Sand, Bath Sand & Sandboxes for Gerbils

You can order sand, bath sand & sandboxes easily and quickly at DRD ^{Knaagdierwinkel®} The Gerbil Webshop for your Gerbils!

Gerbils are desert animals that like to dig in sand to make holes and bathe to keep their fur clean. Gerbils need a daily sand bath to keep the skin and coat in good condition. A sandbox filled with bathing sand is a must , especially for fat-tailed gerbils ! If there is no sand bath with chinchilla sand , the gerbil's coat can quickly become greasy. As a result, the coat insulates less well and the gerbil can catch a cold.

Which sand is suitable for Gerbils?

We distinguish two types of sand for Gerbils: digging sand or bath sand. Chinchilla sand is suitable as bath sand. Other types of sand such as play sand do not care for the coat, so they have no caring function, only bath sand has this.

NB! Never use shell sand in the sandbox. This sand is too sharp for the Gerbil's skin.

What is the difference between digging sand, play sand and bath sand for Gerbils?

Excavation sand is intended for digging. This sand is usually composed of clay and ensures that dug tunnels remain standing. Play sand is cleaned sand that the Gerbils can dig in, but the sand does not have a good structure and does not support the dug tunnels, so tunnels do not remain standing in play sand. Bathing sand is intended as care for the animals. Gerbils can't really dig in bath sand and certainly can't make tunnels. The sand is particularly fine.

What is the best bath sand for Gerbils?

One of the best and natural types of sand for bathing is Sepiolite. Many good bath sands are made from sepiolite. The degreasing properties in particular make this sand very suitable for the greasy coat of Gerbils.

Sepiolite is a mineral that belongs to the clay minerals. Sepiolite is often used as bathing sand for hamsters and other rodents because it mimics the properties of their natural habitat. Sepiolite is a natural mineral formed by the deposition of clayey sediment. It has a fine, granular texture similar to the soils in which hamsters dig and tunnel in the wild. Thanks to the presence of this clay, the tunnels remain intact in the wild.

Sepiolite is usually extracted through mining techniques, in which the sepiolite deposits are extracted from the ground. After extraction, these sepiolite deposits undergo a process of processing and purification. For example, sepiolite is also extracted from the desert in Syria ( original habitat of the Syrian Hamster ). Sepiolite is also mined in Mongolia. Mongolia has significant sepiolite reserves and is known for the presence of high-quality sepiolite deposits. The mineral is mainly mined in the southern regions of Mongolia ( native habitat of the Mongolian Gerbil )

Sepiolite has the property of absorbing moisture and fat, making it suitable as bath sand for rodents. It helps to clean the animal's coat and absorb excess oils. In addition, sepiolite can also help reduce odors.

How often should Gerbils take a sand bath?

Daily! We recommend offering Gerbils a permanent sand bath in the enclosure. It is also possible to design part of the accommodation as a sand area. In that case, part of the enclosure is cordoned off and given chinchilla sand as bedding instead of standard bedding. The latter can be particularly useful for larger Gerbil groups and ensures that the entire group can bathe at the same time.

When should the Gerbil sand be changed?

We always say as soon as it starts to smell, it needs to be replaced. As we have said, Gerbils are very clean animals that do not pee much. This ensures that the sandbox remains quite clean in most cases. In most cases, the problem will be that the animals empty the sandbox rather than that it starts to smell. We do have a handy trick for the poops! We have special sieve scoops with which the sand can be sieved and therefore lasts longer.