Gerbil Taming Outside Cage

Once you have gained the trust of your gerbil inside its cage, you will be ready to let them run around your room and explore further, while you now have a small bond, your gerbil will not be so frightened if you approach it with your hands.

It is very enjoyable to watch your gerbil walk up to you, take a sniff, have a look around and a little play, then run off again. Once they have come accustom to you and they recognise you as their carer they will show very little or no fear towards you.
Always avoid any quick movements when your gerbil is playing outside of its cage, especially when coming out of the cage is new to the gerbil. You must be very careful not to step on them as you will most likely crush them causing serious injury, children should be informed about the dangers of accidentally stepping on the gerbil and should behave very cautiously. Also watch out for people opening doors onto the gerbil, let everyone in the house know that the gerbil is out to play and to be careful.

When you let the gerbil out onto the floor, squat or lie down so you are closer to their level, you will find that as they explore they make frequent return visits to you and may even start to climb up your clothing. You can take advantage of these moments, as it will be easy to pick them up and put them back in their cage if they are clung onto you.

Most injuries with gerbils occur outside of the cage. Gerbils enjoy climbing so you should look for things that could be easily to climb and move them, if you notice your gerbil has managed to get onto a table top or shelf then calmly pick them up and place them back on ground level, it is important not to panic as this could in turn cause the gerbil to panic. Gerbils know what they are capable of and will not usually take risks that could cause them injury, that said it is easy for accidents to happen and even small falls of a few feet could cause fatal injury.

One thing to look out for is how it could be extremely ticklish if your gerbil was to crawl up your sleeve or shirt, this could in turn cause you to react quickly and grab the gerbil too hard. While you would not mean to hurt the gerbil you would be surprised at how often this happens, so be very careful. Keep an eye out for containers that contain water such as a bucket or vase, gerbils can easily climb up and fall being unable to escape, act cautiously and these situations will be avoided.