Pet gerbils produce fertile soil amendments. Gerbils shave cardboard tubes into micro magic pieces. Gerbils love a daily diet of cardboard. They don't ingest the cardboard. They simply shred it. It's a natural act for gerbils. It helps to keep their teeth from growing too long. Spring time is the birth of planting season. Promote rapid growth by adding amendments. A gerbil can provide a wealth of goodness. Your garden soil will welcome the addition.
Quality Cardboard:
Be sure to feed your gerbil a diet of quality cardboard. This may sound absurd. Truth is not all cardboard is created equal. Harm can come to your gerbil and soil if fed a constant diet of ink filled products. Many boxes are inked with dangerous chemicals. Some are soy-based so not to worry. Telling the difference is a chore to the unexpert eye. Gather boxes with the least amount of ink and tear off the advertisements. Turning the tear off sections into cubby holes for the gerbil to explore. It's just a matter of time before the gerbil will shred the box and create a wealth of compost to add to the garden soil.
Gerbil Masses:
Stands to reason. One gerbil can provide a nice pile of soil additives. Gerbils are happy in groups of three. Three gerbils that have been raised together will produce mass amounts of soil amendments. Save the shavings all winter long-in a covered can. When you clean their home, usually once a week-save the shavings for spring time planting. They add up fast.
Cost Effective:
Gerbils are fun pets and they can cut the cost on buying soil additives. Lots of goodness in the shavings, return it back to the earth. Remove the gerbils from their home to a safe keeper. You can scoop out the used bedding to your barrel. Another fast and easy method is to use a wet and dry vacuum and suck it out. If you scoop be sure to wear gloves for your protection.
Digging Deep:
Once the soil is ready to be worked--dig the gerbil amendment into your soil bed. You only have to go down a few inches to harvest great results. The worms will take care of the rest. You can also layer the gerbil compost as a top coat. Water it down to help it stay put. You can add more as the weeks progress and you save more gerbil shredded magic. Healthy soil will produce a beautiful flower garden. Using gerbil enriched compost is a great savings and a fantastic recycle project.
Published by RaddWrites
Mother of one son. Working in retail for over 30 years. Artist in wide variety of medium. Extreme gardening is my passion. Writing is my outlet. View profile
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- Gerbils are fun pets and they can cut the cost on buying soil additives.
- Adding compost enriched by gerbils will promote rapid growth.
- Use a wet/dry vac to collect the shavings.






12 Comments
Post a CommentThank you for the great information!
great review...enjoyed reading and what a cute picture..;)
Wow!!!
Very interesting methods, and outstanding ideas. Thanks.
Interesting idea. Cute picture too.
What an excellent idea! I've never thought of it. Thanks Antonette!
I always wondered what gerbils were good for ...... lol. Good Job Miss Antonette ken
That is a fantastic idea!
Creative recycling!
What an interesting concept!