Best gerbil hides and houses

What does a gerbil house need?

Gerbils are prey animals, and the RSPCA says they need to be able to hide and dig at all times. In the wild they sleep in nest chambers deep in their burrows. In a tank, the nest box is that chamber. The RSPCA asks for a dark nesting box large enough for the gerbils to sleep in, store food and move around, ideally with more than one entrance so a bossy gerbil can't trap another inside. An angled tube leading in keeps light out.

Gerbil Care UK puts the nest box on the floor of the tank and builds the bedding up around it, so the gerbils tunnel down to it. In deep bedding they will line it with paper and hay and make it the centre of their burrow.

How many hides does a gerbil need?

This is where good sources disagree, so here is both sides and what we'd do.

Both points are right. Gerbils need places to dash into, and a pair that stops sleeping together is a warning sign of trouble. So we'd follow both: one closed nest box for sleeping, and the extra hiding spots as open shelters that are no good as a second bedroom, such as tubes open at both ends, bridges and half logs. For a pair, that means one nest box and at least three open hides. Our guide to gerbil pairs and declanning explains why sleeping apart matters.

How to choose a gerbil hide

• Big enough for the whole group to sleep in together
• One room only, with no internal walls or small chambers
• Two or more entrances, at least 7 cm (2.75 in) wide
• Untreated hardwood, plain cardboard or unglazed terracotta
• No nails, staples or loose wire
• No paint, varnish, glossy or inked card that will be chewed
• Flat-bottomed, so tubes and pots don't roll
• A lid you can weigh down, so bedding doesn't lift it

Materials compared

Where to put gerbil hides

1. Nest box first. Stand the nest box on the tank floor on the deep side before adding bedding, as Gerbil Care UK does. Weigh down a loose lid with a flat stone or tile.
2. Add a tunnel to it. Lay a cardboard tube at an angle from near the surface down towards the nest box entrance. The RSPCA says an angled tube keeps light out.
3. Fill around it. Build the bedding up in layers with hay and cardboard until the box is buried. Our digging and burrowing guide shows how.
4. Put open hides on top. Scatter tubes, a bridge and a terracotta pipe across the surface, on both sides of the tank, so there is always somewhere to dash into.
5. Stuff the nest. Lay plain, unscented toilet paper on top. The gerbils carry it down and build the nest themselves.

The best gerbil hides and houses

Free and DIY gerbil hides

Some of the best hides cost nothing. Woodgreen lists kitchen roll and cardboard tubes, shoe and cereal boxes, wooden houses and bendy bridges as good hiding and nesting spots. Oregon Humane Society suggests small boxes, huts and flower pots.

• A plain cardboard box about 15 to 20 × 15 × 10 to 15 cm (6 to 8 × 6 × 4 to 6 in) as a nest box, which is Gerbil Care UK's budget option
• Toilet roll and kitchen roll tubes
• Egg boxes, torn open or whole
• An unglazed terracotta plant pot laid on its side, with a smooth rim
• A bendy willow bridge over a shallow dip

Use plain brown card only. Gerbil Care UK says to avoid coloured card and plastic tape.

Gerbil hides to avoid

• Plastic houses, igloos and tubes, which get chewed
• Multi-room or maze houses, which can let a group split up
• Pine or cedar houses
• Cotton wool or fluffy nest fillers, which Woodgreen says can wrap round limbs and cause serious injury
• Hides with small holes a gerbil could get its head stuck in
• Heavy items stood on top of the bedding that could collapse into a tunnel

The same goes for gerbil "houses" sold as part of plastic cage sets, and for wooden multi-level cages such as PawHut-style small pet homes, which Gerbil Care UK says gerbils chew through. See our best gerbil cages for homes that work.

For the full layout see our gerbil cage setup guide, for things to chew and play with see best gerbil toys, and for everything else, the complete gerbil care guide.