Once you and your family have chosen your pet’s home bedding and plenty of toys, there are a couple of essential items to purchase before he comes home – not least of all a hamster cage. Top of the list is a feeding bowl and a water bottle. A gerbil will need plenty of food such as a gerbil mix. However, small animals such as gerbils love to eat wheat, oats and barley – with a few sunflower seeds thrown in as a treat.

Dried grass pellets in his hamster cage and a few handfuls of pumpkin seeds all add up to your pet gerbil keeping in good health. Sunflower seeds are a favourite food, although too many can give them an upset stomach or make them fat. Other treats are bits of celery, carrot, turnip and apples.

Remember to check every day hamster cages every day that your pet has fresh water with an added vitamin supplement if there is a shortage of fruit in his diet. A gerbil’s teeth should not be visible when their mouth is closed. Give your pet a mineral stone to help him keep his teeth in good order and avoid at all costs giving him any hay as it will damage his pouch. Symptoms that will warn you that your pet is off colour is listlessness, hair not ruffled and signs of mucus around his eyes and moth. Food left in his bowl is an indication that something is wrong.

At Ideas-4-pets we are able to provide hamster cages, help with pet care for small animals such as gerbils, hamsters and mice. We also provide other pet supplies such as dog beds, rabbit hutches and parrot cages.