Gerbils are intelligent creatures and love being active. Here are some simple suggestions to keep your Gerbils stimulated and happy. We are not affiliated to any suppliers, we don’t make money from this website and we only recommend products we use and love. These links are to make searching easier for you, but feel free to shop around.

Gerbils Exercise Wheels

The majority of Gerbils love an exercise wheel to run on, so it’s important to supply them with one as a source of exercise and enrichment. Rather than the assumption that Gerbils run on wheels because they are bored, a scientific study showed that wild creatures (including frogs and slugs!) will use a wheel if offered Wild Animals Enjoy Wheels Too . We LOVE this video from Rodipet – Wild Gerbils using a wheel. A wheel was set up in Mongolia and wild Gerbils came to investigate and use it! A minimum 28cm wheel will allow Gerbils backs to remain flat (not arched) while running, and gives plenty of space. Smaller wheels will cause back damage, and any wheel that causes your Gerbil to arch it’s back, is too small, which is painful for them to use. If you can’t fit a 28cm wheel in your tank, the tank is too small, see our Housing & Which Tank page for correct housing and ideas.

Wheels must be 28cm+, no plastic, no ridges, no mesh, no exposed rungs, only solid use wooden or metal wheels. Never use wheels with open rungs, as Gerbils can get their limbs caught resulting in dislocation, dismemberment of toes, and damage to their tails. Never use any form of plastic with Gerbils as they can ingest this, which can cause injury or worse. Tic Tac Wheels are excellent metal wheels (chew proof, easy to clean) which can also attach to bars – choose the 12 inch size but make sure it will fit in your tank first (roughly 30cm high). These are more expensive but metal wheels will last a lifetime. Wooden alternatives are Heureka-marathon-running-wheel-30-cm are wider than most wheels (note these get shipped from Germany and at time of writing Dec 2025 are out of stock) or RodentsHome 28cm Wooden Wheel or Hopes Gerbil Wheel 30cm or Trixie Wooden Wheel 28cm (untreated wood/cork) or Niteangel Wooden Wheel 11.6 inches (Beech, birch wood). If your Gerbils are chewing on the wood, it’s advisable to swop to a Metal Wheel like Tic Tac or Heureka.

Pedometer

Niteangel sell a Niteangel Pedometer, which is fun idea if you want to see how far your Gerbils have travelled and what their wheel use is like. This product is for use only Niteangel wheels.

Never use Flying Saucers or Exercise Balls Exercise Balls are dangerous, stressful and disorientating for any animal. Never use Flying Saucers for Gerbils or any rodents, they can fly off at high speed causing injury. See our section on Free Roaming & Exercise where we detail why and give you ideas on how to exercise your Gerbils.

Do Gerbils need a Sandbath?

This is a must for every tank. Gerbils LOVE sand, and need it to keep their coats clean – Msdvetmanual – Husbandry . You don’t need to buy anything expensive for your bath: an oval kitchen pyrex dish works well. I.e. a Pyrex Dish (25cm x 17cm), but the bigger the better. Make sure you place the sand bath away from the substrate (e.g. up on a level in a topper or a stand). You can also used a glass bowl/large sweet jar, if your Gerbils are prone to flicking sand everywhere. We prefer glass as it’s more hygienic and easier to clean. There are plenty of fancier designs for wooden sand baths like Sand Baths | Happy Henry’s Homes . We love Henry’s Happy Homes as all products are non toxic safe wood in slot together designs (no glue or nails).

Your Gerbils will use this bath for everything – they’ll relax in it, eat snacks in it, roll in the sand to clean oils off their coats, and will often use it as a litter tray (and this will need to be cleaned out at least daily using a sieve and fully changed a few times a week).

Unsafe Sands

Avoid any sand or particularly dust, specifically for chinchillas, it’s too fine for Gerbils and can cause respiratory issues, as can any sand made from sepiolite (clay). Here are examples of sands we do not recommend which are Tiny Friends Farm, Critters Choice Bathing Sand, Supreme Science Selective, Little One Bathing Sand for Small Animals, Vitakraft Sandy, Blue Beauty Dust, Chinchilla Dusting Powder, Beaphar Care. Please remove these from your Gerbils tank if you currently have it and replace with a Safe Sand below.

Safe Sands

These are some of the sands which are safe for your Gerbils and will not cause respiratory issues. When buying a Reptile Sand check it’s free of dye, chemicals, clay and calcium. Examples are Reptisand (all natural Terranium Sand), Unipac Retile Care, Pettex Reptile Sand, Pro Rep Desert Sand, Exo Terra Desert Sand, Pets at Home Reptile Substrate (we choose not to support Pets at Home, but have included it to prevent anyone purchasing Tiny Friends Farm or any other unsuitable sand from them).

Top Tip: Use a small kitchen sieve to sieve out any mess from the sand a few times a day to keep it clean. Fully change the sand once a week or as needed, as they will often use this area as a litter tray.

Scatter Feeding Gerbils

We never use food bowls, and scatter feed instead. This prevents Gerbils from becoming territorial over a bowl and encourages them to forage as they would in the wild. Scatter their usual food on their platforms or between layers of their substrate. We talk more about scatter feeding and food in our Diet, Feeding & Water Bottles page.

Forage Boxes, Cardboard & Wooden Toys

Gerbils love to nibble wooden, toilet/kitchen paper tubes, and egg boxes. Always use plain cardboard, no dyes or inks, remove any sticky labels, and no glossy cardboard. Their teeth constantly grow so it’s important they have access to solid wood to gnaw. Use items made from terracotta, grasses, wicker, solid wood or cork, in materials like Balsa, Spruce, Poplar, Birch, or Pear, Willow and Apple sticks. Only natural items and never coloured or dyed. Avoid gimmicks.

For DIY fun, try stuffing hay or unbleached, plastic free, unscented toilet paper inside a toilet roll tube to give them a bit more of a task to work on, and hide snacks inside to give them a surprise treat to find. We have created a forage box for when gerbils are out free roaming (picture above). This is a cardboard box with hay and scattered food inside. Gerbils enjoy foraging like this.

Safe Woods

Examples of Gerbil safe woods are Balsa, Spruce, Poplar, Birch, or Pear, Willow and Apple. Birch for example is a hardwood, and hardwoods do not give off volatile aromatic compounds to the levels softwoods do, which are an irritant. Look for wood which has been kiln-dried, as it is usually safer due to the drying process and removal of compounds. Niteangel Pet Products and Happy Henrys Homes both produce products in pet safe woods.

Terracotta Tubes & Dishes

Your Gerbils will need to keep their claws filed down and in good shape, and what really helps with this is the rough surface of terracotta. You could place a Terracotta Tube at the bottom of the tank for example, have a look online at general terracotta products, and make sure the opening is at least 7cm with a flat underside to prevent it rolling. A terracotta plant dish is a cheap alternative, as long as the surface is rough and not glazed, your Gerbils may use it as a litter tray (instead of their sand bath) which is a double win.

UNSAFE ITEMS

Never give Gerbils plastic toys or wheels. Like all rodents, Gerbils can’t resist nibbling and will chew right through plastic. This could create sharp edges they can hurt themselves on, or be accidentally ingested which can be fatal. You will see a lot of items sold that are made from compressed sawdust, these are dangerous if ingested and can cause stomach blockages. These are often labelled as “edible”. If you’re not sure, and to be on the safe side, stick only to chew items and toys which are made from terracotta, solid wood or cork, in materials like Aspen, Balsa, Spruce, Poplar, Birch, or Pear, Willow and Apple sticks. Only natural items and never coloured or dyed. If it looks like a gimmick – avoid.

With the emphasis on recycling, a lot of companies send their products in recyclable packing. This is great for Gerbils, so save that brown packaging paper and boxes (no coloured cardboard and remove plastic tape) for playtime or to use in their tanks. Have a look at our Cleaning and Tank Set-up page to see how we use these items when building up a tank after a clean.

Cardboard Postal Tubes

Cardboard Postal Tubes are a great addition to your Gerbils tank or playtime. Make sure they are at least 7cm/70mm wide, so Gerbils do not get stuck, especially when there’s bedding in there. We use Brown Postal Tubes 460mm x 76mm but check the length against your tank size.