Kinds Of Gerbils:

Gerbils are small furry animals with long tails. They come from Africa and Asia. They are kept as pets all over the world. There are 8 species of gerbils: small gerbil, larger gerbil, naked-soled gerbils, cape short-tail gerbil, fat tailed gerbil, jirds (Mongolian gerbil), Przewalski's gerbil, and the great gerbil.

Size, Weight, And Breeding: Gerbils weigh 1 to 7 oz. They are 3 to 7 inches long with a 3 to 9 inch tail. They live for 4 years in the wild and 1 to 5 years if kept as a pet. After 3 weeks of being pregnant, a gerbil can have 1 to 8 young. Gerbils will often stand on their back feet to see what's going on, but they always walk on 4 feet. The picture on the right is of a female and male gerbil.

Eating Habits:

Wild gerbils like to eat seeds, flowers, roots, leaves, and insects. You should feed your pet gerbil every 1 to 2 weeks. When you feed your gerbil you should check the water. Pet gerbils like to eat lettuce, carrots, banana peels and food from pet stores. If you feed your gerbil banana peels don't give them too much at once. Gerbils love to gnaw. They are probably the most well know gnawer next to the beaver.

Burrows:

Gerbils make homes under the ground called burrows. Just like almost any other rodent there are rooms for sleeping and eating. The entrance to the burrow is round and is made a certain way so wind can't get in. Sometimes gerbils will build their burrows right next to each other and form a colony. Since gerbils are most active during the night they mostly stay in their burrow eating and sleeping.

Gerbil Information:

 

• The flat tailed gerbil lives in the Sahara desert and lives around plants. The flat tailed gerbil has a very short tail. The tail gets fatter around the tip and it's darker on the top than the bottom.

 

• Naked-sole gerbils are very small and live in Africa. On the bottom of their feet they have no hair and that is why they are called naked-sole gerbils.

Jirds live in North Africa and Central Asia. They carry a disease called the plague just like rats. Jirds are like a tiny kangaroo because they love to jump.     The great gerbil lives from Afghanistan to Northern China. They stay underground for a long time in the winter, but sometimes they come out to look around.

Pet Gerbil Information:

Gerbils make great pets and they are easy to take care of. Pet gerbils love lots of tubes, sawdust and bedding.The best floor for your gerbil is sawdust. When gerbils have lots of sawdust and bedding they make little burrows and you can see how wild gerbils live. Some names of things you can get for your pet gerbil are: play city, sport wheel, run 'rounds, tee turn, tunnel, town house, and get away. Once in a while you should put stuff in your gerbil's cage like: cracker boxes, little milk cartons, half unrolled toilet paper rolls, ladders, lookout towers, and paper towel rolls.

 

These are some examples of things you can give to your gerbil.

You should cut a few holes in these things so your gerbil has more places to go through.

The red area shows where gerbils live.