The Mongolian Gerbil is the best known, and most widely kept pet Gerbil around the world today. With their social, curious behavior it is no surprise that these fuzzy little creatures have been delighting children and adults for years.

The Mongolian Gerbil is an intelligent and highly social creature, which is greatly at ease interacting with humans. Their intelligent behavior allows each individual Mongolian Gerbil to express his unique personality. Out of all gerbils the Mongolian Gerbil is the most suitable and most widely kept. In the wild, the Gerbil is a burrowing creature and therefore his cage should have burrowing materials. Good commercial bedding is sold for hamsters and gerbils.

The Mongolian Gerbil's wild type color is agouti. Agouti means he is golden brown with a black ticked fur pattern. This pattern is Agouti. Because he has been kept and raised domestically for decades, many new color morphs have appeared. Some of these include; a medley of argente varieties of golden, cream, agouti variations of golden, gray, and colourpoint. In addition the Mongolian is also seen in white varieties such as the dark tailed, pink eyed white, ruby eyed white and dark eyed white, as well as other standard colors such as dove, nutmeg, blue fox, lilac, black, blue, sapphire, dark eyed honey, and white bellied cream. There are still more color variations of this wonderful gerbil. Overall there are 20 different color mutations. The Mongolian Gerbil typically weighs between four and five ounces at maturity and will generally grow to almost six inches in length. The Mongolian Gerbil is generally less expensive to purchase than other less common varieties.

Originating in Mongolia, the predecessors of today's domestic Mongolian Gerbil were first captured in the wild in 1935. They were first introduced into the United States about 30 years ago. In the wild the Mongolian Gerbil lives in the Xilinhot area of Mongolia. This area is a tropical steppe with thin grassy covering, herbs, shrubs and sandy soil. Wild gerbils eat primarily roots and seeds. Since the domestic Mongolian Gerbil has been kept for many years there are some differences between the wild type and the domestic. They wild type are not as easy to handle, they have larger eyes, longer ears and heads, and they have darker feet and display more yellow on their bellies. In addition the wild type has a more prominent tail tuft and thicker overall fur.

Mongolian Gerbils are easy to care for. They urinate very little because they drink so little. They don't have much of a smell, and what smell they do have is reminiscent of cedar. They eat regular commercial hamster, rat or mouse food.

Respiratory problems and allergic reactions in Mongolian Gerbils (and other rodents) have been associated with the use of pine and/or cedar bedding material. The oils in these softwoods are what make them so desirable for their pleasant smell, but it is also what causes irritation in the gerbils. The most common symptom is a sore, bloody looking nose. In order to avoid this problem many breeders recommend using paper based products, or hard woods such as aspen, or even corncob bedding.

Gerbils breed very easily and mate for life. The female is ready to mate again within about 24 hours after giving birth and gestation is about 30 days, so she could have a litter a month if you let her! If you don't want them to breed, it is best to get two males or two females. Littermates are best since introductions of gerbils as adults do not always go so well. If introducing two unrelated gerbils, it is best done while they are still pups. If one is an adult, it is better that the other one be a pup; the adult will be a lot less likely to fight with a baby. It should be noted that the split-cage method of introducing males to females, as well as same sex pairs is reported to be quite successful.

It has been reported that mother gerbils can and will eat their litter when subjected to stress, even if they are experienced. Mothers should be monitored closely. Male Gerbils are exceptional parents and will care for pups from other litters, early weanings, and even rejected pups from similar species, if they are kept seperately from the female.