Picking a wheel

Your gerbil may or may not like to run on his/her wheel, but there is such a variety it is quite hard to say that your gerbil dislikes the wheel. Personally, my two gerbils really have no use for the wheel and just poo on it, even if we put treats on the top or peanut butter on the wheel, they just cannot be bothered.

One of the main factors that people overlook about wheels is how big they are and what they are made of. No matter how big your gerbil may look, every gerbil needs a 7 or 7.5 minimum size wheel. The reason behind this is because the tail might get bent over when they are running and can break the back, leaving you are your gerbil in serious trouble. You can get flying saucer wheels or your general 'hamster' wheel but the most important thing is the size and the material. Plastic wheels are a no-go (see here) and so are wheels with metal rungs/stripes that stick out from the wheel for safety reasons and just for the fact of how painful that would be. The best wheels are mesh ones (let me rephrase, mesh wheels with tiny little holes not the ones with gaping holes, a picture will be put down below on a correct wheel).

This is very controversial, as long as you find a safe mesh wheel with little holes that their feet cannot get stuck in. For example here is a good mesh wheel and here is a bad mesh wheel. Notice the price difference too, it is better to spend that extra £5 then to lose your little gerbil. Plastic wheels are ok as long as you put them in for half an hour, let them run around in it and then take it out, watching all the while that they don't start gnawing on it.