Choosing the right bedding for your gerbil matters more than most new owners realize. Gerbils aren’t like hamsters; they’re serious burrowers, and the wrong bedding means collapsed tunnels, dusty air, and a frustrated pet.
I’ve tried a lot of bedding combinations over the years, and what I’ve landed on is a mix of paper bedding, aspen shavings, and hay. The paper gives them soft material to nest in, the aspen adds structure, and the hay is what actually holds tunnels together.
Below, I’ll walk you through exactly what I use, what I’ve tried and stopped using, and what to avoid entirely. And if you’re just starting out with gerbils, make sure to check out our full Gerbil Care Guide before you go!
In a hurry? My go-to gerbil bedding mix is Kaytee Clean & Cozy White for the base, Kaytee Small Animal Hardwood Aspen Bedding mixed in, and Oxbow Animal Health Western Timothy Hay to hold everything together. Fill it at least 8-12 inches deep in half the enclosure. Your gerbils need that depth to build proper burrows!
Why Is Bedding Important for Gerbils?
Bedding is an essential part of keeping gerbils healthy and comfortable. It helps to provide insulation from cold temperatures, absorb moisture, and keep your gerbil’s enclosure clean.
Bedding also provides a comfortable surface for your gerbil to sleep on, as well as a source of material to dig and burrow in. This can help keep your gerbil entertained and prevent boredom.
Additionally, having the right type of bedding can help keep odors at bay and can reduce the risk of disease or infection. The bedding also helps to keep dust to a minimum, which can be beneficial for both your gerbil and you.
How Much Bedding Do I Need for My Gerbil?
Gerbils are hardwired to want to create deep and elaborate burrows with many chambers and tunnels. This is why it’s so important to make sure your gerbils have plenty of bedding to dig and nest with.
A good rule of thumb is to provide your gerbils with 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of bedding in at least half of their enclosure. Obviously, this is difficult to do with a traditional bar cage, which is why I recommend using a tank as your gerbils’ enclosure. Personally, I fill about half my gerbils’ tank with roughly 10 inches of bedding.
Common mistake: Buying a bar cage and trying to make deep bedding work. It won’t — the bedding just pushes out through the bars. A glass tank or large bin cage is really the only way to give gerbils the burrowing depth they need.
A common issue with this amount of bedding is that your gerbils will bury all of their enrichment items, such as their wheels, as well as their water bottles.
To solve this issue, you can use a tank topper and place everything on platforms or on the upper level of the topper, or divide the tank into a deep section and a shallow section.
Whenever you’re dividing your gerbils’ enclosure in any way, proper precautions shouldn’t be taken to avoid de-clanning as much as possible.
What Type of Bedding Should I Get for My Gerbil?
Gerbils can use paper bedding, aspen wood bedding, or a combination of the two. I also recommend incorporating some hay with the bedding because it helps your gerbils construct long-lasting and sturdy tunnels. A mix of paper, aspen, and hay creates the best tunnels.
My mix is approximately 50% paper, 30% aspen, and 20% hay, but I don’t measure it precisely. You’ll find your own ratio over time based on what your gerbils seem to prefer.
Gerbils will also chew and tear up any toys that you give them and line their tunnels with these shredded items. Some examples are paper towels, coffee filters, or toilet paper rolls.
To give your gerbil more enrichment, don’t mix up the bedding completely, but place it in bunches around the tank. For example, you can fill up the tank partly with paper bedding, and then place a pile of aspen bedding in one corner and hay in another corner. This will mean your gerbils have to carry the different pieces around and mix it up themselves to achieve sturdy tunnels.
What Bedding is Not Safe for Gerbils?
Not all types of small pet bedding are safe for gerbils. Here are the bedding types that I recommend avoiding:
- Pine shavings
- Sawdust
- Scented paper bedding
- Dusty paper, aspen, or hay bedding
- Kitty litter
- Wood pellets
What Are the Best Brands of Bedding for Gerbils?
Unfortunately, not all small pet bedding brands are created equally. Additionally, some brands put out bedding products that are safe and healthy and others that are not safe at all.
Below, I’ll give you the details on the brands and specific products that I use as gerbil bedding for my own pets.
Best paper bedding for gerbils
First, let’s look at the best paper bedding products available for gerbils. This will make up a large portion of your gerbils’ bedding mix.
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- Kaytee Clean & Cozy White: This is my go-to paper bedding. It’s soft, holds tunnels reasonably well when mixed with hay, and I’ve never had dust issues with it. It’s also easy to spot-clean since the white color makes it obvious where the soiled areas are.
- Kaytee Clean & Cozy Natural: Same quality as the white version, just unbleached. I use this one when I can find it on sale, but I slightly prefer the white because it’s easier to spot dirty patches during cleaning.
- Carefresh 99% Dust-Free Natural Paper: Carefresh is fine, but I’ve found it’s slightly dustier than Kaytee despite the name. It also doesn’t hold tunnel structure as well on its own. If it’s what’s available at your local pet store, it works — just make sure you’re mixing it with aspen and hay.
Best aspen bedding for gerbils
Aspen bedding is the only type of wood bedding I recommend using for gerbils or other small animals.
Some small pet parents believe that kiln-dried pine bedding is safe for small pets, but this isn’t always guaranteed. Pine bedding can still contain the chemical components that cause respiratory issues in small mammals.
Here are the brands and products I recommend for aspen gerbil bedding.
- Kaytee Small Animal Hardwood Aspen Bedding: Solid, affordable, and available everywhere. This is what I buy most often. Occasionally I’ll find a bag that’s more dusty than usual, so I always sift it a bit before adding it to the tank.
- Niteangel Aspen Shavings: Niteangel makes nice stuff, but for aspen shavings specifically, I haven’t noticed a meaningful difference between this and Kaytee, and Kaytee is usually cheaper. If you’re already ordering Niteangel products and want to bundle, go for it.
Best hay bedding for gerbils
Finally, we’ll look at the hay bedding I recommend for gerbils. You can give your gerbils Timothy, alfalfa, orchard, or meadow hay.
- Oxbow Animal Health Western Timothy Hay: This is the gold standard and what I use most. The strands are long enough that my gerbils can weave them into their tunnel walls, which is the whole point of adding hay to the bedding mix.
- Kaytee All Natural Timothy Hay: A decent budget alternative to Oxbow. I’ve noticed it tends to have more short, broken pieces though, which means less structural support for tunnels. My gerbils still eat it and use it, but Oxbow holds up better as a building material.
- High Desert Alfalfa Hay: I mix a small amount of alfalfa in occasionally. It’s richer than timothy, so I wouldn’t use it as the primary hay, but my gerbils seem to enjoy snacking on it while they burrow. Think of it as an enrichment add-on, not a main bedding component.
- Small Pet Select Orchard Grass Hay: Softer and thinner than timothy. My gerbils like it for nesting but it doesn’t hold tunnels as well. I’ll toss some in on top of the bedding for them to gather and arrange, but the structural heavy lifting comes from timothy.
- Oxbow Animal Health Meadow Hay: A nice variety hay if you want to switch things up. It’s a mix of grasses, so the texture varies. I rotate this in every few bedding changes just to give my gerbils something different to work with.
Learn more: Best Food for Gerbils
How Often Should I Change My Gerbil’s Bedding?
If you use 8 to 12 inches of bedding, you’ll generally only need to clean your gerbils’ tank and change their bedding once every two to four weeks. Gerbils are very clean animals, and they don’t produce as much urine or droppings as many other animals, such as rats and mice.
Gerbils also tend to designate a “bathroom” spot in their enclosure, typically in a corner or in their sand bath. This makes spot-cleaning much easier and more effective, meaning you have to change out their bedding much less.
Cleaning the gerbil enclosure too often is stressful for your gerbils because it reduces their familiar smells and destroys the burrows they’ve worked so hard to build. While doing this regularly is necessary, it’s important to avoid destroying your gerbils’ burrow systems as much as possible.
My own cleaning schedule is roughly every three weeks for a full bedding change, with spot-cleaning of the bathroom corner every few days. I always keep about a quarter to one third of the old bedding and mix it back in. It keeps their scent in the enclosure and reduces the stress of having their whole world reset, and it reduces the chance of de-clanning. I’ve noticed my gerbils also rebuild their tunnel systems faster when I do this.
Choosing the Best Bedding for Your Pets
If a friend told me they just got gerbils and asked what to buy, I’d tell them to grab a bag of Kaytee Clean & Cozy White, a bag of Kaytee aspen, and a bag of Oxbow timothy hay. Mix them together, fill the tank at least 8 inches deep, and let your gerbils do what they do best. You’ll figure out your own preferences from there, and so will they!
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