How do I get my gerbil to stop digging?
by Aquaboy on Saturday, March 27th, 2010 | 5 Comments
My male gerbil liked to dig in the corner of his cage in the middle of the night, so I changed the cage to an aquarium. Since then it hasn’t really been a problem, but now that I have him a custom made cage, and some buddies for him on the way, I put some tubbing so he could get from the 1st to the 2nd floor. I put a plastic wheel in there because his male pups will soon be joining him in about 2 weeks and they can’t have an open one due to the dangers of getting their tails and legs caught. The female that we had with him never had that problem, but for some reason he just won’t stop scratching the inside of the tubes and the wheel. What can I do to try and teach him not to do that?
have it put down
It is hard to say if it is even possible to stop them this is a habit formed when gerbils are babies and there is not enough bedding to burrow in you can try giving a puff of air in it’s face when it is doing this and saying no but I do not know if that will help since it is so ground into the gerbils head I had the same problem with some of my gerbils but I put them in tanks and could no longer hear them when the scratched the corners.
Just give up..it won’t happen..my gerbils scratched the aquarium they were in so bad that the glass got foggy looking..thats just what they do… good luck tho
It is the inherent nature of gerbils to burrow which causes them to scratch at tank walls, wheels, etc.
Digging Madly In The Corner:
A lot of people mistake gerbils’ habit of digging in the corner of their cages as an urge to get out. It isn’t. This is known as “stereotyped digging” and is caused by the gerbils’ natural instinct to burrow. It is perfectly normal.
My gerbil does that too, but gerbils are suppose to dig. They dig to make there nest and stuff. they are found i nthe deserts. In they deserts they dig to make shelter. It’s just them.