The best bedding for a gerbil is always – a compromise.
It depends on a lot of factors relating to the gerbil itself as an individual; the owner themselves as an individual; the habitat type, the tank or cage type; the budget constraints; location of the gerbil and their owner; and the patience of the person who does all the cleaning around here…
That is why there are so many different ones around for sale.
You can find bedding that is good for tunnels, good for allergies, good for locality, good for price, good for volume and good for a whole host of other things. Some have only a few of those features, and some have completely the opposite. But it is all personal to you and your current gerbils.
For example – it may be that you are allergic to the most common bedding at your local pet store and so the more expensive non-tunnelling bedding they sell is your best bedding; or you might find that the cheapest bedding they sell makes super tunnels but that 20% of it ends all over your floor every night, however, you may just well put up with the mess for that?
There could be more than one bedding that is right for you and your gerbils – it all comes down to personal choice at the time of buying. You could always flip between different bedding types as and when it takes your fancy.
However, if you came here for bedding advice as a starting point – then please read on:
The best bedding for a first time gerbil owner is…
…the exact same bedding that is being used in the place that you are going to collect them from.
If you are getting your gerbils from a breeder, then the bedding they use has proved the best bedding for that person and their many generations of gerbils. Basically – by being the bedding they choose to use – it was, and still is, great for the health of all their existing gerbils and hasn’t caused any problems over a long period of time as they are still breeding healthy gerbils – some of which you are collecting soon!
As they are an established breeder – probably having had more than 100+ gerbils during this time – by now they have worked their way through a variety of bedding types that weren’t suitable – or they have never had any problems with the bedding they first picked up many many moons ago. Perfect for your gerbil too no doubt.
If they are a pet store – then the bedding they are using (even if it is one that they are trying to promote in some way) clearly doesn’t make the gerbils ill short term – as otherwise they wouldn’t be selling any of their pets – they would be taking them all to the vets (or hiding them all out the back at least).
If your gerbil is coming from a friend, local rescue or accidental litter, this still holds true for starters – but you would best watch them closely at first incase they develop any issues (some of which may not be due to the bedding of course, but checking out the alternatives may be something you have to do sooner).
And it isn’t just about your gerbils – once settled in their new home – you might find that the bedding or substrate the breeder used was only available in bulk – something you don’t require; the bedding from the pet store may be more expensive than you wish to pay; and the bedding from the rescue or friend was fine in their cage or tank – but in your style of gerbil habitat is just isn’t right.
Or are you starting from scratch with your bedding?
If you are getting some gerbils and don’t have these choices, or you have noticed something not quite right with an existing bedding – the first thing to do is look at your options – what is available close to you at a price you are willing to pay?
Your bedding choice could be affected by which one of the above you are: Newbie Needs or Possible Problem.
If you are just looking for a bedding for a new pair of gerbils with no known issues – then choose from any of the most common ones in your nearest store. Basically stores stock the most commonly-brought products – so if the section in your store for wood-based bedding is much bigger than that for the paper-based bedding – then go for one of the wood-based bedding. If it was a ‘bad’ bedding – then other pet owners wouldn’t be buying so much of it and the store would stock less. (Well in theory anyway – and it is a good place to start at least).
If you have a possible problem and are looking for a bedding that has different qualities to the one you are using – you need to pin down the main problem and factor that into your next choice. It could be cost, mess, odour, allergies or any number of things – each brings with it its own problems – so you need to run through the options in a sort of order.
If it is an allergy you are trying to avoid – this is the most urgent of the changes with the most long-term effects. You need to totally clean out the old tanks and wash it completely along with all your toys and houses etc. and start completely afresh with a completely different type of bedding (for example if it was wood shavings, change to a paper-based bedding; if it was a hemp bedding, maybe swap to corn-cob or aspen). See main Gerbil Bedding article for more ideas of alternate choices.
The health effects of such a change can still take several weeks, if not months, to become apparent, so once you have chosen an alternative – stick with it for a few months even if the original symptoms are still apparent. Only if they get worse or you see NEW problems should you be concerned with your choice.
If the allergy was yours (as opposed to the gerbil’s) – then you need to not only do the above for the tank or cage – but a thorough gerbil room clean-out and hoover would be best. Don’t just clean around stuff – if you want to get rid of all the bedding dust already in your room – don’t skip bits. This regularly disturbed dust could prolong your symptoms and could cause you to think your new bedding is just as bad as the last.
Other possible problems can be sorted out by trail and error and a bit of guess work as they aren’t really urgent.
Want Better Tunnels?
If you want a bedding to be better for tunnels – try adding another bedding type to it rather than a swap – but one that appears opposite in characteristics. Together with yours this combo may well increase your tunnel capacity. For example adding long shredded paper, hay or aspen to ordinary wood shavings or flakes can increase its hold.
Want Less Odor?
If you want to reduce the odour, look for either a scented bedding to sprinkle in (to hide the problem) or a more absorbent substrate (to fight the problem). Always only buy these more absorbent substrates from the small animal shelves – not from the cat or reptile sections (see Exotic and other non-gerbil bedding article) as these are absorbent for a different reason – and which could be harmful to your gerbils.
These types of bedding can be used alongside an existing substrate as their shape often reduces tunnel formation and layering. Perhaps they are best as a base layer of the main tank (with lighter substrate on top) or they can be used for just the areas that your gerbils are using as a toilet (the main place for odors to accumulate to toe-curling proportions).
Want to Save Money?
If you want to reduce the cost of bedding overall – perhaps look to the same bedding first – but a different brand or package size. Smaller bags are always more expensive (for your convenience) so if you don’t mind putting yourself out a bit – buying the next size or two up can sometimes halve the cost. Changing brand can also have the same effect – some well-advertised brands have to charge more because having adverts on TV is so expensive! If you swap to the store’s own brand, it may well be almost exactly the same but much much cheaper. Don’t compromise on quality though for price though – you will always regret it.
Do remember also, not to take other people’s comments about beddings at face value for ‘cheaper products’ as a lot of people who say a certain bedding is cheaper than another are actually comparing the old size of the old brand to a new size of a new brand – which or course may well be cheaper overall.
No point comparing very different things? That’s like saying (a 2 litre bottle of concentrated) Kool-Aid is much cheaper (per drink) than (a tiny bottle of diluted) Tropicana.
Is That Even a Saving?
You can’t even compare them weight for weight as some bedding will take more to fill a tank than another, so might look cheaper on the ticket but more costly long term.
This cost-per-tank-change can be very important.
Some bedding will soil more quickly than others and so they may cost the same per pack size (or even appear cheaper) – but only last half the time as the other. Some bedding might not stay ‘fresh’ for the whole time before you use it all – so could become unusable towards the end – increasing the related cost-per-change. I mean if you only have two gerbils and a leaky shed – you certainly won’t be wanting to buy something you have to store long term, like the bales we used to buy.
Other bedding may need a long drive to collect and so you need to factor in the time and fuel to make a comparison. A lot of people overlook the distance travelled – silly really seeing as they have already included their own travel in their prices and that fact that you are already there looking at it? Perhaps home delivery is the best route – no time and no travel to calculate.
So many things to consider for sure – but it isn’t complicated or have any types of rules – just look at the facts and think about all the factors that are involved.
The best bedding for a gerbil is always a compromise.