Gerbils are small and quick creatures that can be really difficult to catch when they escape their cages. If your gerbil ever escapes, there are a variety of methods you can use to get it back. These include luring it with food, cornering it, and trapping it with a humane trap. If you play your cards right, you can quickly and carefully catch your gerbil and return it to its rightful home.
Part 1. Locating the Gerbil
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Contain the gerbil in 1 room. If your gerbil escapes in front of you, don't let it get out of the room you are in. If you spot the gerbil as you are trying to find it, shut the door of the room that it is in. Cornering the gerbil in a single room will make catching it much easier.[1]
If you don't see the gerbil escape and you don't know where it is, then you can't assume it is in the same room that you last saw it in.
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Ask someone to help you. It can be a lot easier to catch a gerbil on the loose if you have someone to help you do it. Another person can help you search for the animal, corner it, and close off cages or traps before the gerbil escapes again.
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Check a wide variety of places. Gerbils that escape often look for a nook or cranny to huddle in. This means you often need to search all over the room they escaped into before you can find them.[2]
If the gerbil escapes in a room that contains accessible food, such as the kitchen, look in food areas that the gerbil could reach first.
Lay down on the floor and look under all of the furniture in the room.
Look in piles of clothes and other areas where gerbils might think they can comfortably nest.
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Look for signs of the gerbil's movement. To track down a gerbil that is missing and has not been spotted, you should look for signs of where it has traveled. Look for feces, urine, or chewed items, basically anything that shows that the gerbil has traveled through an area. This will narrow down your search area.[3]
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Eliminate areas as you search. As you narrow down the search area, block off areas that have no sign that the gerbil has traveled through them. By closing off areas, you will ensure that the gerbil cannot get into those areas as it tries to evade you.
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Check the stairs. Gerbils may be found upstairs, as they can jump very high to climb the stairs, but then are often too scared to jump down stairs. This means that they can get caught on individual stairs.
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Try to keep the gerbil away from hazards. If you see the gerbil and are trying to corner it, don't move it towards hazards, such as steep drops, toxins, or wires the animal can easily chew through. Cornering it towards these types of areas might create a risk to its health.[4]
A gerbil cornered towards a steep drop could go off a ledge by accident just because it is scared and confused.
Also, be sure to keep possible hazards away from the gerbil. For example, keep other pets out of the area.
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Keep the gerbil contained, even if you need to take a break. If you need to leave while your gerbil is still on the loose, be sure that you keep it as contained as possible. Close doors and windows and make sure that anyone else that lives in your home knows not to let the gerbil out.[5]
If you just need to leave the room to get tools for catching the gerbil, try to find someone to watch the animal while you are gone. Having someone stay in the room will allow you to keep track of where the gerbil is.
