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OK yes I know its nothing to do with bikes but you lot know alot about alot!
Has anyone here had any experience of gerbils as pets please? We have 2 girls aged 8 and 10.5 and are thinking of a pair of gerbils as a family pet. We thought about Syrian hamsters but 2 would fight and it seems sad to have to have 2 separate cages for them so are considering gerbils as a pair.
I am slightly concerned about how handleable they will be? The girls are sensible and would be supervised with them but would definitely want to be able to hold/stroke them. Is this possible with gerbils or do they move too fast?
Any experience/tips would be very much appreciated - thanks team.
Guy at work got Gerbils as Hamsters pish constantly and stink. Or I may have got that completely the wrong way around, worth checking!
I had both as a kid.
The gerbil Brat was a pain in the hoop so bloody fast that getting him out the cage was awkward and catching him if he was out was a worse.
Hamsters Pansy and Stan where great though you could always catch them.
We also had two at once in separate cages* they were fine. They are solitary animals it's not an issue.
*Massive fishtanks with earth and everything with an old cage up top with a ladder. Watching the tunnelling was fantastic and way more interesting for them than a cage.
pish constantly and stink
They do stink if not cleaned enough. I can't remember the gerbil for that, probably was better.
For what it's worth I think as cute as they are they are rubbish pets. I don't imagine the breeding for them is particularly fun for them. They were far more entertaining in the tanks whatching them do their thing. But getting them out a Nd "playing with them" must be pretty traumatic looking back and chasing them out the piano is problematic
Rats are much better to handle and play with.
Syrian Hamsters are very territorial and are very much happy by themselves, while at least Dwarf Russian Hamsters are social and do well together, we've had both. However, our Dwarf Russian pair of brothers had the potential to be like grease lightning when they wanted to be and weren't very keen at all at being handled, while our Syrians were generally quite docile.
Active from early evening to erly morning, so not great for youngsters.
Never had gerbils but I think they are very social, so I'd be looking at more than two.
Hamsters at least need frequent cleaning unless your nose isn't functioning!
A long time ago we had gerbils. they made great pets but I don't think we handled them much
Gerbils are very active, you'd want a much bigger cage than you would have for say a hamster or a mouse/rat.
Have you considered a rat?
Gerbils are ace, my sister and I had one each. I had Gizmo and she had Fudgee, they lived happily for about a year together and then Gizmo ate Fudgee and my dad found her half eaten remains in the cage 😂. Obviously we only found this out many years after the event.
Gizmo was a badass.
If you get gerbils don't use a cage - use a fish tank filled with a suitable substrate for burrowing. When I used to keep them in my teens/early 20s I used a mix of peat and wood shavings but that was 30 years ago so not sure what the current recommendation is.
Both gerbils and hamsters are equally good/bad to handle - they just need handling regularly and correctly.
If space is an issue you could look at dwarf hamsters - they are so cute and slightly better with handling.
If they happen to get bored of it I have a healthy collection of snakes that like various rodents.
Other than that they are great little pets although I always preferred hamsters. Out of all the smaller rodents though I'd go for a rat these days. Highly intelligent and the closest of them all of being able to form a bond with their owner.
We have a pair of male gerbils now, had them for about two years. My kids were 8 & 10 when we got them.
For tiny creatures it surprises me how different they are to each other, the dominant one is twice as fat, and when they were new the dominant one had a tendency to nip, occasionally drawing blood. My daughter (now 10) handles them no problem, she even lets them roam around her bedroom for fun, after plugging under-door gaps etc so they don't disappear. They key to handling them is to do it frequentky so they know its not a threat.
The kids change the bedding and clean the deck in the cage where they drop their droppings about once a fortnight, may more frequently. No smells, and the cage (gerbilarium!) stays in the boys room. I think 3-4 years is avg life span?
TBH the kids tired of the gerbils a little bit after the puppy turned up last year!
Wow - fast replies!
Space isn't an issue re gerbils and I was thinking a modified aquarium.
Rat issue is the smell - they are apparently rather fragrant???
I had 2 pairs of gerbils when I was younger. I preferred them to hamsters as they need less cleaning out and they’re interesting to watch if you keep them in a fish tank with sawdust in. They loved that and would spend ages tunnelling into the sawdust to make themselves a little place to sleep. They’re also awake during the day where hamsters are largely nocturnal.
I handled my gerbils fairly often and after the initial getting used to me process they were quite happy being picked up. I’d block off half of my bedroom and let them have a run around from time to time. They are quick though!
My sister had one of those miniature Russian hamsters - that thing was vicious. No amount of handling would stop it trying to take your finger off if you dared to try and pick it up / so anything with its cage.
Edit - gerbils don’t tend to smell much at all - especially vs hamsters or mice. Because gerbils are desert animals they don’t drink much water so don’t wee a huge amount.
Rats are very clean animals. They do not smell any more than gerbils, perhaps even less. Mice though - stinky ****ers
Hoppy Jr has 2 female gerbils, got them about 2 months ago. They're fairly painless to look after, quiet, don't smell too much and are easy to handle. Hamsters are more bitey, the gerbils don't really and if they do it doesn't hurt.
Ours are happy enough running around on you if you pick them up and will sit on your shoulder. They aren't at the stage where they will come to you but don't object to being picked up. We got a paddling pool type pen to let them out to run around which works well with Jr as he could sit in with them whilst they got used to him without the risk of them escaping round the room.
Had gerbils as a kid, ok but a bit boring. Great for shredding down packaging after Xmas though! Had part time rats from my mum's school over holiday periods and they were absolutely brill, very sociable and you can train them to come over to you of you let them out for a roam.
Be prepared for the constant barrage of night time racket that comes from keeping nocturnal rodents as pets.
We've had 4 different Syrian hamsters over the years and they all ended up banished from the kids rooms because of the constant noise at night.
All pet rodents need pretty constant cleaning out.
Get a Guinea Pig instead. They have much more character and make excellent pets.
I had gerbils many years back and never again despite trying to handle them and be active with them they were nothing but viscous and a nightmare to catch. I wasn't sad to see them eventually pass.
We had a few periods of rats, females are less smelly, and they're ace as pets friendly, inquisitive and no hassle. Sadly like all small mammals they don't live too long and you do get attached to them.
If space isn't an issue, how about chinchillas? They live much longer and are fascinating to watch too.
Be prepared for the constant barrage of night time racket that comes from keeping nocturnal rodents as pets.
Gerbils aren't nocturnal which is a bonus. Ours are most active in the afternoon/evening which works well for when he has time to get them out.
If space isn’t an issue, how about chinchillas? They live much longer and are fascinating to watch too.
Are they not very much nocternal though? cute as they are maybe not the best pet.
We've had Hamsters, Rats and Guinea Pigs.
The Rats were the stinkiest, but lots of fun to play with. All in all, I'd say Guinea Pigs were my favourite - happy to be handled and relatively chilled.
Are they not very much nocternal though? cute as they are maybe not the best pet.
Same as hamsters and most other rodents though.
mrs I is against guineas.
Looks like gerbils v rats... will put it to the family council....!!
mrhoppy - any issues re gerbil tails and kids grabbing them?
Guinea pigs seem the most docile, we've had some for 12 years, the sole survivor now will be the last.
If you want to be able to handle them then you need to handle them regularly.
The kids will get bored and not want to clean them out after about 2 months.
No, he's been told not to do that and he's very careful, biggest issue was one took a flying jump off his head but it bounced fortunately.
Indoor guinea pigs in your main living room, in a group of 3+ and a run footprint of ~5'x4'+, are very entertaining and will be great for handling. Not to mention they usually live at least twice as long as the typical hamster.
It's been quite strange in chez NOTG for the past ~4 months, as the last of our guinea pig girls passed away, we had kept 2-4 at different times in our lounge for ~10 years. While we've regained a lot of lounge, we both miss having them around, but we are trying to be restrained and wait until we hopefully move this year before getting some more.
Capybara?
While we’ve regained a lot of lounge, we both miss having them around
At least you'll be able to open your fridge in silence.
Rats, Hamsters and Rabbits are more social as pets
We currently only have one small rabbit, lives in the garden most of the time but comes in the house every day uses a tray and runs around and falls asleep on us/floor, goes back out for nighttime where he has his own little house.
Yeah we have a rabbit too (we had two but one died in the summer). The surviving one has an insulated hutch connected to a wind and rain proofed run leading to a fully exposed wire run. Some six or so metres all in - in terms of sq ft-age for his size, I think he is better off than the humans in the house 🙂
He also has a lead so my girls can walk him around the garden 🙂
My daughter has a house rabbit. Brilliant pet and full of personality. Has a litter tray which she uses unless she gets annoyed, cue dirty protest! She loves sitting on the couch with my daughter and her partner of an evening, chilling in front of the TV. Other than that, I'd recommend gerbils. Great pets. Hamsters can be a bit bitey. Rats are also awesome but not for everyone...
We had rats, re the smell we put litter trays where they go to the toilet and spot cleaned these areas, we found if you over cleaned the whole cage/area they scent marked, when it comes to cleaning less is more.
My son even trained them to come to him when called,they knew their own names. Hilarious watching them run upstairs when called.
I was against the idea at first but they make great pets for kids, hamsters tend to be asleep when the kids are awake.
You need a minimum of 2 as they are social animals, the only disadvantage is they don't live that long, even with a really good diet your lucky to get three years. Like all pets its heartbreaking when they move to Devon.
Guinea pigs are the best rodent, you have to convince Mrs I!
Rats FTW. Guinea pigs are cute but noisy.
But the noise is HANDS DOWN the best.
Wooooooootwooootwooootwoooot.
I used to have gerbils for many years - great pets(you need at least a pair) - don't smell and site there toilet away from their sleeping den unlike hamsters. Hardly ever bite in my experience - they give you a warning nip and if you ignore that then they can bite like a bastard. Remember trying to shake a gerbil that had clamped itself to my finger , blood was pissing out everywhere from the teeth had punctured the finger. I always found that on average males were easier to keep - females seemed to fight more often. I found them relatively easy to handle. If you put them down on the floor they either faint (don't like open spaces and pretend to be dead)or run round like maniacs. I had one who was an escape artist and he could turn up anywhere. I remember one night he'd gotten into my quilt and as i lay there this lump moved inside the quilt towards my head- nearly shat myself. I had one would climb out of his tank and wander round the floor for a wander. If you'd just eaten your dinner and put the plate on the floor he'd eat the leftovers before hopping back into his tank. Quite funny when i'd had a bolognese and this white gerbil was half stained red on his belly. You need an old aquarium and a decent lid to stop them escaping and a constant supply of toilet roll inners as they like chewing (everything so no plastic habitats unless you want to find them running run the floor or passed out . I quite often think of getting more gerbils but my cats a killer. i read somewhere that gerbils were the ideal pets for young children because they don't mind being handled and are not as bitey and unsociable as hamsters who can be quite vicous -( my mother had one and my previous cat was shit scared of it and this was a cat that attacked dogs) They also don't stink like mice. they are also usually diurnal to an extent though most active at night.
I did have a Jird - which is like a large gerbil. Hated it - it kept on escaping and was very bitey. I don't think they like living solo.
If you want any info on keeping gerbils let me know.
Had gerbils as a child. I loved them, great fun but serious escape artists. They spent quite a bit of time lost inside the old gas fire and behind the oven... thinking about it maybe they were lemmings...it was the 80's
Have owned a wide array of creatures, if you think hamsters smell then don't own ferrets....wow! I vote Guinea Pigs or Rats. Guinea Pigs are one of the few I haven't owned mostly because the space was taken up by the rabbit! You can find proper breeders of rats to get all sort of varieties and colours... check out blue dumbos! Therefore, you can get them when they're nice and young and handle them plenty and they'll become very sociable. I personally think for kids the increased size of rats and guinea pigs may mean that they interest lasts longer as they become more of a responsibility which I dont think is a bad thing for kids.
Another vote for Guinea Pigs being way cooler and cuter than rats/gerbils..
Degu?
Degu?
Station? Yup Gizmo was all about that life.
I had a pair of gerbils as a kid. Went in one day to see that one of them had murdered the other leaving a gory red mess in the corner. It wasn't a pretty sight. I didn't like the other one after that.
These are "the boys" as I call then collectively.
Individually,Fatboy and Slim.
The are Degus.
I kind of got them unofficially as they belonged to my (adult) son but due to him moving flat etc etc I ended up with them. Much to my annoyance initially...
Now? I've told my son there'll be a custody battle if he wants them back.😂 They chatter to each other in a way you would think little mammals simply couldn't do, continually try and hump each other, chew EVERYTHING apart from the "toys" I buy them to chew... and I love the little buggers to death.
They aren't nocturnal (a good thing) live around 9 years and the noises and chattering sounds they make are amazing to hear. Like mini synthesisers. A search on YouTube will allow you to hear what I mean!
They now live in a huge, huge cage that's taller than me and as wide as a wardrobe. That said, I hate caging animals in general so they are allowed out for a few hours a day. During said time they basically attempt to eat any inanimate object they can get at.😁
They show me no effection at all and basically look at me as a useful idiot that feeds them.😂
Oh, they've probably resulted in more genuine LOL moments than anything else since we've had them! They are bloody great to have around this year I can tell you.
P.S. The hammock they are in looks structurally unsafe as they chewed through one of the supporting straps...
Which reminds me of this a little:
Thank you all - the girls are pretty set on gerbils now so the next step is to get an aquarium/gerbilarium together and get some critters!!
bobgarrod - I'd take any tips with thanks!!
Used to have Gerbils for many years. fun little pets. And quite long lived for little animals. Normally we'd get 4-5 years with them (we have rats now, and its such a shame that for such lovely creatures they are only with you for 18-24months)
As others have said - an old fish tank filled with digging material is great as they love to burrow. they need to naw to keep their teeth in check, they'll devourer a toilet roll in a couple of mins (cut into little crescent moon shapes) any paper you need shredding, they'll happily oblige. when young they'll live in bigger groups, but till declan as they get older, but will be fine in pairs or 3s.
We ended up with 21 gerbils at one stage, after helping out a rescue... we took a group of v.young boys from a group that had been dumped on this lady's doorstep, but when we double checked the sex we had 1 girl - so we ended up going and just taking the lot off her hands (she mostly dealt with hamsters) We have plenty of tanks sitting idle if your near to Rossendale, as we dont have any gerbils ATM (and we're prob never going to be needing to house 21 again in groups of 2 and 3)
Gerbils can be handled, but they are lightening fast and very skittish. The most you can really do with some of them is to have a mound of food in the palm of your hand and stay still... they'll eventually pluck up the courage to venture out and sit in your hand to eat.
they dont pee a lot, nor do they drink a lot. love sunflower seeds (makes em fat)... and crickets & moths.
Earlier comments on rats smell - it depends. We have 8 male rats currently. dont notice a smell unless they've been on certain foods (never giving them sprouts again!) 6 of them came from a lady who found she couldnt cope with the smell of them, but we think she was over cleaning them and she'd also brought some small animal shampoo when we picked them up... so they were probably just over compensating on the sent marking. We have one lad who gets very excited and pees when he's running up your arm. Can walk around the house with them on your shoulder (or up a baggy long sleeve) Friends let theirs free roam all round their office room (even have little steps down to the floor for them) Rats need a big cage to move around in and things to climb, chew and hide in so they do take up a lot more space than what gerbils need... but it can be vertical space for rats.
One thing with gerbils - they do tend to wage war on the water bottle - love to naw at the soft plastic of the bit that holds the spout. for one gerbil we ended up enclosing it in chicken wire as she'd chew threw a bottle in days.