# A few questions about bedding and litter for gerbils



## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Hello!

I've had my gerbils for almost a year, and all this time they were on woodshavings from Pets at Home. Somehow, the unsuitability of woodshavings never came up in my gerbil research - only when I started researching mice recently I found out about it. So I am wanting to change their bedding now. I am getting megazorb for them, but I don't like how gray and sad it looks, so I was hoping to get some aspen shavings to mix it up and make it look better. But it seems that getting aspen shavings is impossible in the UK, so I looked into aubiose. So I guess one of my questions is - would it be ok to mix megazorb with aubiose 50-50, just so it doesn't look so dull and gray? Also, I found a 20kg bag of aubiose costing £8.80 + 5.50 delivery - do you think this looks like a good enough price? Also, how big is the 20kg bag? My flat is small, but I have a shed outside, so I guess I'm just wondering if I could keep it in the flat, or the shed.

Another thing. I noticed my gerbils tend to pee and poop in the same corner of the cage, so I was hoping to get them a litter tray. I'm just wondering if the Small Pet Wood Litter 7ltr by Pets at Home or Back 2 Nature Small Animal Bedding and Litter (also from [email protected]) would be ok to use? I think ideally I would like to use something that is different from megazorb/aubiose, so that they recognise it as a different area, so I'm leaning towards the wood one. But I wanted to make sure it would be safe for them?

Sorry for the super-long post


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Hello 

You can get aspen in the UK... it's mostly used for reptiles so they wont keep it in the same area in the pet shop as the woodshavings etc for rodents, they sell it in my local pet shop, i'm afraid i haven't checked in [email protected]

If you've been reading about the unsuitability of wood shavings for gerbils on international forums, a lot of the products they get in the USA/Canada are different from what we have here. the issues are surrounding how the wood is dried, in the UK i believe all pine shavings are kiln dried, so safe for rodents (unlike USA etc where they're air dried as standard therefore not suitable). Most in the UK are vacuum treated as well to try and eliminate dust that can cause respiratory issues.

I've been reading up as we're getting a new huge tank and i want to change the bedding to something they can burrow in more easily. I don't see any reason why you cant mix various types of bedding, magazorb + auboise would make a good combo! am i right in thinking auboise is for horses etc? i've just googled as i'd not herd of it. I have read about hemp substraits... i dont know what sort of weight hemp bedding is, but i'd guess 20kg is around the same size as a sack of potatoes??? sounds like a reasonable deal. I'm going to go with a combination of woodshavings, aspen and freeze-treated hay, i think... our new tank is massive so i'm trying to source good value substrate.

As far as a litter tray goes, do you provide your gerbils with a sand bath currently? Ours have constant access to a bowl of chinchilla sand which gets changed regularly. They have a bath in it and then proceed to use it as their toilet area... very easy to keep clean 

Hope that helped!


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## peter0 (Oct 4, 2011)

I wouldn't see a problem with mixing them a few people do it on this site *i think* but i don't keep Gerbils. I got a 20kg bale of cardboard bedding once and it was pretty big, I think you are probably best keeping it in the shed


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

HazelandDan said:


> As far as a litter tray goes, do you provide your gerbils with a sand bath currently? Ours have constant access to a bowl of chinchilla sand which gets changed regularly. They have a bath in it and then proceed to use it as their toilet area... very easy to keep clean


Wow, thanks for that long answer  I don't give them a sand bath regularly, ie. I don't keep it in their cage, because they tend to eat it, and I always get worried that if they eat too much it could hurt them. They do take baths, but mostly they just eat it, dunno why 



peter0 said:


> I wouldn't see a problem with mixing them a few people do it on this site *i think* but i don't keep Gerbils. I got a 20kg bale of cardboard bedding once and it was pretty big, I think you are probably best keeping it in the shed


Thanks for your answer  Yeah, I was also thinking the shed would probably be best. Good thing I've got one xD


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Bumping it up, in case someone can still give some advice on litter?


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

I'd suggest 100% paper pellets for a rodent litter tray.


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Check out this sticky thread from another forum regarding substrate:

The Gerbil Forum - Substrate

I found it really useful when deciding what bedding to use.

Sorry not to have been of more help on the litter tray front. Generally gerbils are pretty clean and will try and pee/poop in a separate area, so if you had a shelf or bowl with different bedding in... put some of their soiled bedding in there you should be able to train them to use that area.


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

Gerbils need to have deep substrate of at least 8-10 inches, but more preferably 12 or more. If they are kept in a tank environment which is best for them then really they do not need a litter tray as such as it will just get buried anyway. Certain woodshavings are ok for gerbils - I tend to only use Bedmax as it's large flakes of wood and not dusty at all as its made for horses who suffer from COPD (a chronic lung disorder) I don't use it as the sole substrate and mix in several other things like paper, card, kitchen roll, toilet tissue, cardboard square type bedding/finacard, hay and so on. A mixture is always best for supporting tunnel structure.


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## rattiedee (Jun 3, 2012)

Sorry havent read the whole thread as off to bed but Aspen is real easy to get hun, go to any reptile shop or petshop that sells reptiles and you'll find it as many snakes use it. We always buy it for one of our snakes as he loves to burrow in it.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

I use shredded paper for mine. Easy to get, make as much as you want, make up as needed so no storage problems and it's free!!:thumbup:


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Thank you for everyone's replies! It seems silly now, but I really wasn't sure if mixing bedding is a good idea. I'm glad that I've got this cleared up now  And I won't be giving them a litter tray unless I can find/make a metal one, as they have started to nibble on the plastic one I got them, so I took that away immediately. Anyone know of anywhere you can buy metal litter trays for small animals?


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm not sure where you could get one, but you could use something like a glass bowl or jar turned on it's side or some sort of ceramic container instead? You often get things from the charity shops for pennies that would be suitable and far cheaper than buying an actual metal litter tray I'd imagine


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Thanks GerbilNik, I'll take a look


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