YES you can use sand. I use sand for my boys and shaving for my girls. I love the sand, however no they cannot burrow in it, not very well anyway, so you will need to give then cradbord to chew up they will chew up so well and use it for a nest, it makes a very warm soft nest for them. make sure you use playground sand, the stuff meant for kids sandboxes, and you will need a screen cover on the tank as gerbils jump lol make sure the screen cover is tight as I had to replace my boys water bottle with a dish because they were using the water bottle to climb up and push open the screen and off they went. they are VERY clever little creatures. they are good for kids as they are neither diaturnal nor nocturnal they simpley sleep when the kids are not playing with them lol and they only bit if they feel threatend. and yes they are very clean critters. I have had gerbils almost my whole life and I used to breed them so if you have any questions feel free to ask