Gerbils are rodents (rodentia), they need to chew on things to keep their ever-growing teeth worn down. They look much like a fat, curious mouse. One obvious difference is the tail. Gerbils have furry, long, and stif tails. Gerbils are friendly and rarly bite. You can even tame gerbils! But don't get too excited, gerbils may have many good qualities, but are not very intelligent animals.
Mongolian gerbils live on the Mongolian Steppe, a high, flat grassland with harsh weather. Mongolia is between China and Russia.
Adult Mongolian gerbils are approximately 8 inches long including the tail, and at most weigh 4 oz. However, most gerbils will weigh about 3-1/2 oz. Gerbils tend to weigh more if they are pregnant. While you can buy gerbils that are black, brown, and white, a Mongolian gerbil's natural color is agouti, a mixture of light and dark colors in fur.
Young gerbils, or pups, are born from their mother. At birth, they are hairless, bright pink, blind, and deaf. They must drink milk from their mother for several weeks. After only a few days the pups start to grow fur which grows fast and is soon easily visible. In a week or two they have a full coat of fur (which will be their fur color for life).
Because of a gerbil's harsh environment, they do not have many wild enemies. Their only threats are foxes, snakes, and birds of prey. For protection, gerbils live in burrows. They are also mostly nocturnal.
Gerbils eat a variety of foods including seeds, stalks of plants, tubers, roots, and flowers.
Mongolian gerbils make excellent pets. They are easy to take care of, easy maintenance, and will provide their owners with hours of satisfaction. I have two gerbils and they are both very friendly. Gerbil food is not hard to find, and they all seem to be of good quality. None of them have ever made my gerbils sick. You should try to avoid mixes with excessive amounts of sunflower seeds, or your gerbils will get fat eating the high calorie seeds (NOTE: You can of course pick out most of the sunflower seeds, but this is very time consuming and boring). You should also feed your gerbils fresh foods. All fresh foods not eaten in an hour should be removed.
Gerbils are desert creatures and do not need much water. Nontheless, you should provide them with fresh water at all times. The water should be in a water bottle for gerbils, such as a bunny water despenser, only smaller. You should change the water weekly or when it runs low or out. If the water despenser starts to leak, get rid of it immediately! Gerbils can get serious illnesses from wetness. After the water bottle is removed, immediately go to a local pet store and buy a replacement.
Many books say you can't teach gerbils verbal commands, such as "come" or "go". My experience is that it depends on the gerbil. My girl gerbil has never learned anything except my scent, but my boy gerbil knows some verbal commands. If you want to try to tame your gerbil, my advice is:
1.Get your gerbil(s) to know you
2.Get a rolling ball with air holes and put your gerbil(s) one at a time into it.
3.Say the command and do what you want you gerbil to do to the ball E.X. Say "COME BACK!" and pull the gerbil in the ball towards you. Then repeat this when you are in different locations. After several times, say "COME BACK!" at your gerbil and see if it comes to you. I have successfully taught my boy gerbil "COME BACK!" and he has never forgotten it.
4.Be patient! Gerbil traning takes a long time. I find it convenient to do when I am cleaning the gerbil's cage.
Other interesting facts about gerbils
There are lots of interesting facts about gerbils. One is their late discovery. Gerbils were not even discovered until the mid 1950's! Another very interesting fact is that almost all Mongolian gerbils in the US are related to the same breeding pair! If you have a pet gerbil, it is most likely related to every other gerbil in the US.
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