Sand, Bath Sand & Sandboxes for Gerbils

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

Gerbils are desert animals that like to dig in sand to make burrows and bathe to keep their fur clean. Gerbils need a sand bath daily to keep their skin and fur in good condition. Especially for Fat-tailed gerbils, a sandbox filled with bath sand is a must ! If there is no sand bath with chinchilla sand available, the gerbil's fur can quickly become greasy. As a result, the fur 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 do not have a caring function, only bath sand has this.

Attention! Never use shell sand in the sandbox. This sand is too sharp for the skin of the Gerbil.

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

Digging sand is meant for digging. This sand is usually composed on a clay basis and ensures that dug tunnels remain standing. Play sand is cleaned sand in which the Gerbils can dig nicely, 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. Bath sand is meant as care for the animals. Gerbils cannot really dig in bath sand and certainly cannot make tunnels. The sand is very 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. Especially the degreasing properties 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 bath sand for hamsters and other rodents because it imitates the properties of their natural habitat. Sepiolite is a natural mineral that is formed by the deposition of clayey sediment. It has a fine, granular structure that resembles the soils in which hamsters dig and make tunnels in the wild. Thanks to the presence of this clay, the tunnels in the wild remain intact.

Sepiolite is usually obtained by mining techniques, whereby 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 ( original habitat of the Mongolian Gerbil )

Sepiolite has the ability to absorb moisture and fat, making it suitable as bath sand for rodents. It helps cleanse the animal's fur and absorb excess oils. Sepiolite can also help reduce odors.

How often should gerbils take a sand bath?

Daily! We advise to offer Gerbils a permanent sand bath in the enclosure. It is also possible to set up a part of the enclosure as a sand part. In that case, a part of the enclosure is fenced off and gets chinchilla sand as ground cover instead of standard ground cover. The latter can be especially 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 that 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 stays 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. By the way, we have a handy trick for the poop! We have special sieve scoops with which the sand can be sieved and therefore lasts longer.