I tried the gerbil approach a while back and while they're a lot cuter and less smelly than mice...the fact that they only had 4-6 babies per litter wasn't all that great. So if that isn't a problem for you, I'd say go for it.
Most times than not, the mothers are horrible and the babies if not used immediately end up dying of starvation. At least at my own 5 attempts. Had I not had a female rat with babies of her own, the baby gerbils would have surely perished.
If it works for you, and hopefully it will, good. =)
The only thing about gerbils is that you want to offer them dead to the snake. Live feedings with gerbils is not recommended because unlike mice, they have the knowledge and ability to do serious harm to your snake. They will openly attack and if you've ever been bitten, it makes a nasty bite on a finger, let alone a snake's head.
I think any feeder rodent is as good as the food that you feed it. I would stay away from most of the "gerbil" diets out there, as they're mostly fatty seeds which create unhealthy rodents. A good lab block diet with a few seeds a day to suppliment would be a much better choice. Most seed diets claim they're "vitamin and mineral enriched"....yeah, the shell of the seed is, but nothing eats that. Get the idea? You want your rodents to actually eat the vitamins and minerals, not just chew through it and eat the inside. =)
