Gerbil Sand

Question
Hi I have two gerbils and wanted to give them a little change in habitat. I bought reptile sand and was wondering if this sand is safe for them to use, but only is a section of their tank. If not, is there a preferred type of sand that would be safe for them.

Answer
Hi Brandon

Reptile sand should be OK for your gerbils as it needs to be silica free. You need to avoid 'ordinary' sand due to the silica content. If I want to give any of mine a dust bath I use chinchilla dust.  I've found a good website that you might want to have a look at as they keep a lot of gerbils and have great ideas regarding habitat.  The link to the site is: http://www.gerbilsite.com/Husbandry/generalhusbandry.htm

Hope this helps.

Regards
Sheila