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In this section you'll learn about how to care for a pet gerbil. I would suggest keeping your gerbil in a 10 gallon glass aquarium. Make sure that you have a sucure wire mesh lid. Gerbils need bedding like wood shavings. DO NOT USE CEDAR OR PINE SHAVINGS!!! There should be enough for them to burrow in. They need a place to hide and build a nest. Change the shavings about once a week. Gerbils are active and need toys like tubes or a wheel. Thay need something to chew on like wood or toilet paper tubes to wear down their teeth that are always growing. Gerbils like to live together. You can keep to females together but males may fight. A male and a couple of females can live together. Beware if you keep females and males together, they will have babies. A 10-gallon tank can hold up to 3 gerbils. Gerbils should be introduced when they are young or they may not get along. Male  Female 
Gerbils do not need much water, but they will have to have a glass or plastic water bottle to drink from. They need a ceramic or heavy food dish that they cannot chew up. They will eat a mixture of corn, pellets and other things that you can get at a pet store. Sunflower seeds of peanuts are a special treat that most gerbils love. Once in awhile they enjoy chicory, cauliflower, paprika, carrots, endive, cucumbers, raw or cooked potato, apple, pear, banana, mandarin, grapes, etc. 
If you handle your gerbil daily it will become quite friendly. Always be gentle, they are delicate. You can scoop them up in your hand or pick them up by the base of the tail if necesary, but never further down because their tails can be injured easily. |
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