0
A gerbil dust bath is actually making use of chinchilla dust and sands, available at places like Petsmart and Petco. Pour a couple of inches of the sand into a bowl and place your gerbil in it. The gerbil should run and roll around, kicking up dust, making a mess, but getting clean. The fine dust captures dirt and grease that may be on their fur and leaves their coat shiny and smooth! It keeps their coat clean by removing grease and grub from it. Gerbils should always have a special place for digging in which helps to keep their fur nicely maintained. For a dust bath, use chinchilla bathing sand in a container. They will dig and roll around in it and it will keep their fur clean
Please note that this is the only type of bath you should give your gerbils, as water will rinse off natural oils that insulate the gerbil and it could get sick or chill to death!
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Can you use flour for a gerbils dust bath?
Gerbils do not require dust baths like Chinchillas. If you are able to get a gerbil to try it then use a dust bath formula from a pet store. In my experience they don't like baths.
When gerbils get baths is there a soap you have to use?
No, there is no special soap for giving a gerbil a bath.
What is a dust bath?
A gerbil dust bath is actually making use of chinchilla dust and sands, available at places like Petsmart and Petco. Pour a couple of inches of the sand into a bowl and place your gerbil in it. The gerbil should run and roll around, kicking up dust, making a mess, but getting clean. The fine dust captures dirt and grease that may be on their fur and leaves their coat shiny and smooth! It keeps their coat clean by removing grease and grub from it. Gerbils should always have a special place for digging in which helps to keep their fur nicely maintained. For a dust bath, use chinchilla bathing sand in a container. They will dig and roll around in it and it will keep their fur clean Please note that this is the only type of bath you should give your gerbils, as water will rinse off natural oils that insulate the gerbil and it could get sick or chill to death!
How aften do you give a hamster a dust bath?
First of all you, yourself do not give your hamster a dust bath, but you can place the dust bath container in the cage. Hamsters use the dust to clean their fur, it will not harm them. Only allow a dust bath once a month, they don't need it daily.
What should you put in your gerbils cage for them to burrow in?
Do not use saw dust use bedding like at the petco store
How much water should you give your gerbil in a bath?
dont give your gerbil a 'water' bath use chinchilla dust
Can you use body wash as shampoo for gerbils?
You shouldn't wash gerbils with water. There's a special kind of dust/sand you can buy and keep in a bowl in their cage. They roll around in it and it keeps them clean.
Just bought bought a dust bath for Delilah-Dwarf hamster when its in her cage she just goes inside and smells around why wont she use it normally how can i get her to use it?
Try eliminating any distractions. When we want our two Russian Dwarf Hamsters to use their dust bath, we take all out all the toys, tubes and wheel for about 30 minutes. This usually gets them to go into the dust bath. It may take her a little longer to get comfortable with the dust bath and be willing to roll around in the dust, but without any distractions, Delilah should catch on quickly.
How do you use hamster bath dust?
Put the dust inside a container and fill it with enough dust to roll around in. Leave the container inside the cage for about 15-30 minutes or so and then remove and throw away the bath dust and viola! A clean and soft hammy!
Can you use chinchilla dust for gerbils?
Yes you can. As long as its not clumpy and there is no wee or poo in the sand it is ok. Best way to do this is after your Chin/s have had their bath is to pour the sand back into its bag or another container using a sieve (sifter) This will stop the poo and hay going back in the sand.
What is chinchilla dust bath?
Chinchillas use dust to clean excxss oil, excretory residue and food bits off their bodies, much as people use dry shampoo.
How do you clean adult gerbils that smell and look grubby?
My gerbils love a "dust" or sometimes it is referred to as a "sand" bath which keeps their coat in lovely condition by removing grease and grub from it. Gerbils should always have a deep area for digging in (like an aquarium filled with hay / dust free sawdust /some people use peat etc) which helps to keep their fur nicely maintained.For a dust bath, use chinchilla bathing sand in a container, they will dig in it and kick it all over the place and roll around in it. I make sure that mine always have access to a dust bath, if you have a cage like a rotastak or something similar with high walls (as opposed to bars) then putting a layer of sand into the bottom of it of about 1 inch in depth gives them good constant access and stops them being able to kick it straight out of the cage like they would through bars.If you have a barred cage, place a large sweet tin / chinchilla dust bath / large dish filled with chinchilla bathing sand in it. Your gerbs will love it and after a few days it should improve his / her coat dramatically!They're supposed to clean themselves, DO NOT GIVE THEM A BATH. Take them to the vet, they're probably sick if they're not cleaning themselves."Sand-bathWhen you don't have sand as bedding in your gerbil cage, you still have to give your gerbils the possibility to take regularly a sand bath. Mongolian gerbils really love to take a sand bath ones a while. This way they keep their fur clean and fat-free, what is necessary to have a fur that isolates well. Besides, it is also amusing to see how the gerbils roll in the sand during their bath. You can find more about this behaviour at the Behaviour page.As a sand bath you can use for example a dish, tray, and even a fish bowl. You can also screen off a corner of the cage, which you fill with sand.You can leave the sand bath permanently in the cage, but you can also place the sand bath at a particular part of the day in their cage. When you use a permanently sand bath it is bet to place it on a raised platform or on brick, etc. This is best, because this way your gerbil won't foul the sand bath with bedding material. It is also best to use a sand bath with a high rim, so that the gerbils cannot throw out the sand when they dig in your permanent sand bath. Besides sand bathing your gerbil can also use their sand bath as a toilet. My own Mongolian gerbils do this too. That's why you have to renew the sand regularly. A screened off corner and a fish bowl with a curled rim do prevent that the sand will be kicked out and won't be mixed with the bedding material. When you choose for a non-permanent sand bath, you will have to led them bath each day for a while, and the sand can be recycled after sifting the sand, and if it was kept dry. After 3 times of recycling the sand, you will have to renew it.Bird-sand and/or chinchilla-sand is most suitable for using in a sand bath, but you can also use sand that will be used in sandboxes, from sand dunes.Bird-sand, which normally is used as bedding in birdcages, contains little pieces of shells and aniseeds. The aniseeds will mostly be filtered from the sand and eaten by your gerbils. Sometimes they will also eat from the little pieces of shells to provide themselves with some extra calcium. Sometimes people say that bird sand is too coarse for gerbil and can damage the fur and eyes of your gerbils. This is NOT true! Gerbils don't have any problems with bird-sand, unlike for example chinchillas, which have such fine and thin hairs that the pieces of shells can damage their fur. That is why they have made special sand for chinchillas: chinchilla-sand. But as told before, it is NOT harmful for Mongolian gerbils.Chinchilla-sand is made from grind clay, and is available in different texture, from fine to robust. For gerbils is chinchilla-sand also very suitable. This sand has only two disadvantages: it will rise in clouds and make a lot of dust, and it is relatively expensive. A good solution to these problems is to mix chinchilla-sand with bird-sand.Sand for sandboxes, building houses, and from sand dunes are somewhat coarser, which it makes great to use it is a screened off corner or half your gerbil cage. Besides to use for a sand bath, gerbils can use this sand also to dig burrows in. A disadvantage of sand for building houses and from dunes is that you will be not sure if it is clean or polluted. It can contain toxic matter or can be infected with diseases brought in by rodents living in the wild. So be sure it is clean before using this kind of sand! Sand for sandboxes is normally clean, because normally little children have to play in it safely. To be really sure that you purchase clean sandbox sand, you will have to purchase only this sand when it is in a closed plastic bag. You can of course recycle this sand also after sifting it, and again after 3 times recycling, you'll have to renew it."
