This section will provide information on:

scent marking
Sleeping
Digging
Thumping
Taming
Nippers
Boxing

Scent Marking

Now, if you are unfamiliar with Gerbils, you may think that sometimes their behaviour is odd. Gerbils are very different to Hamsters, they don't have cheek pouches for one and they are much more active than Hamsters. They love to explore a lot and run around on anything and everything and are highly curious. They are unlikely to want to just sit with you and watch tv, they have much better things to do and people to see!

Gerbils are also awake both during the day and the night, they have short naps throughout the day and are not often grumpy when woken. Except females or when you poke your finger into their nest ;)

Within a group Gerbils often create a heirachy, with a Dominant figure and the rest are all Subordinates. In colonies in the wild, if there are more than one female the Dominant female will surpress the subordinate females so that they do not become pregnant.
You will often see your Gerbils grooming eachother, and sometimes hear some sqeaking, don't worry this is just when one of them doesn't want the other to groom them. I've never had a major dispute come from the squeaks, as the other just runs away.
Not only does grooming help bond the group together, it also gives each Gerbil a good excuse to scent mark the other. On Gerbils the scent gland is on the stomach, so when grooming they can rub this gland against the other, and are literally saying 'this gerbil is mine'.

Dakota scent marks a milk bone.

It is also worth noting that when Gerbils are sexually mature it can often seem as though they are trying to mate, this is often again a dominance thing. I often get my females doing just this, whenever one or both are on heat they will do, what looks like mating. They will also even thump at eachother and then the dominant one will mount the other and then start to clean the other's back once they have finished one will often run away and then raise her back legs and bum, just like if they were really mating. This is quite natural behaviour and do not be alarmed by it. I also get the females scenting me! So at that point I put them back as I don't really appreciate being marked ;) An easy way to know when a female is on heat is by her being unsually active, and also when she is awake she looks really tired. This will last for around 12 hours, poor thing! I found that it also usually happens in the evening, as Gerbils usually mate from evening to the early hours of the morning.

If you should be worried that they are actually mating, be sure to check they are both the same sex! Also, mating will happen repeatedly on and off for a number of hours, where this scent marking will only happen once every so often throughout the night rather than repeatedly every couple of seconds or so.

Sleeping

One of the cutest things you could see is a pile of sleeping Gerbils, especially if it is a large pile. I don't often get to see my lot sleeping, as I provide bridges for them to sleep under, but every now and again - more so when it's warm, the colonie will sleep out in the open, allowing me some really cute sleeping photos *grins*

I did, at one point have a theory about their sleeping, as it seems that they is always atleast one on the lookout... But I think this only applies when they are in the open or not their usual nest. As sometimes, I can see my groups sleeping under their bridges if they have decided to kick most of the bedding out of the nest due to it being too warm, and it is at these points that I can tell there is no one on the lookout for danger.

As far as I can tell, Gerbils do not sleep with their eyes open like a Rabbit or Guinea pig would - although, sometimes it does seem like they might be because they've gone into a small trance... But there are plenty of times I've caught them standing haunched over, eyes slowly getting more and more closed and eventually them nodding off to sleep and curling up into a little ball.

 

Sometimes they will even sleep in a tube!

 

Digging

A lot of people also experience their Gerbil obsessively digging in the corner of their cage/tank. This is often stereotypical behaviour and it can actually be avoided. Quite simply just put a lot of bedding in there so they have things to do like digging tunnels rather than digging at the corners.
What, I do is make sure there are some things in the tank for the Gerbils to dig under and form a tunnel from. So things like wooden blocks, or wood huts, tubes are often good. It doesn't take a Gerbil long to work out how to make a nice tunnel. There have been plenty of experiments, and if you wish, you could add a huge amount of bedding, so they can form massive tunnels, the only problem with this is that you could quite easily end up with Gerbils that rarely ever want to come out, as it's perfect underground for them.
I will occasionally get the Gerbils digging at corners, often they only do this when something is obstructing their path, so they decide to chew at the object or just dig at the side of the tank instead :P
I always believed in trying to make the habitat as natural as I could. This has always included giving plenty of wood shavings, care fresh, hay/straw and shredded paper. Adding in Hay or Straw helps give the wood shaving bulk, and it also helps form the tunnels. As well as giving the Gerbils something to chew on and eat. I normally give them around 10-15cm of bedding, but that depends upon the size of the tank. The boys in the glass tank get a lot more than those in the Dunas, as their tank is a lot higher and this allows for more stuff in there, as well as much bigger and better tunnel systems.

 

Here a Gerbil digs at the glass whilst up-side-down.

Dakota settles down to sleep in a tunnel.

Here you can see the obvious tunnels around the plant pot and wooden log.

Thumping

You may hear your Gerbils thumping, this is generally a warning signal to the rest of the Gerbils in the colony. Thumping can also be used when mating, the male will thump at the female letting her know he is ready and willing...

Anything can set your Gerbils off thumping, from a noise they hear outside, to a bird flying past the window, or even you moving too quickly and startling them all.

Below are some photos I managed to snap one sunny day when Nairobi decided to start thumping at me, this lead to the rest of them running out to check out what the danger was...

Sicily, Roma and Siena stand on guard looking around. Saffie and Madison arrive to get a better look.

Nairobi on the left is the one thumping, she was mid-thump during the photo. Siena and Sicily are wondering what she's scared of.

Taming

When you get your new Gerbils, you may find they are quite skittish, scared and timid. The most effective way of helping your gerbils overcome this is by keeping them near you alot. Whenever I get some new Gerbils I spend a lot of time with them (if you already have some gerbils you must quarentine the new arrivals for atleast 2 weeks otherwise you run the risk of passing something on). I will sit with my hand in their tank for 30 mins to over an hour or so. Just allowing them to explore my hand, sniff, climb, play on it. I will also put seeds on my hands for them, this is good to bribe them to actually come onto your hand in the first place.

Also talk to them, let them get to know your voice, your smell - everything!

Pups settling down to sleep on Pete's arms, they are highly tame at 3 weeks old.

Roma sitting still on Pete's hand, she is very placid and comfortable on us.

A pup climbing up my arm to get out of their playtank. At 4 weeks old they have no problems with us since they were handled from birth.

Saffie climbing out, it is at this age where a breeder should be taming their pups ready for their new owners.

At the end of the day, the breeder you get your Gerbils from should have already tamed your gerbils for you, so be sure to buy any gerbils from a well respected breeder, where you know they will have been tamed and bred for their placid natures in the first place.

Nippers

Should you find yourself with a nippy Gerbil, the best course of action is to try blowing on their face, each time they nip you, even if they look like they're about to do it. They will eventually learn not to do this, as they do not like to have air blown in their face. It also helps to wiggle your fingers if they look like they are going to nip, I find mine will often grab your finger, hand and then 'taste' it. If youkeep your fingers moving, they can't get a hold and it also lets them know you're alive and are NOT food.

You can read my diary I made of having problems with Dakota nipping when I first got him: here.

Boxing

You may see your gerbils fighting occasionally, now you do need to be able to distinguish between aggression and 'boxing'.

When Gerbils are fighting aggressively, it will be pretty obvious, they will likely squeak, fluff up, swish their tails... I think you should be able to tell fairly easily.

Boxing whoever, is something that seems to happen on a fairly frequent basis, with some of my tanks doing it alot, whilst others don't seem to box often. Below are photos of two of mine having a little scuffle, or box. They were just a couple of months or so old at this time and are still together now, 6 months later.

 

The sand dish can often be a site for squabbles.

Chewing

Gerbils love to be able to chew, it is something that they do constantly and like all rodents, their incisors or front teeth constantly grow and so they need to be able to chew at things in order to keep the teeth from growing so much they begin to cut into the gums of the opposite teeth.
The best way to do this with Gerbils is to provide them with Wooden toys, blocks, lengths etc. Not only will the Gerbil be able to build tunnels around these objects, but they can also chew at them to keep their teeth down and scratch at them to keep their nails trim.

A wooden log has gradually been chewed at.

This wood has been put in the tank to cover a hole where a water bottle would go. This stops the Gerbils chewing out.

Gerbils can and WILL chew anything plastic! So NEVER give them plastic toys, not only will they be destroyed within hours sometimes but also they can cause serious damage should the gerbil swallow any - so it's best to make sure it never happens.

Cardboard or paper are excellent materials to give your gerbils to chew, they will not last as long as a wooden toy, but these are cheaper and much easier to obtain. Use plain printer paper, be sure not to give any paper with coloured inks on it, as these are often toxic. Also, when choosing cardboard steer clear of any boxes which contain frozen food, these often have a waxy layer on them which isn't good. It's best to stick to boxes that contain fresh foods, as these have to be safe because of the food being meant for Humans.

Dakota chewing at a cardboard tube, he is twisting upside down to get the best angle for chewing.

You may also want to be wary of keeping Gerbils in plastic cages or tanks, they will chew at any weak points. Now, I have never had any gerbils manage to chew their way out of the Duna style tanks yet, but in most tanks there are chew marks where they have attempted to chew out. I do know of people whos Gerbils have managed to chew their way out, and so they have had to reinforce it using wire mesh or something else.

 

As you can see, the plastic has been chewed - this particular tank has survived 3 1/2 years so far.

Tank Substrates

You may want to know what type of substrate to have in your Gerbil tank, well in truth it all depends on where you are and how healthy the Gerbils are that you have got.

A lot of people in the US have problems with softwoods, these woods often have high levels of phenols which in time are secreted and causes irritation to the gerbil, the signs are often a red sore nose and/or a respiratory infection. For these reasons a lot of US sites will advise against Pine or Cedar bedding, now this becomes a problem when applied to anyone from the UK, as the common woodshavings are often spruce and so contain lower levels of phenols, as well as being dust extracted and kiln dried - and so it is fairly unknown for people in the UK to have any kind of problems with pine shavings.

You also have to realise that your Gerbil having allergies to any kind of bedding that they are obviously the product of unhealthy breeding lines, just like in humans hayfever is genetical and often runs in families, well the same happens here and after all the whole point of breeding is to have healthy animals. So this is something to inquire about before getting your gerbil. If the breeder has had any problems, then either be prepared to pay for more expensive bedding such as carefresh, aspen, or megazorb, or go to a different breeder, to ensure a healthier pet.

In the UK, pine is pretty much safe and I am yet to know anyone who has a Gerbil allergic to the average common woodshavings. But if you personally do not like it, or want to try a different product then the best alternative around seems to be megazorb, this is a product meant for horses and so is difficult to find in the UK, only select places sell it and you have to be prepared to travel a fair distance to get it - unless you are lucky enough to have a seller nearby. Carefresh is available, but it is very expensive for a tiny bag and I personally find it horrible - it's way too dusty and doesn't smell too nice either. So I use a small ammount of it in the Hamster and Dipodil tanks.

Other alternatives are Corncob and Aspen, both of these are VERY difficult to get hold of and your best bet is to get it from an internet website. Aspen is often sold for reptiles, and so if you have a reptile shop then try to get some from there.
I have tried the corncob, and find it completely, totally and utterly unsuitible for gerbils. Not only is it extortionately priced, but it is also corse, sharp and unsuitible for digging in. I have given this to the Hamsters who do not dig much and the dipodils. I do not ever plan on buying any again.

Corncob mixed with woodshavings

I have also tried this beechwood reptile bedding, which was pretty good. I got the fine chopped type, I think this make comes in small, medium and large chips. I actually quite like this beechwood bedding, and again use it mainly for the dipodils, because I would need masses of it for Gerbils, and it doesn't really allow for any kind of tunnel digging. I would like to try the large chips and see how that works out... I just need to find it somewhere though, as the bag I got was a one off as our local petshop's retailers left a bag out of the blue which I snapped up.