A Day in a Life of a GerbilBy Alice Kresberg

Two gerbils cleaning themselves.

Breakfast is usually seeds or nuts.

Pet gerbils usually drink from water bottles but some drink from bowls or cups.

Gerbils like to chew on things that are cardboard or wood to knaw down their sharp teeth.

Gerbils make dens out of bedding to sleep in, but sometimes they sleep in holes or little houses.

Some pet gerbils get treated with treats occasionally or not at all, but there are also some who are lucky and get treated once or more each day.

There are two gerbils in this critter bath shelter asleep. One is sand colored, the other is black.

A Day in a Life of a GerbilBy Alice Kresberg

Many people who dislike or don’t know facts about rodents think that gerbils, mice and rats are basically the same kind of animal. Especially when one of those rodents is a pet or the family’s pet. That person may know all about their pet and feel a bit angry when their pet rodent is called just a rodent. Because you know how different the pet is but the other person or people do not. 

For example, Gerbils only eat wind blown seeds, grain and grasses and sometimes some kinds of vegetables. However, Mice eat yogurt, peanut butter, rice, oatmeal, bread, cheese, apples, bananas, beans, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, zucchini, cucumber, dandelions, grapes, kale, squash, peas, potato, spinach, strawberries, sweet potato, turnips, watercress, and young grass. There might be even more that mice can eat. Also, Rats eat grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts occasionally, small bugs and small animals. Basically everything.

As you can see Mice and Rats eat a lot more than gerbils and rats eat almost everything. Also, gerbils are kept more as pets because they are not nocturnal and are more clean than rats or mice. Mice and rats are both nocturnal and aren’t as clean as gerbils. All three of those rodents have size differences though. Mice are usually thirteen centimeters long including their tail, adult gerbils are usually seven to eight inches long including their tail, and adult rats are usually fourteen to sixteen inches long. They all have scientific names. The scientific name for gerbils is Meriones Unguiculatus which is Latin for “Clawed Warrior”.

The scientific name for a house mouse is Mus Musculus, the scientific name for the wood mouse is Apodemus Sylvaticus, the scientific name for the Yellow naked field mouse is Apodemus Flavicollis, and the scientific name for the harvest mouse is Micromys Minutus. The scientific name for a rat is Rattus Norvegicus. Also, if you hadn’t noticed, gerbils always have some fur on their tails and rats don’t. Mice sometimes have fur on their tails but gerbils are usually kept in pet stores or running around in the wild however mice can be found in cities, countries and the wild. Rats mostly appear in cities.

Now that you have read some information you should be able to tell the difference form some of these facts. The purpose of my photo essay is understanding the gerbil’s days in life instead of just observing them and thinking that they are disgusting or boring. Also, learning about gerbils isn’t disgusting because it is like facts that anyone would learn on another animal.

In conclusion, a day in a gerbil’s life tells a story of my gerbil’s routine and what most pet gerbils do in a day. It also fills up more on facts to anyone who reads this.