Although they live in their own burrow Indian Gerbils engage in social activity with other gerbils, they will chase, box and wrestle. Indian Gerbils produce simple burrows. Usually consisting of several entrances drooping steeply down one to three feet to a single chamber. A tunnel ending a few millimetres from the surface. In an emergency the gerbil can break through this thin crust of soil and escape from the burrow if cornered.
Predation is mainly by birds of prey such as owls and kites.
Although snakes and monitor lizards will sometimes take gerbils, as will cats and foxes, studies of stomach contents show that gerbils are only very rarely taken by these animals. Females, and even older youngsters, can be cannibalistic. Especially if disturbed when the litter is very young. Being a very aggressive species with known carnivorous tendencies it is thought that in the wild large numbers of young are killed by other Indian Gerbils when they first leave the burrow. The Indian Gerbil was once widely kept in the UK but fell from grace when the Syrian Hamster became a common pet in the 1950s.