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Mongolian Gerbil

Graph dracula · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

Small Pets

Mongolian Gerbil

Meriones unguiculatus

A desert rodent driven to dig and burrowBeginner

Lifespan
3-4 years
Size
4-6 in body, plus tail
Social needs
Social; keep same-sex pairs or small groups
Time
Daily feeding and checks; spot-clean every few days
Cost
Low
Diet
Quality gerbil seed/grain mix plus occasional protein

Overview

What is this animal?

  • The Mongolian gerbil is a small desert rodent that is active in short bursts through the day and night.
  • Hardy, clean and fairly low-odour, it is a good beginner pet for those who enjoy watching natural behaviour.
  • Gerbils are strongly driven to dig and tunnel, so their care centres on deep substrate for burrowing.
  • They are social and should not be kept entirely alone.

Temperament

  • Gerbils are curious and busy and rarely aggressive toward people.
  • They tame readily, often coming to the hand to investigate, and are engaging to watch as they dig, store food and groom each other.
Show 2 more
  • They are social and should live in compatible same-sex pairs or small groups, ideally littermates introduced young.
  • Falling out (declanning) can occur, so monitor group harmony and do not house unfamiliar adults together carelessly.

A good fit for

  • Beginners wanting an active rodent
  • Keepers interested in digging behaviour
  • Those wanting a low-odour pet
  • Owners able to house a pair

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Shallow substrate preventing natural burrowing
  • Plastic cages they chew through
  • Handling by the tail, causing injury
  • Keeping a single, lonely gerbil

Enclosure

Minimum 5.5 sq ft of floor, for the pair · 39 x 20 x 31 in

Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 2, and the space above is for that group.

  • A gnaw-proof tank of at least 39 x 20 in of floor with solid sides about 20 in high (around 66 gallons; Wood Green's minimum for two) suits a pair.
  • Top it with a mesh topper at least 12 in high, as TVT, the German veterinary association for animal welfare, advises: the tank holds 16 in or more of substrate for real burrow systems, the depth TVT, Swiss Animal Protection and the Swiss veterinary office ask for, and the topper leaves room above it for the gerbils to stand, run and use a wheel.
  • Avoid plastic-only cages, which they quickly chew through.
Show 2 more
  • Mix paper-based bedding with hay for stable tunnels, and add a sand bath, wooden chews and a solid-surface wheel of 8 in or more in diameter.
  • Keep them at room temperature, out of direct sun and away from damp.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

  • Enclosure of an adequate size
  • Water bottles, bowls, hides and enrichment
  • Carrier and travel box
  • Digital kitchen scale

Ongoing

  • Quality gerbil seed-and-grain mix
  • Dried or live mealworms and small roaches
  • Loose meadow hay for burrowing and fibre
  • Water bottle with a bottle brush
  • Small ceramic dish for fresh food
Show 2 more
  • Untreated wooden chews
  • Kitchen scale for weekly weigh-ins

Safe substrate: Deep paper and aspen mix, 16 in or more · Plain chinchilla bathing sand · Hay woven through the substrate

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

  • Company and time out
  • Feed and clear yesterday's leftovers
  • Fresh water
  • Watch them while they are awake

Every few days

  • Spot-clean the enclosureevery 3 days
Show 9 more

Weekly

  • Change the sand bath
  • Fresh cardboard and wood
  • Hands-on health check
  • Rotate enrichment
  • Weigh-in

Every few weeks

  • Top up deep substrateevery 2 weeks
  • Full cleanevery 3 weeks

Monthly

  • Check nails and teeth
  • Check supplies and dates

Vet: Annual exam, every 12 months (every 6 months from 2 years old)

Tools

Is your enclosure big enough?Check your measurements against the recommended sizeWhat will it cost?Setup, monthly and over its whole life, itemisedCan it eat that?Search 24 foods, from everyday to never

Care in depth

Diet

Quality gerbil seed/grain mix plus occasional protein
  • Feed a quality gerbil mix of seeds and grains, scattered to encourage natural foraging.
  • Supplement occasionally with a little fresh vegetable, a mealworm or other small protein source, and offer hay for fibre and enrichment.
  • Fresh water must always be available from a bottle.
  • Limit fatty sunflower seeds, avoid sugary foods and citrus, and keep fruit to a rare, seedless sliver.
  • As desert animals gerbils drink little, but they still need constant access to clean water.

Health

Signs of good health, and the common problems
  • Gerbils are generally robust but can suffer tail-skin injuries if handled by the tail tip, so always scoop them from the body.
  • Overgrown teeth, scent-gland tumours and stress-related seizures can occur.
  • Watch for a sore nose: redness around the nostrils that can progress to hair loss and weeping, crusted skin.
  • It is driven mainly by porphyrin-rich secretions from the Harderian gland, which rise with stress such as overcrowding and with humidity above about 50 percent; a sand bath helps clear them from the fur, and rubbing, bar-chewing and dirty bedding make it worse.
  • Staphylococcal infection often follows, so it needs a vet, not just a bedding change.
  • Monitor weight and activity, and seek an exotics vet promptly for lethargy, lumps or breathing changes.

Is this urgent?

11 warning signs and how fast to act, 7 of them right away

Small mammals are prey animals. They mask pain and illness by instinct, so by the time something is obvious it is usually already advanced.

Go now

Not eating, or eating far less than normalCall an exotics vet. Bring a recent weight if you have one. Loss of appetite is serious in every small mammal. In hindgut fermenters such as chinchillas and degus the gut slows and then stops when food stops moving through it, which makes this one of the most common emergencies in those species. In a hedgehog, appetite loss is often the first visible sign of illness, and a hedgehog that stops eating can quickly develop fatty liver.
8 hours
No droppings, or droppings suddenly tiny, misshapen or scarceCall an exotics vet now. Take a photo of the litter tray. Output is the most reliable read on gut movement there is, and it fails before the animal looks unwell.
8-12 hours
Sitting hunched, pressed to the floor, unwilling to moveGo now. A hunched, still posture in a prey animal is a pain posture.
Now
Audible teeth grinding or crunchingGo now. Loud, slow grinding is a pain signal.
Now
Hard, bloated or drum-tight abdomenGo now. Do not offer food or attempt to massage the abdomen. Gas or an obstruction can become fatal within hours and needs imaging, not home care.
Now
Laboured breathing, open-mouth breathing, or clickingGo now. Keep the animal quiet and undisturbed in transit, at its usual temperature: never chilled, never overheated. Most small mammals are obligate nose breathers; open-mouth breathing means they are already struggling.
Now
Maggots or fly eggs anywhere on the animal, especially the rearGo now. Do not attempt to wash them off first. Flystrike can kill within a day. Risk rises sharply in warm weather and in any animal with a dirty or damp rear.
Now

Today

Head tilted persistently to one side, or circlingBook today. Several causes, most of which respond far better to early treatment.
Today
Weight down 5 percent or more since the last weighingCall today, and bring the weight history. Weight falls before appetite visibly changes. This is why weekly weighing is worth the two minutes.
Today
Drooling, wet chin, or dropping food while trying to eatBook a dental check today. Dropping food means eating less. In rodents, continuously growing teeth can overgrow into the tongue or cheek long before the animal stops trying to eat; chinchillas and degus have this in every tooth, mice and gerbils in the incisors. In hedgehogs, whose teeth do not keep growing, the usual cause is gum disease, tartar, an abscess or a growth in the mouth.
Today

Soon

Scratching hard enough to break skin, or bald patches spreadingBook an appointment. Mites and fungal infections spread, and some transfer to other animals in the household.
A few days

Have the number of an exotics-competent practice saved before you need it. Most general small-animal clinics do not treat rabbits or rodents out of hours, and finding one at 11pm is not realistic.

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it, and the time to find one is before you need one.

Bedding and substrate

3 safe, 1 with a caveat, 3 to avoid

Gerbils tunnel. Substrate depth is not enrichment for them, it is the enclosure.

Safe

Deep paper and aspen mix, 16 in or moreA gerbil needs a tunnel that holds its shape: TVT, Swiss Animal Protection and the Swiss veterinary office give 16 in. Mixing paper with aspen and a little hay gives it structure.
safe
Plain chinchilla bathing sandEssential for coat condition.
safe
Hay woven through the substrateBinds the burrow walls.
safe

With a caveat

Coco fibreHolds a burrow well, but keep it dry: gerbils are desert animals.
with a caveat

Never

Pine and cedarAromatic oils that irritate the airway.
never
Shallow bedding in a tall cageA gerbil that cannot dig will bar-chew instead, and that is the standard sign of an inadequate setup.
never
Cotton-wool nesting materialEntanglement and ingestion risk.
never

Top resources for more info

Independent creators and organisations we would send a friend to. We have no affiliation with any of them, and nothing here is sponsored. Links checked 2026-10-22.

Sites

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Is your enclosure big enough?

These are the smallest sizes that give good conditions, not legal minimums. More room is always better.

Minimum 5.5 sq ft of floor, for the pair · 39 x 20 x 31 in

Every figure, and where it comes from

The floor is for a pair. The tank's solid sides, about 20 in high, hold 16 in or more of bedding, and a mesh topper at least 12 in high above them gives the headroom, so the enclosure stands about 31 in tall in all. Height is shown, not checked.

Minimum floor area5.5 sq ft of continuous, unbroken floor
As dimensions39 x 20 x 31 in
CompanyCannot be kept alone. The minimum is 2, and the space above is for that group.
The recognised standards do not agree on this one
Wood Green, The Animals Charity (UK): 39 x 20 x 20 in for two; 47 x 20 x 20 in for three. The floor area this site uses. Checked 2026-10-23.
TVT, the German veterinary association for animal welfare: A tank of at least 39 x 20 x 20 in with a mesh topper at least 12 in high, for two gerbils, plus 25 percent more floor for each extra gerbil, and at least 16 in of bedding. The same floor. Its topper and bedding depth are the height and depth this site uses. Checked 2026-10-23.
Swiss Animal Protection STS: At least 55 x 24 x 24 in for two to four gerbils, with at least 16 in of bedding, better 28-31 in; larger is always better. A larger standard, which it calls the minimum on welfare grounds. Checked 2026-10-23.
Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (BLV): At least 10 in of bedding, ideally 16 in. The same bedding depth. Checked 2026-10-23.
RSPCA (UK): About 20 in high, with 8-12 in of bedding. Gives height and bedding depth, not a floor figure; both are below the figures used here. Checked 2026-10-23.
Switzerland, Tierschutzverordnung (legal minimum): 5.5 sq ft for two to five gerbils, plus 78 sq in for each extra gerbil, with at least 10 in of diggable bedding. A legal minimum, recorded for context. The floor used here is the same, but for two gerbils rather than up to five, and the bedding is deeper. Checked 2026-10-23.
Austria, 2. Tierhaltungsverordnung (legal minimum): Terrarium at least 31 x 20 x 20 in, plus 20 percent more floor for each extra adult, with at least 4 in of diggable substrate. A legal minimum, recorded for context. Checked 2026-10-23.

What it really costs

Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.

Can a Mongolian Gerbil eat that?

Gerbils are seed-eating desert rodents with an omnivorous streak: a measured, scattered mix or pellet, hay to dig into, fatty seeds rationed, and a little animal protein.

The full list: 24 foods

Never (15)

AlcoholNo safe amount at any body weight on this site.
never
AvocadoPersin, concentrated in the leaves, skin and stone. It damages the heart in birds and in many mammals, rabbits and rodents among them; it has not been studied in reptiles, so treat it as unsafe for them too.
never
CaffeineCoffee, tea and energy drinks. Cardiac and neurological toxicity at tiny doses for an animal this size.
never
ChocolateTheobromine and caffeine. Small mammals and reptiles cannot clear either.
never
CitrusAcidic and sugary, and nothing a gerbil needs. The RSPCA lists orange as an acceptable fruit, but this guide leaves citrus out.
never
DairyRich and fatty, and nothing in it a gerbil needs.
never
GarlicSame allium toxicity as onion, and more concentrated by weight.
never
Grapes and raisinsThe RSPCA lists grapes as poisonous to gerbils and other rodents, and raisins are dried grapes.
never
LeekAllium family. Same mechanism as onion and garlic.
never
OnionOrganosulphur compounds damage red blood cells. The whole allium family is out.
never
Raw or dried beansLectins, which are toxic raw.
never
Raw or green potatoSolanine in the raw skin and any green part.
never
RhubarbVery high in soluble oxalate, high enough to cause acute kidney injury. The leaves are worse than the stalks.
never
Salty or seasoned human foodSalt, oil and seasoning. Crisps, chips, seasoned leftovers and processed meat are all out.
never
Sugary treatsYoghurt drops, honey-coated seed sticks and sweets add nothing a gerbil needs and make obesity more likely.
never

Rare treats (4)

Bread and baked goodsA crumb of plain wholemeal bread, plain cooked pasta or a low-sugar cereal is harmless. Sweetened or seasoned baked goods are out. A crumb, rarely.
rare treat
FruitSugary and nothing a gerbil needs. The RSPCA lists apple, pear and melon as acceptable in small amounts, so a seedless sliver now and then does no harm. A thin sliver, rarely.
rare treat
NutsVery fatty; plain, unsalted slivers only. A sliver, rarely.
rare treat
Sunflower and pumpkin seedsFatty, and the RSPCA warns that too many cause obesity. A sedentary gerbil turns them into body fat with impressive efficiency, so use them for taming. One or two seeds, a few times a week.
rare treat

Occasional (3)

Fresh vegetablesA little at a time, taken out of the day's ration rather than added to it; the RSPCA names cucumber, carrot, pumpkin and fennel. Remove anything uneaten before it spoils. A thumbnail-sized piece, a few times a week.
occasional
Mealworms, egg and cooked chickenGerbils are omnivores that need some animal protein: a mealworm, a crumb of plain cooked egg, or a pea-sized piece of plain cooked chicken. Never raw, cured, salted or seasoned meat. One small piece, two or three times a week.
occasional
SweetcornFlaked maize is a normal part of rodent mixes, and a kernel of fresh corn is fine. A kernel or two, occasionally.
occasional

Everyday foods (2)

Gerbil mix or pelletsA complete gerbil food, either a seed-and-grain mix or compound pellets, scattered into the substrate so the gerbil forages for it. Follow the pack's guidance on how much. A measured daily ration, scattered.
everyday food
Grass hayAlways in the enclosure for fibre, gnawing and tunnel-building. Gerbils nibble it rather than living on it; the staple food is the measured mix. A handful worked into the substrate, always available.
everyday food

That food is not on our list. Leave it out and check with an exotics vet. A gerbil is small enough that a wrong food is a large dose.

Gerbils drink little, but the water bottle must never run dry; check the spout every day.