Gerbil scaping: a natural enclosure for digging and foraging

With gerbil scaping you furnish the enclosure as a little piece of nature. Gerbils come from dry steppe regions, where they dig tunnels underground and search above ground for seeds, leaves and flowers. In a scaped enclosure they can show all of that behaviour: digging in a thick layer of bedding, hiding under cork and branches, and foraging for food hidden among moss and leaves.

In this category you will find the foraging mixes, forest mixes and mosses from Zooply, our own premium brand, supplemented with cork, branches, natural decoration, grain bunches and glass bowls on wood. Zooply came about because the products that worked best for our own animals were not always available. We use the scatter herbs and forest mixes ourselves every day for the animals in our shop and breeding facility.

In short

• ✓ The basis is a thick layer of bedding of at least about 20 cm, mixed with hay or straw.
• ✓ Only use safe, untreated natural materials: cork, branches, moss, leaves and flowers.
• ✓ Scatter a small handful of Zooply scatter herbs, scatter flowers or forest mix through the bedding.
• ✓ Foraging mixes are enrichment, not a staple food: seeds and nuts count towards the daily portion.
• ✓ Create zones: a deep digging corner, a sand bath, a feeding spot and a sheltered route along the edge.

What will you find in the Gerbil scaping category?

Zooply Scatter Herbs

The Zooply Scatter Herbs are 250-gram foraging mixes to scatter through the bedding. The base consists of leaves and flowers, in most variants apple and birch leaves, supplemented with seeds. You can choose from Scatter Herbs with seeds, with nuts, with millet, with fruit and with peas. According to the packaging a small handful is enough: scatter it over the bedding and lightly mix it through the litter. The seeds fall between the material, so your gerbils really have to dig and search. The mixes are suitable for hamsters, mice, rats and gerbils and explicitly intended as foraging fun, not as a staple diet.

Zooply Scatter Flowers

The Zooply Scatter Flowers (200 grams) are colourful flower mixes with an extra mixed in. There are five variants: with lucerne and sunflower seeds, with lucerne and seeds, with peas and seeds, with sunflower seeds and seeds and with various seeds. You use them in the same way as the scatter herbs: a small handful through the bedding or over a piece of moss. The flowers immediately give the enclosure colour and a natural scent. Sunflower seeds are fatty; give the variants containing them in moderation and alternate with the lighter mixes.

Zooply Forest Mix

The Zooply Forest Mix gives your enclosure a forest floor of different leaves. The Forest Mix with various leaves (100 grams) is pure leaves for the top layer. The Forest Mix with leaves and walnuts and with leaves and hazelnuts (100 grams each) are made for scaping, with nuts to leave partly visible and partly hidden. The Forest Mix with leaves and seeds and with leaves and nuts (250 grams each) are foraging mixes in which the leaves form a calm top layer and the seeds or nuts disappear between them. Nuts are fatty; keep it to a few pieces at a time.

Zooply Millet Spray pieces

The Zooply Millet Spray pieces (125 grams) are short stems with millet seeds attached. You put them loose in the enclosure or push them halfway into the bedding. Gerbils hold the stem and nibble the seeds off one by one. That way your gerbil does not eat everything at once and stays busy for longer. Millet spray is a treat, so give it in small portions.

Zooply Stone Moss and Rodent Moss

Zooply Stone Moss (75 grams) and Zooply Rodent Moss (250 grams) are dried types of moss for gerbil scaping. According to the product information they are rodent-friendly and your gerbil may nibble on them. Use stone moss as an accent along edges, tunnels and cork, and rodent moss for larger areas of floor or as a finishing layer. Scatter a Zooply scatter mix over it and you immediately have a natural foraging spot.

Cork, branches and hiding places

The cork tunnels from Trixie (up to ø 14 × 40 cm and up to ø 19 × 55 cm) and the vine branches in three lengths form the structure of a scape. The coconut with hole from Happy Pet, the coconut house, the open coconut 1/4 and the Buddha nuts from Esve are natural hiding places. The grass tunnel from Trixie has three entrances and is meant to be chewed.

Natural decoration and grain bunches

Esve has a range of natural scaping materials, such as pine cones (including Australian and large ones), nut shells, corn leaves, babla plant, reed sticks, coconut pieces, palm bark and a bamboo ladder. From Back Zoo Nature there are branch moss, palm leaves, palm grass, tree leaves and the Discovery topping (10 litres) of corn leaves, moss and pine cones. Trixie also supplies natural moss of 200 grams. The Esve Pet Bouquets, such as Knaagveld, Weidegewas and Tarweakker, are bunches of grains, grasses and herbs to push into the enclosure.

Glass bowls on wood

Gigan Garden & Deco makes glass bowls on a wooden base, as a digging box or sand bath on Gamal root or trunk, in various sizes. A glass bowl on a base stands firmly and does not sink into the bedding. For gerbils they are handy as a sand bath or as a raised feeding spot.

How to build a gerbil scape

Always start with the floor. Spread a thick layer of low-dust bedding and mix hay or straw through it, so that the tunnels do not collapse. Make the layer extra deep in one spot: that is where the digging zone goes. Then put down the large elements, such as a cork tunnel half buried, a few branches and a sturdy hiding place. Put the sand bath and the feeding spot on a stable surface, for example a glass bowl on a wooden base or a platform.

Then comes the finishing. Put tufts of moss along the edges and against the cork, scatter some Zooply forest mix as a top layer and push a grain bunch or some corn leaves between the branches. Finally, scatter a small handful of Zooply scatter herbs or scatter flowers through the top layer. Your gerbils will immediately start exploring and dig over the whole top layer.

Scaping safely

In a gerbil enclosure only use materials intended for rodents: untreated, without varnish, glue or dye. Gerbils gnaw on everything. Branches and moss from your own garden or the woods can contain traces of pesticides, parasites or mould. Soft fibres such as jute, silk-cotton and loose ropes can wrap around feet; use them sparingly and remove them if you see long loose threads. Make sure heavy elements are firmly in place, so they do not topple over when your gerbils dig underneath them.

Maintaining a scaped enclosure

You do not have to dismantle a gerbil scape completely every time. Remove wet patches and food leftovers in between and refresh the sand bath. Top up the top layer now and then with a little forest mix or moss. During a big clean-out, leave part of the clean, old bedding and the nesting material in place, so the familiar smell remains. That way you keep the enclosure fresh without your gerbils having to start all over again each time.

Useful combinations

• Bedding: the deep digging layer that every scape starts with.
• Dried flowers and grasses: extra colour and foraging material for the top layer.
• Hay: Zooply hay through the bedding for firm tunnels.
• Tunnels: cork and willow tunnels as an entrance to the tunnel system.
• Sand & Sand baths: a fixed sand bath zone in the scape.

Frequently asked questions about gerbil scaping

What do I need at a minimum to start gerbil scaping?

An enclosure with a deep base, a thick layer of bedding of at least about 20 cm with hay mixed through it, a few hiding places, a sand bath and something to search in. With a cork tunnel, a few branches, a bag of Zooply forest mix and a Zooply scatter mix you already have a lovely, natural basis that you can expand on later.

How often can I give Zooply scatter herbs?

The scatter herbs are meant as foraging fun, not as a staple diet. According to the packaging a small handful is enough for a fun foraging session. Because they contain seeds, nuts or kernels, they count towards what your gerbil eats per day. So give a little less from the food bowl, and alternate the variants so that there is always a new scent to discover.

Are nuts and sunflower seeds good for gerbils?

Gerbils love nuts and seeds, and in the wild seeds are part of their menu. Nuts and sunflower seeds are fatty, though. So give them as a treat, in small amounts, and for daily enrichment preferably choose the lighter mixes with flowers, leaves and small seeds.

Can I use moss and branches from my garden?

We do not recommend it. You do not know whether there are pesticides, droppings from other animals, parasites or mould on them. The mosses, branches and leaves in this category have been dried and are intended for use with rodents.

Doesn't a scaped enclosure get dirty quickly?

Gerbils are desert animals that wee little and produce dry droppings. A well-scaped enclosure with a thick, dry layer therefore stays fresh for a long time. Remove wet patches and food leftovers in between, and simply leave leaves and moss in place as long as they are dry and clean.

Gerbil scaping with Zooply at Knaagplaza

At Knaagplaza, the webshop of 't Knaagplein, you will find everything to furnish a natural gerbil enclosure. We use the scatter herbs, scatter flowers, forest mixes and mosses from Zooply, our own premium brand, every day for our own animals. That way you turn the enclosure into a place where your gerbils can dig, hide and forage.