Kritter Keeper

Available under many brand names, a Kritter Keeper is a small plastic box with a detachable lid that is excellent for transporting gerbils or for briefly holding them while their tank is cleaned.

These can be purchased for $6-10 online or in pet stores. In addition to the obvious uses mentioned earlier, Kritter Keepers can be useful for separating two fighting gerbils, or for restricting movement of an injured animal.

You may well want one just to contain your gerbils when you first bring them home. Gerbils will not respect the thin cardboard box pet stores often use to send rodents home with buyers, and may quickly chew their way through such a box while travelling home in your car. A Kritter Keeper in at least the medium size will work; the small size is too small for gerbils.

As with any purchase for pets, a few cautions are in order. Don't lift the Kritter Keeper by the handles, as lids are often difficult to secure and the contents, gerbils included, may crash to the floor. Don't leave gerbils in a Kritter Keeper around cats or dogs for any length of time. By simply shoving this lightweight carrier off a counter, a predator can cause the lid to pop off, freeing your gerbil to meet their predator.