Unlike us humans, our gerbils are unable to venture out and purchase that blissful bedding that makes us feel all warm and snuggly. Ultimately, it’s up to us to ensure that their new homes come stocked with the best bedding for gerbils.
Searching for beds and beddings for our larger pets, like our cats and dogs, seems a much easier task than when it comes to our smaller, four-legged friends. With so many different types of small animals, we struggle to decide which bedding is best for our pet.
In particular, selecting bedding for gerbils is often the case of clicking the cheapest and most popular brands, but are they really the best choice for our little friends? From sumptuous and soft to natural and nourishing, here’s everything you need to know about the importance of gerbil bedding and what bedding best suits your gerbil.
Contents
- Top 9 Best Bedding For Gerbils
- CareFresh Custom Hamster & Gerbil Bedding
- Small Pet Select Natural Paper Bedding
- Kaytee Kay-Kob Litter and Bedding
- CareFresh Complete Pet Bedding
- Eaton Pet and Pasture Naturally Grown Hemp Bedding
- Kaytee Aspen Bedding Bag
- Healthy Pet Critter Care Natural Bedding
- Kaytee Extreme Odor Control Bedding
- Living World Wood Aspen Shavings
- Why is Bedding Important?
- Choosing the Right Bedding
Top 9 Best Bedding For Gerbils
CareFresh Custom Hamster & Gerbil Bedding
CareFresh created custom bedding made specifically for hamsters and gerbils. This bedding helps your furry friend maintain a burrow so that they feel secure, safe, and warm. With 10-day odor control, this bedding is longer lasting and keeps odor at bay so you don’t have to clean as often.
Three times more absorbent than shavings, this bedding ensures that your pet’s environment is dry and mold-free. This natural paper bedding comes in 25% smaller pieces so it is 99% dust-free for easy clean-up, as well as ideal for pets that have respiratory or skin issues.
Small Pet Select Natural Paper Bedding
Small Pet Select’s Natural Soft Paper Bedding is extra soft, absorbent and gently unbleached, ensuring a substrate that is both natural and comfortable for your little furry friend.
This natural paper bedding is suitable for gerbils, chinchillas, hamsters, rabbits and guinea pigs, and each bag expands up to 3 times in volume from its packaged size providing you great value for your money.
Understanding how sensitive our gerbil’s eyes and noses can be, this bedding is completely dust-free and contains no additives, dyes, or irritants keeping your gerbil safe and snuggly each and every day. Created from recycled food grade material, no trees are used to create the bedding, just natural sources to help your furry friend and Mother Nature too.
Kaytee Kay-Kob Litter and Bedding
The Kaytee Kay-Bob Bedding and Litter is a natural corn cob product that is specially processed to eliminate wood and dust debris that are found in other bedding materials.
This bedding is guaranteed not to cling or stick for a cleaner environment and is all-natural without any toxic chemicals that can harm your adorable gerbils.
It is available in various sizes: 40, 25, 8, and 5-pound packages so you can choose one that is suitable for your gerbil’s cage. Furthermore, it can be mixed with other bedding choices and absorbs odor really well so that your cage smells cleaner for much longer.
CareFresh Complete Pet Bedding
Made from natural fiber, the CareFresh Complete Bedding provides your furry friends a cozy, comfortable, and natural home which is far better for your furry buddies, your home, and the environment.
This CareFresh pet bedding offers superior absorbency and odor control for a healthier and cleaner cage. Made from scratch, it contains raw, natural fiber that is obtained directly from its source. Your gerbil will surely love its ultra-absorbent and pillowy soft “Comfyfluff” texture. Also, it’s very easy to clean since it is low dust and offers you up to 10-day odor control.
Eaton Pet and Pasture Naturally Grown Hemp Bedding
Often when we hear the word “hemp” thrown around we associate it with the brain-altering substance of Cannabis. However, although derived from the same species of plant, this ingredient contains zero of the effects of the drug we are so familiar with.
After its benefits have been researched and emphasized across the pet world, more and more businesses are using hemp in food, treats, grooming and even bedding products due to its natural form and benefits for our furry friends.
Used with reptiles most commonly, this type of bedding is actually highly suitable for our smaller mammals too. Highly absorbent, dust-free and odor-controlling, this material makes a pawfect substitute for traditional materials used in gerbil bedding.
Its biodegradable and natural form also means that if your gerbil munches on a little of their bedding, their bellies won’t be harmed as it is 100% safe. Available in 8 lbs bags for optimum gerbilarium care, Eaton Pet and Pasture’s hemp bedding is definitely a choice for those wanting a more natural, plant-based alternative for your pet.
Kaytee Aspen Bedding Bag
The Kaytee Aspen Bedding contains 100% natural wood shavings created to eliminate dust and debris that are usually a side effect of other manufactured wood-based beddings. Ultra-absorbent and suited for gerbils that love to tunnel and bury, this bedding is a pawfect alternative to other leading brands of wood-based substrates.
It contains no inks or aromatic oils that may harm your little buddies and can be used in all habitat. It greatly reduces odor and is highly absorbent in order to maintain a clean habitat that will prevent your pet from developing respiratory problem due to the build-up of ammonia caused by their urine. Being disposable, this bedding is environmentally-friendly.
Healthy Pet Critter Care Natural Bedding
The Critter Care Natural Bedding from Healthy Pet is made from reclaimed wood pulp, which is compostable and biodegradable after use.
It helps reduce ammonia odor that is caused by your pet’s urine, and is made up of soft pieces that are designed to absorb 3 times its weight from leaky water bottles and urine, keeping your furry friends dry, cozy and warm.
Since it’s virtually dust-free, you and your pet will experience less allergy and respiratory issues as well as an easy-to-clean habitat. Furthermore, this bedding helps promote the natural burrowing and nesting behavior of gerbils to keep them active and happy.
Kaytee Extreme Odor Control Bedding
If you have gerbils that pee frequently, then the Kaytee Extreme Odor Control Litter and Bedding is a great buy. It’s designed to reduce ammonia odors caused by pet urine for up to 14 days and is still 99% dust-free to prevent any allergic or respiratory issues.
This is super-soft and colorfast bedding that’s safe for gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, and is up to 2 times more absorbant than wood shavings.
Living World Wood Aspen Shavings
These aspen shavings from Living World are made from 100% natural aspen wood. The woods are kiln dried and virtually scent and dust-free making them hypoallergenic and free-from any harmful aromatic oils.
This bedding is ideal to use if you have gerbils that have skin and respiratory sensitivities and is also highly-absorbent. It holds up to 4 times its weight in moisture and prevents the growth of bacteria keeping your gerbil’s environment dry, clean, and safe to live – and easier to maintain.
Aspen shavings are ideal bedding material for other pets such as chinchillas, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters, and doubles as nesting and burrowing material to keep your furry buddy happy.
Why is Bedding Important?
In addition to providing a safe space for your gerbil in its gerbilarium (try and say that three times), bedding helps soak up odors from feces, urine and any other spillages from your furry friend.
As they love to dig and burrow, bedding is also an interactive source of play for your gerbil helping to bust boredom and encourage mental stimulation. Using the bedding to create tunnels and holes to play and sleep in, your gerbil’s bedding is a significant source of both comfort and stability in your pet’s life so it’s paramount to find the best type of bedding for your gerbil.
What Types of Bedding Can I Use?
Adapted to live in dry and arid conditions, materials such as wood chippings and hay are commonly used to support your gerbils’ comfort and interaction in their home.
However, with increased awareness of what really is the most comforting and cozy for our small mammals, businesses are using a plethora of materials to make your gerbils bedding as soft, snuggly and suitable as ever before.
When it comes to selecting the best bedding for your gerbil, the choice is really yours. Whether you want to focus on comfort, odor-reduction, or eco-friendliness, there are multitudes of materials that you can use to create the best and most brilliant bedding for your pet.
Pros and Cons of Bedding Types:
- Paper – Cheap and easily acquired but absorbency is poor
- Cardboard Shavings – Highly Absorbent but can be expensive
- Aspen Wood Shavings – Natural and Absorbent but dust can cause irritation.
- Natural Wool – creates cozy environment but can be expensive and may cause irritations
What Bedding Should I Look For?
Like all our pets, there is no one size fits all approach to selecting bedding for your gerbil. Choosing the right bedding is dependent on your gerbil’s size, age, how many gerbils you have and even the sex of your gerbil.
Understanding your gerbil’s needs and habits is the most important step in selecting bedding that is suitable for them. We all understand the importance of the correct bed, mattress and bedding for our sleep and comfort so the same approach goes for our gerbils too!
What if I Have More Than One?
If your gerbilarium contains a few of your furry friends, it’s advised to invest in bedding that focuses on absorbency.
Often with more than one male gerbil in close proximity, the dominant male may urinate more to scent mark. Therefore, bedding that prioritizes odor-reduction and absorbance is vital, so choose a bedding that focuses on these elements to best suit the comfort of all the gerbils in their home.
Younger Gerbils
For younger gerbils, their need to dig and bury for the first time is going to be overwhelming so their bedding needs to match their ever-growing-curiosity.
Aspen wood-based substrates are great for younger gerbils as it suits their needs to burrow and tunnel. In addition, they are low in dust meaning less irritation for your newer gerbil whose eyes and nose are highly sensitive in the first stages of their life.
Beddings To Avoid
With gerbils, you will need to avoid using pine or cedar wood shavings since they got a strong smell and contains phenol, a natural bactericide which can be dangerous to all kinds of animals, particularly smaller ones.
It can cause eye and respiratory infection, allergic reactions, liver damage, and other health issues. However, if you can find one that is treated against phenol, dried, and dust-free than it should be fine.
Some people recommend using dry Lucerne or alfalfa, however, I suggest you only use it if you have other beddings since it is not a great type to be used by itself. Also, avoid using grass that was picked from the outside since it might be full of bacteria.
Straws are uncomfortable since they come with sharp edges. Toilet papers may be used, only if your gerbils are highly allergic to other materials and should only be used as temporarily until you find a better one.
When To Change Bedding?
Different from other small domesticated animals, such as rabbits, gerbils don’t require a significant amount of maintenance when it comes to their cage or tank (gerbilarium).
Originating from dry and grassland areas, gerbils don’t produce much waste, therefore you will notice less toilet behavior than other furry friends.
With high-quality, absorbent and comfortable bedding, you should only need to clean out your gerbil’s home every 2-3 weeks and have a complete spring clean and wash down every few months making them a perfect low-maintenance pet for your home.
Can You Mix Various Beddings Together?
Yes, you absolutely can. There are some gerbil beddings that works better when combined with others so, feel free to try different combinations until you find that ones to suit your gerbils best.
Choosing the Right Bedding
Like all our four-legged friends, there really is no one size fits all approach to choosing the perfect substrate for their cages and homes. With so many different brands, materials, and sizes to select from, the choice really is endless.
The most important thing to do is learn and understand your gerbil’s behavior to help select the right bedding to suit their needs and wants.
If after hours of searching the web, you’re left with a mind-boggling decision to make, give our top 5 beddings a go and see which one suits your gerbil the most…you never know – the best bedding might be right here in front of you!
