the higher the chance of declanning, which can lead to fighting.

All gerbil pups should be separated into same-sex pairings or trios by 9 weeks of age. This is the earliest that male and female gerbils can become sexually mature. They may still seem like babies, but they’re capable of having pups of their own at this point.

Sexing gerbils can be difficult, especially if you’ve never done it before. If you get it wrong, you will end up with more unexpected litters. To be on the safe side, ask your veterinarian for their opinion.

If you can’t keep all of the pups, it’s time to find new homes. You can advertise online or in local newspapers or take them to an animal shelter. Always rehome your gerbils in pairs, as they should never live alone.

Here’s some advice on how to care for baby gerbils.

How To Care For Baby Gerbils [A Complete Guide] — Gerbil Welfare

Baby gerbils (pups) are easy to care for in captivity. The size of a litter varies but is usually between 3 and 6. The mother will look after these pups on her own throughout their development.

The mother performs most aspects of baby gerbil care. Initially, pups only drink their mother’s milk. They’ll begin eating when they wean at 5 weeks old. Baby gerbils will become malnourished if they’re underfed. Line the gerbilarium with a substrate, provide a water bottle, hide, wood to chew on, and safe toys.

Babies are cared for by the father and mother. According to Hormones and Behavior, male gerbil fathers show high levels of parental behavior toward their pups due to hormonal changes.

Baby Gerbil Gerbilarium Setup

Gerbils need gerbilariums for the following reasons:

Gerbils have stronger jaws, and can gnaw through the thin plastic of hamster cages.
Gerbils enjoy burrowing, so need lots of substrate in their enclosure. The size and shape of the enclosure must reflect this.
Gerbils live in groups of at least two, so their enclosure needs to be bigger than that of a solitary hamster. If a gerbil lives alone, it gets sad. If a group of gerbils lives in a tiny enclosure, they fight more frequently.

Baby gerbils live in the same gerbilarium as their parents. They may eventually want to move out into their own space, in which case you will need to provide a second gerbilarium.

What Baby Gerbils Need in Their Cage

When the babies move out, they will have the same needs as adults. Their new enclosure will be no different from their old one. They will need the following:

Item	Why Is This Needed?
Substrate/Bedding	A substrate keeps the enclosure clean and allows the gerbils to burrow.
Water Bottle	All animals need water, and while gerbils don’t drink much, they still need a water bottle.
Something to Chew On	Rodents’ teeth grow continually. They need to grind them down on something hard to chew on, like cardboard or wood.
Nesting Boxes	This will serve as a place to sleep or as a place to hide when scared. Lined with tissue for comfort.
Enrichment	Enrichment is a term that means added things that are there for fun. Tubes, branches, and ramps are examples.

Put a food bowl in your gerbil’s enclosure. Gerbils are natural foragers. It’s better for their well-being if they have to dig and forage for their food.

So, scatter food across the substrate of their enclosure instead. Food bowls are also bad for gerbils because they encourage fighting. With food in one specific place, the gerbils will push their way to try and get to it. Scattering food avoids this.

Gerbils come from a part of the world where there’s precious little water, like a desert. This has made them very good at conserving water, much of which they find in their food in the wild.

However, gerbils will benefit from having a water bottle in their enclosure. Your gerbil babies won’t have any needs that regular adult gerbils don’t.

What Baby Gerbils Eat?

When a gerbil is born, it needs to feed on its mother’s milk. It isn’t ready for solid food yet. If the mother has enough nipples for every pup, they may all feed at the same time.

Weaning occurs around 5 weeks after birth. The mother will begin rejecting her babies when they come to it for milk. The babies will eventually start solely eating solid food.

After weaning, you can start feeding your baby gerbils solid food. The ideal solid food is gerbil food mix, like Supreme Gerri brand. It contains these ingredients:

Wheat grains
Soy bean hulls
Sunflower seeds
Dried vegetables

These ingredients offer the same nutrients as a gerbil’s wild diet and are perfect for your captive pets. Don’t offer food in a food bowl, as this encourages the gerbils to fight for space. Instead, sprinkle it evenly over the entire gerbilarium.

Young gerbils are capable of finding and eating food for themselves. All gerbils are foragers, meaning that they enjoy digging for food. Your baby gerbils will dig around in the substrate of their enclosure in search of food items. There is no need for you to hand feed your baby gerbils.

Can You Keep Baby Gerbils Alone?

One issue that people are aware of is that mother gerbils can eat their young. This behavior is common in rodents. You might think you have to keep them separated.

In the wild, a mother can only produce milk for a certain amount of babies. If there are too many, all of the babies will be undernourished. Survival of the fittest preferred mothers, so they’ll kill one of their young rather than allow all of her young to be underfed.

There are three reasons why baby gerbils can’t be left alone:

Gerbils need their mothers. Until five weeks, babies can’t live without their mother’s milk. They can’t eat solid food and would starve if left alone.
You can’t feed a gerbil ‘formula’. Gerbils are inefficient at storing fat, so high-fat cow’s milk or baby formula would be unsuitable.
Gerbils are social creatures. In the wild, they live in large groups, foraging and playing together, and engaging in social activities. Adult gerbils kept captive alone become unhappy over time without other gerbils to spend time with.

Gerbils do communicate. Some of their communication is ‘ultrasonic,’ i.e., we can’t hear it. According to PLoS One, baby gerbils frequently communicate this way with their parents. So, even though there’s a chance that the mother will eat her babies, you can’t keep the babies separately.

Can You Handle Baby Gerbils?

There’s a belief that if you do handle baby gerbils, the mother will reject its young because they smell like people. This is untrue for gerbils.

The only reason you shouldn’t handle baby gerbils is if the pup or parents seem anxious. If the parents become defensive, don’t force the issue. Allow both parent and pup to get used to the idea.

There is no limit regarding how early you can handle baby gerbils. You can handle them within the first week of their life, provided that your gerbil family is comfortable with that. The benefits of handling a gerbil baby include:

It becomes comfortable being picked up off the ground
It becomes comfortable with the smell of people
The mother’s bond of trust with you will be strengthened

Be careful when you handle the pups. Move slowly and don’t squeeze them. They can’t see, so be careful not to surprise them. Cup your hands so that the pups can’t scurry away and fall.

Be careful when handling pups soon after they open their eyes. They aren’t used to their newfound sight yet. They will likely think you are a big predator coming to eat them. Allow them to get used to the sight of you before picking them up again.

If you do want to handle the babies, wash your hands before and after. While the mother won’t reject them if they smell like you, you may have other smells on your hands like perfume. Wash your hands after any time you handle or touch a pet.

Can Baby Gerbils Get Sick?

Neither adult gerbils nor their pups get sick easily. This is a result of the conditions they’re kept in. In a dedicated gerbilarium, gerbils are prevented from coming into contact with gerbils outside of their family. This prevents the spread of germs.

It also prevents parasites. Parasites are caught in one of two ways. They can be caught from direct contact with other gerbils or feces. Or, they can be eaten in food. That’s how many meat-eating animals catch parasites. Gerbils avoid parasites altogether.

Also, if the conditions in their enclosure are clean, there’s no risk of infections. If they get a cut or scrape, they could become infected. To avoid this occurring, clean your gerbils’ enclosure regularly.

There are only two ways that baby gerbils can get sick.

Underfed Baby Gerbil

Baby gerbils can be underfed. This can occur because the mother cannot produce enough milk for all her babies. You will only see this happen with large litters of ten or more. As discussed, the mother may kill one of its weaker babies if this is the case.

The mother won’t produce enough milk if it’s underfed itself. Gerbils have hardly any fat reserves compared to other animals. They evolved that way because they live in places with few fatty foods to sustain them.

The issue is that milk is made from stored fat. So, if the female doesn’t have much fat, it won’t produce much milk either.

If one of the babies is underfed, the issue will continue to get worse. It’s the same with any animal which has large litters. If one is born small, it will struggle to push its siblings out of the way to access food, milk, or otherwise.

That means that a small gerbil will grow slower than its larger counterparts. Over time, it becomes more and more underfed. It may die if it still can’t access any food.

Respiratory Infection

Respiratory infections are like colds. They affect gerbils in the same way as they affect people. Your gerbil’s nose will get runny, it will sneeze, and it won’t be as active as usual.

In adult gerbils, this usually isn’t a big problem. That’s because adults are big and strong enough to fight the infection off. You won’t need to take your pet to a vet, as they will get better on their own.

However, babies are smaller and more vulnerable. You have to prevent them from getting respiratory infections. The easiest way is to keep your gerbil’s enclosure clean is by replacing the substrate regularly and wiping it with an antibacterial spray.

Other than that, there’s only so much you can do to prevent a gerbil from getting sick. It’s impossible to prevent any animal from ever being sick, so don’t be too harsh on yourself if one of the babies gets a cold. It should survive anyway.

Baby Gerbil Week-by-Week Guide

Baby gerbils develop far quicker than the young of many other pets. You have to adjust what care you give baby gerbils every week.

Week One

Baby gerbils are tiny. Pups are about half an inch long at most. They are blind and their ears are closed, meaning they can’t hear either.

In the first week, all the pups will huddle together with their mother to keep warm. They need to because pups don’t have a coat. Over the course of the first week, each gerbil will grow its first coat of soft, downy fur.

At this stage, there’s little you have to do for the babies. Provide adequate temperatures for the litter and that there’s food available for the mother. Other than that, you can leave the litter alone.

Week Two

Your baby gerbil’s coat will grow in by ten days. They will begin moving away from their mother and exploring, although they will still be blind.

You can handle pups before this point, but it’s ideal to wait until week two. That’s because the pups are becoming more mobile and more confident in their surroundings. Before that, they will want to spend most of their time next to their mother/parents.

Don’t leave anything in their cage where a baby gerbil could become trapped. This may mean you have to remove certain things from their gerbilarium. This is the perfect time for pups to injure themselves because they start moving around but still can’t see.

Week Three

Week three is when your baby gerbils will start to open their eyes. They will open their eyes one at a time. They usually open their second eye the day after they open the first. Seeing allows them to become even more independent, and they will explore their surroundings more.

This is the point at which the babies will begin weaning. Weaning means that they stop drinking their mother’s milk. Weaning is a gradual process, not something that occurs immediately.

So, at this time, you will notice the babies trying to gnaw on their parents’ gerbil mix. Encourage them by putting more mix than usual. They are learning to use their teeth for the first time. Before long, they will need to eat it.

Week Four

During week four, another sense becomes available to the baby gerbils: that of hearing. Their ears will open, so they can both see and hear. According to PLoS One, gerbils calculate where they are, what’s around them, and where to go from figuring out where noises are coming from (just like we can).

Again, this allows them to become more mobile. They will be more independent than ever. If you notice the babies interacting, don’t worry. They are likely only playing. This is a vital stage of development because gerbils live together in big groups and need to learn how to get along.

Week Five

By week five, even the smallest of your gerbil’s young will be weaned, i.e., eating solid food. The gerbils will not yet be full adult size but won’t be far off.

At the end of this week, the gerbils are ready to search for their own food and live in their own group away from their mother. You don’t have to force this to happen. However, you may wish to provide a separate gerbilarium with access to your existing one.

This will allow the young to choose whether they wish to stay living in the same place or move out. Only manually move the gerbils from their first home if they constantly fight, both with their parents and with one another.

Gerbil Care - CityVet Veterinary Clinics

Gerbil Care
Gerbil Breeding
Gerbil Feeding

Gerbils are small rodents that look like rats and hamsters. These mobile and beautiful animals are very suitable for home keeping.

There are 86 species of gerbils in total. The most common are Mongolian (clawed) gerbil, midday gerbil, red-tailed gerbil, Asia Minor gerbil, Sundevalla gerbil.

Mongolian gerbils are tame animals. Body length is approximately 13 - 20 cm, the length of the tail is almost equal to the length of the body, the tail ends with a panicle. There are about 30 different colors of gerbils, but in Russia the most common gerbils are black, white, agouti, Burmese, Siam, honey. So the choice is great.

Keeping gerbils

If you decide to buy a gerbil, prepare everything for it at home first. Gerbils are best kept in spacious cages with a high pallet, the distance between the bars of the cage should be small. Some keep gerbils in aquariums, but we do not recommend doing this, because in order for the animal not to run away, you will have to cover the aquarium with something, and this can create stuffiness and poor lighting inside. In the wild, gerbils build large burrow systems with storage and exits, so there must be plenty of soil in the cage so that they can follow their natural instincts there too. It is better to use hay, straw at least 15 cm thick as soil, sawdust (only not coniferous) or coconut can be laid on the very bottom. Be sure to put a house in a cage, the entrance to the house can be made in the form of a pipe, which is more like a hole. Of course, you can give the gerbils the opportunity to build a house on their own, then put a sufficient amount of “building materials” in their cage - hay, branches of fruit trees (they are also needed so that the animal can grind teeth about them), wood shavings, blocks. Cardboard, cotton wool and rags are not suitable for "construction". The animal can either eat it or get confused.

Place a bath with sand in the cage, in which the animal will bathe. To do this, you can buy sand for bathing chinchillas. Gerbils are very clean animals and you won't have to clean their cage as often as you would with rats or hamsters. It is enough to do this once every 2-3 weeks.

Do not forget to install a drinker with clean water in the cage, the water needs to be changed once a day or every other day. It is best to buy a special hanging drinker with a ball iron tip so that gerbils do not gnaw it. In the wild, gerbils drink very little and get the main moisture from succulent feed, but at home they willingly drink from a drinking bowl, although not as much as other rodents. In general, these animals are very active, nimble and love to gnaw everything. Therefore, choose products in a cage, either metal or made of durable plastic.

It is better to put the cage in a warm room, not on the floor and not in a draft. The optimum temperature of the content is from 15 to 25 degrees. It is better to keep two gerbils in one cage. It is desirable that they grow up together from childhood, otherwise they may fight. Sometimes these fights turn into a real carnage and can end in death. Especially if it is 2 males or unfamiliar adult male and female.

Breeding gerbils

If you have a couple, and they have small gerbils, you don't need to put the male, as he is actively involved in raising children. Gerbils become sexually mature at the age of 1.5 -2 months, but mating is best done no earlier than 3 months of age. Pregnancy in gerbils lasts about 25 days, 3-8 cubs are born in the litter, rarely 10. Immediately after giving birth, the female can become pregnant again - this is the only reason why the male should be removed.

Feeding gerbils

Specially formulated foods are available for gerbils, but other rodent foods (hamsters, rats) can also be used or mixed. There is a very large variety of feeds on our market, but it is better to buy feeds that are not cheap, so that GOST or TU is indicated on the packaging, since there are feeds of very poor quality and the contents of the box do not correspond to the inscriptions on the packaging.

In the wild, gerbils feed mainly on grain and grassland seeds, their green parts and grasses. Therefore, it is necessary to add succulent feed and hay to any ready-made grain mixture.

In autumn and winter, mainly vegetables and fruits, in spring and summer, green parts of branches of fruit trees, dandelion, plantain, sprouted oats.

From vegetables you can give carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini. You can not give potatoes (since starch oxidizes very quickly), white cabbage, onions, turnips, radishes and other foods that increase gas formation.

From fruits you can give apples, pears, sometimes a banana. You can not give citrus fruits, kiwi, various exotic fruits. It is also recommended to give wild berries.

As a protein food, cottage cheese, an egg, a very small piece of cheese, crickets, flour worm, zoophobus are suitable. Something from this list can be given once a week. Be sure to add protein feed to pregnant gerbils. Also during pregnancy, gerbils should receive a sufficient amount of succulent feed.

Pet stores sell a variety of treats for rodents. Sometimes they can be given to gerbils. In apartment conditions, most often gerbils do not receive the necessary amount of minerals and especially vitamins, so you can give them a course of multivitamin preparations for rodents. The drug is given for 2 weeks, a break for 2 months.

Adult gerbils can be fed every other day, young gerbils should be fed daily. Feed needs to be poured so much that the animal cannot make a lot of supplies. A certain amount is produced at a time during the maintenance process. The remains of juicy and protein feed after eating must be removed from the cage, as they begin to rot quickly.

Keeping gerbils at home

Content:

Basic information
Habitat
A bit of history
Character
How many gerbils can live in a cage at the same time
Contents
Feeding
Health
Interesting facts about gerbils
Summing up

Gerbils are small and active rodents, unpretentious in maintenance and care. Of course, in popularity they are significantly inferior to hamsters and domestic rats, and yet many lovers of miniature pets prefer them.

There are over 100 species of gerbils. About 35 of them are listed in the International Red Book. However, only one species is suitable for home keeping - the Mongolian (clawed) gerbil. It is about her that will be discussed in this article.

Basic information

Latin name: Meriones unguiculatus.

Order: rodents.

Family: mice (in some sources - hamsters).

Genus: lesser gerbils.

Body length: 11-13 cm.

Weight: 90-125 g.

Colors: white, red, slate, color-point, color-point light, himalayan, lilac, sapphire, dove, golden argent, argent cream, topaz, dark-eyed honey and others, natural color - agouti.

Eye color: black, red, ruby.

Features of appearance: hind legs are longer than the front ones, there is a fluffy tassel on the tail.

Lifestyle: daytime.

Life expectancy at home: up to 6 years.

Habitat

Mongolian gerbils live in the deserts and dry steppes of East Asia (middle Mongolia). On the territory of our country, they are found in Tuva, less often in Southern and Eastern Transbaikalia.

Since the natural habitat of the animals is a hot and dry desert, where the maximum daily temperature sometimes exceeds 50 degrees, gerbils have to hide in burrows and wait for the indicators to decrease. For this reason, in the wild, they are nocturnal. Domesticated rodents, at optimal temperatures, are active during the day.

A bit of history

Surprisingly, gerbils live side by side with humans for only about 50 years. The first international exhibition where rodents were presented as pets took place at 1969 year. In the wild, only one coat color is found - agouti, but over time, breeders managed to get other varieties of colors, including black and color-point.

Character

Gerbils are predominantly diurnal, although there are rodents that are active at night. These miniature animals almost never sit still, preferring to travel around the cage and please their owners with their mobility.

Mongolian gerbils are friendly, quickly and easily get used to hands, almost never show aggression. They may respond to their own nickname. And they also love to gnaw and dig holes, so in cage there should always be various objects and shells to maintain the usual life of the animal.

How many gerbils can live in a cage

at the same time

In nature, rodents live in small groups: one male and 2-3 females with cubs. Therefore, at home, several gerbils can easily get along in one cage . However, there are a number of conditions. It is advisable to acquire animals at the same time, and from the same litter, since they are already accustomed to dividing the territory among themselves. It is important that at the time of settlement they were about 6-8 weeks old. If you do not plan to breed gerbils, give preference to individuals of the same sex.

Interesting fact! Gerbil gestation lasts 23-26 days. Usually from 1 to 10 babies are born. The female feeds them with milk for up to 1.5 months.

So, to keep a gerbil you will need:

Cage

Minimum size - 55x40 cm, height - 45 cm. It is advisable to give preference to multi-level structures, since gerbils love to jump. May be kept in aquarium or terrarium (at least 10 l), but the container must be tall (or with a lid) and well ventilated.

Important! Keep cage away from heat sources and direct sunlight. The optimum temperature in the room is 20-23 degrees, while the air must be dry!

Ladders , shelves , running wheel

This equipment is necessary for active rodents, since they almost never sit still.

Filler

There should be a lot of it, because the animals love to dig. Keep this in mind when choosing cage - choose a model with a high tray. As filler , sawdust or wood pellets are suitable.

Important! Gerbils practically do not smell and do not excrete much urine, so a complete replacement for filler can be done every 2 weeks. However, if you have males, we recommend doing this more often, since they are quite active in marking the territory.

Hay

It is used as an additional filler, as gerbils love to burrow. If desired, the animal can eat dry grass for food.

Cottage

Gerbils are animals that are used to hiding from heat and predators in minks, so nature has an instinct to hide in them. For a pet, you can choose house made of plastic, wood, coconut shell.

Feeder and Drinker

Feeder is better to choose metal or ceramic, drinker - nipple.

Hygiene

Gerbils are inhabitants of the desert, so water procedures are contraindicated for them. However, pets need to maintain their appearance. For this, dry hygienic chinchilla sand . It is poured into tub and placed in cage . Gerbil will be happy to mess around in it. The procedure is carried out 2 times a week . Duration - 20-30 minutes .

Feeding

The basis of the gerbil's diet should be grain mixtures consisting of wheat, barley, oats and other crops. They contain vitamins, minerals, fatty acids necessary for the health of the pet. It is advisable to choose ready-made rations which additionally include protein components. So, in mixtures for rodents Grums there is dehydrated meat.

The pet's diet can be varied with vegetables, fruits, berries (except citrus fruits, cabbage, potatoes). From them, the pet receives not only useful substances, but also water. However, the content of plant foods should not exceed 10-15% of the daily requirement, since a larger amount is fraught with digestive problems. As an alternative source of vitamins, germinated grass .

In gerbils, like in other rodents, the front incisors are constantly growing. For grinding in cage there must always be dry twigs and mineral stone .

Animals are fed 2 times a day - in the morning and in the evening. Uneaten remains of fruits and vegetables must be removed immediately.

Periodically, you can pamper your pet healthy treats . The assortment of the Grums brand includes tunnels, grain baskets, sticks with fruits and herbs, dried apple, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and others.

Health

Like other pets, gerbils are prone to a number of diseases. More often, rodents are diagnosed with pathologies of the respiratory system. Diarrhea occurs due to malnutrition. Some pet rodents are prone to allergic reactions. Older animals have heart attacks and strokes.

If pets infected with fleas live in the house, there is a possibility that the bloodsucking will get to the gerbil. This is also possible when poorly processed hay is placed in cell . When infected with ectoparasites, the rodent begins to itch actively, wounds and sores form on the skin. This condition is dangerous for the pet, therefore, it requires immediate contact with a veterinarian-ratologist, who will select the necessary remedy .

It is important to treat cage as it may contain flea larvae and eggs. The rodent's dwelling should be washed with infectious solutions.

Also, a gerbil can become infected with internal parasites - helminths. This is due to the consumption of unwashed and poor-quality foods. Signs of invasion - weight loss, skin scratching. For diagnosis and treatment, it is important to contact a specialist in time.

Interesting facts about gerbils

1. In the wild, these smart animals dig deep holes (up to 3 meters!), and often divide them into zones for rest and food. They even have a "bathroom" and storage room.

2. A female gerbil is ready to breed from the age of three months. And immediately after birth, the rodent is again ready for fertilization.

3. The maximum height that the animal can jump is 3.5 m.

4. Up to 60 kg of reserves can be found in the mink of a wild gerbil.

5. Miniature pets do not hibernate, however, with strong changes in climatic conditions, their activity is noticeably reduced.

6. The most fragile organ of a gerbil is the tail: if handled incorrectly, it can fall off, and a new one will not grow.