Travel the tank as it stands, burrows and all
A fat-tailed gerbil's tank is a dug landscape of tunnels and chambers, and packing for a sitter week starts with keeping that landscape intact. If the tank can travel safely, move it as it is: secure the lid, remove anything heavy that could slide and collapse a burrow, and carry the water bottle separately so it cannot leak over the substrate in transit. Rehousing a duprasi into a clean, flat cage for the week strips out its shelter system and invites a stressed, exposed animal that will not settle. Your packing list should therefore be dominated by maintenance supplies, the things a sitter needs to keep the existing setup running, rather than by replacement housing.
Food portions with the fatty seeds held back
Pack seven days of gerbil mix with the measure your gerbil actually gets, written on the tub and with the scoop packed inside. For a fat-tailed gerbil, portion discipline is the whole game: this species banks surplus food as fat in its tail and body, and a sitter feeding by eye will overdo the sunflower seeds and other rich pieces the gerbil picks out first. Add a small, clearly limited treat supply, such as a few dried insects for protein on set days, and write the limit down rather than leaving the whole bag. Note on the instructions that stashed food in the burrows is normal, so an empty bowl at the morning check does not mean an extra helping is owed.
Dry substrate for topping up, never for soaking
The substrate supply is the most species-specific item in the bag. Pack enough of the same dry digging material your gerbil lives on to replace the soiled toilet corner daily and restore depth where tunnels have settled, because duprasi dig constantly and a week of digging flattens the landscape. Emphasise in the notes that top-ups go in dry: no dampened handfuls, no washed-and-still-wet bedding, and no full clean-out during the stay. A fat-tailed gerbil comes from arid country, and damp housing is a fast route to a chilled, unwell animal. If your gerbil has a particular toilet corner, mark its position in the notes so the sitter cleans the right spot and leaves the sleeping chamber buried and undisturbed.
Sand bath, gnawing stock, and the spare bottle
The sand bath is essential grooming equipment for a fat-tailed gerbil, keeping its coat free of grease, so pack the bath with its sand plus a small bag of spare sand for sieving and topping up across the week. If the bath lives outside the tank and is offered daily, that routine belongs in the written notes with its timing. Gnawing supplies should be packed in quantity: plain cardboard boxes and tubes, wooden chews, and anything your gerbil habitually works on, because teeth grow continuously and a week without gnawing material ends with the tank fittings being chewed instead. Round the kit out with a tested spare water bottle; desert species drink little, but a stuck spout still matters, and the swap should take seconds.
Written notes: tail check, handling, and contacts
The paper layer for a fat-tailed gerbil should lead with the condition check only this species offers: the tail is a fat store, plump when the gerbil is thriving, so the sitter glances at it daily and reports any sudden thinning. Follow with handling guidance, scoop from below with cupped hands, never lift by the tail, and expect a calmer, slower animal than a Mongolian gerbil, with long naps that are not illness. Close with the call triggers: not eating, a damaged tail, fluffed hunched stillness through its active hours, or loose droppings, plus your number and the exotic vet's. Recording the kit in KinsLe's Care Pass lets your sitter tick off the mix, the dry substrate, and the sand against the list while your gerbil is still settling in.