The Gerbil Tip of the Month is here to help you find simple ways that you can provide better care for your gerbils.
Some tips are about the safety and health of Mongolian gerbils. Other tips help you tame your gerbils, make homemade gerbil toys, keep your pet clean and well-groomed, treat common ailments, and successfully introduce a pair of gerbils.
Our Current Tip
Pet-Safe Way To Clean An Oven. It’s not safe to let grease, grime, and spilled food build up on the walls of your oven, but many oven cleaners are also not safe to use with pets in the home. If you care about your gerbils as much as we do, you’ll want to read this tip!
Archived Gerbil Tips
The Best Gerbil Toy: A Cardboard Tube!. Sure, there are plenty of rodent toys in the pet store, but some of those aren't even safe for gerbils. And let's face it: pet shop toys are expensive. Ironically, a gerbil's favorite toy is something very cheap: an empty toilet paper tube.
Tip Ideas?
Have a great homemade toy your gerbils love? Know how to corral an escaped gerbil? Have another tip?
Email us with your tip ideas, and we'll try to incorporate them into a Gerbil Tip on this site!
Ideal Housing. Some types of housing are better than others. For instance, plastic habitats are likely to break apart (or be chewed apart), and they are hard to see through. In this tip, we'll look at some better living arrangements for your gerbils.
Freeze Bedding & Food To Prevent Pests. Bedding and food occasionally carries pests, such as mites. There is an easy way to prevent introducing these pests to your gerbils, however. Read more in this tip.
Hand-tame Your Gerbils. Gerbils are often skittish when you first bring them home. The key to taming a gerbil is patience. In this tip, we cover three basic taming tips.
Gerbil-Safe Exercise Wheels. Not all exercise wheels are safe for gerbils. The standard wire, rung-style wheels can actually amputate a gerbil's tail! Learn how to make your gerbils' wheels safe in this tip.
How to Corral an Escaped Gerbil. Few things are more nerve-wracking than trying to locate and capture an escaped gerbil. In this tip, we look at preventative measures that will avoid an escape, how to locate an escaped gerbil, and, most importantly, how to capture the little runaway.
How to Pick Up a Gerbil. Once you've hand-tamed your gerbils, you're ready to start picking them up. You must do this the right way in order to maintain your gerbil's trust. In this tip, we'll tell you how.
Quick & Easy Tank Cleanings. Cleaning tanks can be not only tiring but also messy. This week, we'll look at one way to clean a tank quickly and with minimal mess.
Water Bottle Tips. It's easy to overlook the importance of a water bottle... until one leaks or a gerbil gnaws it to pieces. This tip has water-bottle shopping tips and pointers for maintaining your gerbils' water bottle.
Homemade Gerbil Furnishings. Designing and building your own gerbil furniture
is fun for you and a creative activity for kids. New, unique tank furnishings and toys also keep your gerbils active, curious, and happy. This week, we explore safe materials for building gerbil toys.
Four Tips About Split-Cage Introductions
Part 1: Secure Split-Tank Design. It's essential that you introduce gerbils to each other using the split-cage method. In this week's tip, you'll learn how to build the Twin Squeaks split tank.
Part 2: Start The Split-Caging. You cannot just place two gerbils in a tank together. If they are strangers to each other, you must use the split-cage method. In this tip, we discuss the basics of setting up and using a split cage.
Part 3: Removing The Divider. After you've used the split-cage method, you are ready to introduce your gerbils. In this tip, we'll look at how to remove the divider and introduce your gerbils.
Part 4: After The Introduction. After a successful split-cage introduction, you will need to know when it's safe to add toys and nesting boxes, as well as when and how to clean the tank. In this final installment of the Split-Cage Introduction tips, we'll learn what to do after a successful split-cage introduction.
Easiest Gerbil Introductions. In this month's tip, we'll summarize which split-cage introductions are the easiest and which are a bit trickier. To learn more about split-cage introductions, make sure you also read our collection of split-cage introduction tips.
Don't Use Cedar Or Pine Bedding! Pine and cedar beddings are both very dangerous to gerbils. There are better alternatives, such as corncob bedding. In this tip, learn why pine and cedar are bad. Also, learn which beddings are safe.
Gerbil Food. There are many food mixes out there. In this tip, read about how to prepare and serve your gerbils' meals.
Sandbaths. There are few things cuter than a gerbil taking a sandbath. Learn how to give your gerbils a sandbath and why it's good for your gerbils.
Use Your Bathtub As A Gerbil Playground. Here's a great tip. Sitting in the bathtub while you let your gerbils explore the floor of the tub is a great way to help tame them. In no time, they'll crawl on you like you're a giant jungle gym.
Silence a Squeaky Exercise Wheel. Everyone with gerbils probably knows that exercise wheels can get very loud and squeaky. If your gerbils' wheel starts to squeak, you'll want to read this month's tip to learn how you can have some peace and quiet in your home, even when a gerbil is running on an exercise wheel.
How Many Gerbils Should Live Together. Two of the most important things to know before you adopt gerbils are how many you should adopt and how many can live peacefully together. In this month's tip, we offer a brief overview of the best and safest gerbil groupings.
Speak Your Gerbils' Language. Have you ever wondered exactly what your gerbil is thinking? You can tell quite a bit about your gerbil's thoughts and feelings by his or her body language.
Two Simple Gerbil Toys. If you're always on the lookout for new gerbil toys, this is the tip for you. This month, we'll show you two simple toys that your gerbils will love. We'll give you a hint: Neither of these toys are in the hamster/gerbil aisle of the pet shop.
Take Better Gerbil Photos. Gerbils can be difficult to photograph. They are small, move fast, and don't usually sit still for photographs. In this tip, we'll give you some pointers so that you can take better photos of your gerbils.
Christmas Gifts For Gerbils. There are lots of Christmas gifts for cats and dogs in the pet shops right now, but you've probably noticed that there aren't many Christmas gifts for gerbils. That's okay, though. You can make some gifts for your gerbils that they'll like much better than anything you could buy in a store. In this month's tip, we'll give you a couple of gift ideas to make your gerbils' Christmas very merry.
Personalize Your Gerbil Tank. If you're looking for a way to make your gerbils' tank more unique and a little more fun, this month's tip is for you. We have ideas for how to make your gerbil tank a little bit more like home.
Gerbil Tears & Mucous. Gerbils sometimes scare their owners, because they think a gerbil is bleeding. But gerbil tears and gerbil mucous are red. Read this tip to find out more about why an uninjured gerbil might look like his or her eyes or nose are bloody!
Flip The Water Bottle Before Your Gerbils Travel. If you ever need to travel with your gerbils, it's important to know how to keep the bedding from getting wet as the water bottle bounces around in the car. In this tip, learn a very simple way to keep your gerbils' home dry when their tank is in your car.
Keep A Gerbil Warm During A Winter Trip To The Vet. Sometimes, a gerbil might get sick on an especially cold winter day. In this tip, we provide some tips for taking your gerbil to the vet without making him or or her more sick from exposure to the cold.
A Fun & Free Gerbil Toy. Here’s a great idea for a toy that won’t cost you any money. But your gerbils will love this toy!
Halloween Ghosts For Your Gerbils. Help your gerbils celebrate Halloween by making them treat-filled ghost toys! This tip offers two types of ghosts you can make for your gerbils to help them have an eerily good Halloween.
Give Medication To A Gerbil. It can be difficult to get a gerbil to take medicine. This tip provides some help if you need to give a gerbil oral medication.
