Their digestive systems extract water from food and their kidneys reabsorb water from their urine. Gerbils also have specially adapted bones in their noses that condense water vapor from the air before the animal breathes out. In this way, essential moisture is retained. Gerbils in the wild can cause damage by raiding grain crops and by burrowing in irrigation ditches and building foundations. In these instances, they are often trapped or poisoned by people.
Gerbils are mostly vegetarian in their feeding habits.
They exist on roots, stalks, leaves, flowers, and seeds of the plants that are found in their desert habitats. Many of those plants are succulents which provide the gerbil with all the moisture it needs. Gerbils store seeds and other less perishable plant parts in their burrows or under rocks located near their burrows. The Great Gerbil is known to store as much as 130 pounds of food in a special chamber in its burrow. The Monogolian gerbil is a very popular pet.