Gerbils

Skynet5

Skynet5

Skynet5

Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2009
Posts
4,915
Location
Cheshire
My boy is 7.

He wants Gerbils.

Is this a good pet?

Not sure he is old enough to appreciate the work that might be involved, even though I understand them to be pretty easy.
 
Delvis said:
Better than a hamster, less likely to bite.

Just get a decent cage where you can put lots of sawdust in so they can tunnel into it, loud of cardboard to chew etc

This is one of the better cheap cages https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/gerbilarium?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&cm_mmc=Google-_-CPC-_-%20google_shopping-_-google_shopping&ita=1976&ito=google_shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&&cm_mmc=&ito=GAG43872589883&itc=GAC206581566393&itkw=nil&itaexid=&itawnw=search&itawmt=&itadvc=m&gclid=CjwKCAjwzPXlBRAjEiwAj_XTER2CNVmg7xms_Q5fY_DsiS-D6PZUQKHJRkr_BPAGbk65Ct6IXW3x9hoCaUoQAvD_BwE

Would rather something larger still
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I've looked at omlet and zooplus eco habitat.

And also a cage at petsathome.

I'm hoping my lad will be happy to clean out every fortnight (I think that is all that's needed) and feed and water every day.

He says he will....but...

I'm hoping in a way it might make him grow up a little. He is only 7, but sometime...grrrr
 
Yeah, just be prepared to do stuff sometimes.

There poop is generally quite dry, they don't drink or eat a terrible amount but still. Possibly better to get a pair as well.
 
Gerbils are great but if you get a boy and a girl, you’ll have lots of gerbils very quickly. I know this from experience even though the pet shop owner assured us that they were both boys.

Once we got that all sorted out, we became very good at sexing them and soon had two cages for them. Girl gerbils are very good at escaping and unless you have a glass tank, they’ll almost certainly get out somehow.

And no. He’s seven. It doesn’t matter what he says, you’ll be the one cleaning them out, feeding and watering them.

But they are fun pets and are much better than hamsters. They’re not nocturnal, they’re active during the day and providing you interact with them regularly, they’ll trust you, eat out of your hands and let you touch them.
 
Thanks all.

Yeah I'm fully prepared to do the cleaning and feeding, and expect to. Hoping he does his bit though.

So we have a cat. British Lilac. Could be interesting.
 
My daughter (8) has gerbils. Very easy to keep and she only needs help with emptying the gerbilarium. We also bought a small tray which we put on the top shelf, they use it as a toilet and it makes it very easy to take out their waste and clean up.

The gerbilarium we bought has a glass tank and solid metal sheet platforms and ladders - as there is supposedly a risk with wire racks/ladders that they slip and hurt a leg.

Easy to handle, don't bite much and don't smell. We do however keep them in a different room to my son's corn snake!
 
When I had gerbils as pets as a kid, my parents got an old fish tank to keep them in, half filled with a big bag of sawdust and (small) mesh lid and they were happy tunnelling away.
 
Any pics or links would be good.

I've said we need to focus on making the gerbil home first, so the little guys have a nice place to go in to when they come home. He is busily adding stuff to his Amazon cart. Not that he has an account :)

Is petsathome really the only place you can buy a gerbil?
 
Kenai said:
When I had gerbils as pets as a kid, my parents got an old fish tank to keep them in, half filled with a big bag of sawdust and (small) mesh lid and they were happy tunnelling away.
Click to expand...

I think that is what my older brothers had too. I was too young to recall.
 
Get a couple of (female) rats instead. Far more sociable than Gerbils and a bit bigger too (so easier to handle). They’re great pets, I had my first one when I was about 10, so not much older than yours.
 
Mark1989 said:
Get a cat, independent and there also awesome :)
Click to expand...

Bonus, they carry parasites that affect your brain.

Gerbils are fine - just make sure they have a nice big cage / tank and lots of kitchen roll and toilet tubes to play around in. Get a pair of females, don't keep one by itself.
 
I used to breed them. Great little pets, fairly clean, can be very tame too. Be very careful buying multiples as petshops often sell 2 boys or girls which then go on to breed.
As far as pets go they are way better than hamsters or other small rodents. If you give them a 4" or so layer of sawdust they will make tunnel networks and store things/sleep in them. They love to chew things 24/7 so you can give them old cardboard tubes from kitchen/toilet rolls.

They are serious escape artists, especially when combined with the chewing. Get a cage designed for gerbils. We used to use 3ft fish tanks with a homemade lid on. prevented all escapes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom