The species Meriones unguiculatus came originally from Mongolia. Its habitat in Mongolia is mainly semi-deserts and steppes. Soil on the steppes is sandy and is covered with grasses, herbs, and shrubs. The steppes have cool, dry winters and hot summers. The temperature can get up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), but the average temperature for most of the year is around 20 °C (68 °F).
In the wild these gerbils live in groups generally consisting of one parental pair and the last few litters. Only the dominant female and male produce pups. One group of gerbils generally ranges over 325 to 1550 square meters (0.08 to 0.38 acre).
A group lives in a central burrow with 10-20 exits. Some deeper burrows with only 1-3 exits in their territory may exist. These deeper burrows are used to escape from predators when they are too far from the central burrow.
History
The first known mention of gerbils came in 1866, by Father Armand David, who sent "yellow rats" to the Museum of Natural History (Musée d'Histoire Naturelle) in Paris, from northern China. They were named Meriones unguiculatus by the scientist Milne-Edwards in 1867. This Latin name means "clawed warrior" in English, partly from the Greek warrior Meriones in Homer's Iliad.
Gerbils only became popular pets after 1954, when twenty breeding pairs of gerbils were brought to the United States from eastern Mongolia for scientific testing. Almost all pet gerbils today are descended from these forty. Gerbils were brought to the United Kingdom in 1964 from the United States.
Gerbils as Pets
Gerbils are rather popular pets, due to their gentle-towards-humans temperament and hardy nature.
Because the Mongolian Gerbil is a very social creature, it is recommended that they be kept in pairs in captivity; one reason being that multiple gerbils tend to groom each other, or engage in other social activities. Therefore, gerbils generally lead poorer lives without a companion.
When selecting a gerbil as a pet, it is important to select a young and healthy-looking animal. Important criteria include having clear eyes, ears and nostrils, a shiny coat, and a robust body shape. Gerbils that display their inquisitive nature are a better choice than ones that prefer hanging back in a corner.
When choosing your pets, it is obviously important to know their genders. This can be difficult, because it's often quite tricky trying to determine a gerbil's sex.
Typically, a male-male or female-female pairing of gerbils from the same litter is the best choice. Placing a male and a female in an enclosure will lead to an inevitable population boom, one that may tax the abilities of even experienced owners.
Also, females are somewhat more competitive with each other than males, and skirmishes may occur from time to time if two females are placed together. Usually however, the two will live together contentedly, and rarely are disputes serious enough to warrant separation of the pair.
Males placed together tend to get along quite well, and the aforementioned skirmishes are rarer between them.
Please remember that gerbils born into the same litter are your best bet when selecting a pair. Attempting to introduce gerbils from different litters may be successful when done at a very early age. After reaching maturity however, it can be extremely difficult to get a gerbil to accept a new companion, even if they are siblings.
Lastly, while a pair of gerbils is recommended, larger numbers can be housed together. However, enclosure size is a big factor, and trying to place three females, regardless of whether they are littermates, can be dangerous, as disputes often break out over which of the three is the dominant female.
When housing all males, three will usually live together without much or any hostility between them.
There are a number of options available when selecting an enclosure for gerbils. The most commonly seen are wire cages, vivariums, or tube-based habitats such as Habitrail. The best choice is usually a glass or acrylic aquarium tank, which allows a thick layer of substrate to be placed. This allows gerbils to burrow as they would naturally. An aquarium tank is also sturdy and safe, and helps alleviate problems such as drafts. A plastic enclosure will be easily chewed out of, and provides little ventilation.
A 10 gallon aquarium tank is the minimum suitable size tank for a pair of gerbils to live in throughout their lives, although 15 gallons and up sizes are preferable.
Once an enclosure has been selected, the next step is to choose a substrate, or “bedding”. Choices include commercially available small animal substrate, peat, kiln dried pine or Aspen wood shavings. Pine that is not kiln dried and cedar shavings must be avoided in the USA, since pine and cedar wood contain phenols that can cause respiratory problems in small animals. Gerbils will also appreciate a sand bath from time to time to keep their coats clean. Chinchilla sand is an option although aragonite sand is the best. Chinchilla dust is made for penetrating the chinchilla's thick fur and will just clog the lungs of gerbils and their owners from excessive inhalation! Sand bathing is very enjoyable for gerbils and it absorbs the greases and oils in the coats, keeping their fur clean.
Although the Mongolian Gerbil is a desert animal, they require fresh water at all times. Because of the gerbil’s active nature, it would be risky to place a dish or bowl of water in an enclosure, because it would likely be knocked over or filled with bedding very quickly. Instead, use an easily accessible water bottle. Bottles are custom made fit into many types of habitats.
Food can be given through a relatively inexpensive dry food mix, many of which are easily found at grocery and pet stores, often labeled as “Hamster and Gerbil” food. Occasionally supplementing the dry food with a select few types of fresh vegetables, like carrots, is a good idea. However, some gerbils are finicky, and will simply ignore the offerings. When fresh vegetables or fruits are provided, be sure to clean out any uneaten portions after an hour or two. Also, some fresh produce such as cucumber should never be offered because of the risk of providing too much water for a gerbil's system to handle, resulting in diarrhea-like droppings.
Gerbil teeth, like the teeth of any rodent, grow constantly, so it is highly important to provide things for them to gnaw on. This wears the teeth down, keeping their growth in check. Wooden “toys” are offered at many pet stores for this purpose. There are many other house-hold things to offer gerbils too, such as the tube from a roll of paper towels, tissue boxes, etc. Please make sure that the tubes do not have an excessive amount of glue, because this may potentially harm a gerbil's digestive tract. Do not feel tempted to offer plastic toys in their tank as ingestion can and will kill the rodent slowly and painfully, however supervised playtimes with these objects should be safe.
