Ask The Gerbils

Hallie and Smurf are happy to answer your questions about taking care of, playing with, taming, or getting to know your gerbils. However, if you have questions about breeding or gerbil babies, you should ask an experienced breeder, not Hallie and Smurf. For breeding questions, please see the American Gerbil Society or a site such as the Gerbil Breeding & Development page.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Dear Hallie,

My gerbil buster wont take a sand bath. He just digs it all out.

From,
Archie





Dear Archie,

Hallie the gerbilIt usually takes a gerbil a while to figure out how to take a sandbath.

Don’t be surprised if Buster wants to dig in the sand and even nibble on the sand (it won’t hurt him) instead of roll in it.

You might be able to help Buster figure it out by sprinkling a little bit of sand on his back while he&@8217;s standing in his sand bowl. When he shakes the sand out of the fur on his back, he might start rolling in the sand bath.

A few gerbils never will take sand baths. We have had lots of gerbils here at Twin Squeaks but only one who didn't learn to take sand baths. (His name was Buster, too!)

Most gerbils do like to roll in the sand, though. It just takes them a while to figure it out. Give Buster some time, and he’ll probably figure out what to do. :)

Your friend,
Hallie