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

Hi Hallie!

I’m Karmin. I am about to adopt a pair of gerbils, and I’m wondering:


  1. How do you know how old your gerbils are?

  2. Can we visit any vet? How often should our gerbils visit the vet?

  3. How can you tell if a gerbil is allergic to it’s bedding or any other object?

  4. What do I do if a gerbil gets pests?



Please help me! The people at the pet shop can’t answer any of my questions!

From,
Karmin






Hi Karmin!

Thank you for your letter!

I’ll try to answer some of your questions.



  1. If the place you get your gerbils from can’t tell you how old your gerbils are, it can be very hard to know exactly how old they are. Young gerbils are smaller than adult gerbils, but some adult gerbils get very big, and others stay pretty small, so it’s hard to know age based only on size.

    Older gerbils have lighter fur, as their coat fades with age. But this, too, is hard to use to tell exactly how old your gerbils are.

    Most gerbils are adopted pretty young, so they are probably less than a year old. In fact, most gerbils are about 2-4 months old when they are adopted from pet stores.

    If the people you get your gerbils from can’t tell you how old they are, they also probably can’t tell the difference between boy and girl gerbils. You want to be careful to get either two males or two females.

    Look here for help telling which gerbils are boys and girls.


  2. You should look for a vet who has treated small animals like gerbils, hamsters, or rats.

    You shouldn’t need to take your gerbils to the vet very often. Gerbils don’t need any special shots or anything like that, so you only need to take them to the vet if they are sick or need help.


  3. If a gerbil is allergic to something, you’ll probably see signs. The most common sign is a red, runny, sore nose. If it looks like a gerbil’s nose is bloody, it may be allergic to the bedding.


  4. If you keep your gerbils inside and are careful with any toys, food, and bedding that you give them, they probably won’t get any pests. If they do, you’ll want to call your vet for help treating your gerbils and getting rid of the pests.



You might also want to read some of the pages in the Gerbil Care Guide. It has some tips for choosing the right gerbils, setting up your gerbils’ new home, and more.

Good luck finding and adopting your first gerbils!

Your good friend,
Hallie