gerbil mazes

Question
HI,
my friend and i are doing a science experiment for school and it evolves gerbils and their sense of smell. For the science experiment we have to get a maze and put food at the end of it to test and see if a gerbils sense of smell is strong or not. is this safe? what type of food should go at the end?

Answer
Hi Taelor

Your experiment sounds interesting.  What are you making the maze out of?  Is this wood?  Be careful you don't use anything that is chewable otherwise they may just chew their way out. I would think that it is important that whatever you make the maze out of you use materials that don't smell of anything strange  - strong plastics, wood that has been treated with oils etc. otherwise this could distract.  I find gerbils to have an incredibly good sense of smell -mine live in a glass tank that is always full of their shredded bedding, but they always manage to sniff out food.  I would suggest using sunflower seeds which seem to be a real favourite, but you could also try a small piece of cheese or fresh vegetable.

I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila