Gerbils

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We have 3 gerbils. Planned for 2, but didn't want to leave 1 behind. Sure that's the stores plan, lol. All males..he hope.

Current names:

Chilli (reddish eyes..creepy)
Taupe/Torp (taupe it colour, torpedo in nature)
Ice (colour of fur)

The lad seems happy, but explaining (again) that you cant just expect them to be easy to pick up etc from day 1. Great learning experience for him.
 
Stumbled across this thread in Google, some beautiful Gerbils you have there :). Looking at getting some myself soon after a 32yr gap! lol.
So over a year has passed, how have you and the kids gotten on with them?

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For the record, I don't recall Gerbils smelling unless the cage wasn't cleaned enough :p.
Btw, a few people here have mentioned using sawdust, which you're not supposed to as it can irritate their eyes (see here, 'substrate and bedding'). But maybe some people meant that as a generic term rather than actual sawdust?
 
I still have a small numb spot on one of my fingers where a gerbil bit through it when I was a kid :p

They don't really smell much.
 
Yikes! Well I had hamsters and Gerbils, I found the Hamsters a bit more 'bitey', YMMV I guess.
Ignoring the gentle nip my last Gerbil would give when he got bored of being stroked! lol
 
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A year on my daughter still plays with them and cleans them out -result. They've been fine, have chewed away any part of their enclosure that's plastic, so glad that it's mainly metal and glass. Not too smelly so long as are cleaned out regularly. Snakes not found them yet either..
 
Had gerbils as a kid pet shop sold me 2 males ,5 weeks later that 2 increased to 9 :confused: luckily pet shop took the extras . One thing if they get loose your in for some fun catching them :rolleyes: took 4 days to eventually catch the pair
 
Yea Guinea pigs are very cute :), even if they are a bit daft! ;).

Btw, any Gerbil owners (past or present) housed them in large cages/tanks? (as in way above the sometimes recommended supposed 'ideal' of 10 gallons per Gerbil)
 
Mark1989 said:
Get a cat, independent and there also awesome :)
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yea imo cats are the best pets.

but if its going to be an indoor cat you should get 2.
cats are easy to look after and they don't become boring fast unlike like something in a cage which will just end up annoying to clean out all the time after your kid loses interest.

cats are usually very social and like to be around people, it's still quite comforting just having one in the same room sleeping or doing it's own thing.

some cats are annoying though the ones that talk.. my mum had like 4+ cats when I was a teen and one of them every morning would sit outside a bedroom door telling people to wake up.

every cat seems to have its own unique personality as far as I've experienced probably 10+ in total at least that I've lived with.

although ones with the same colours/markings tend to be quite similar in my experience like

black/fudge coloured cats tend to like to nip.
black and white cats seem more playful.
white cats seem quite independent and often bullies.
turtle shell ones seem to be more affectionate
 
I have a cat. Love him to bits. However, running costs are significantly higher than those of smaller animals, and it's a longer term commitment, with added awkwardness with housing, outdoor access etc if you have to move.
 
Had a rabbit and a guinea pig when I was a wee nipper. Both were kept outside in wooden cages with mesh fronts, the rabbit hutch was obviously much bigger than the guinea pig one. Cleaning the rabbit hutch was horrible, that thing stank to high heaven and you really looked forward to only having to do the Guinea pig one (my sister and I shared responsibilities).

I don't remember why but at one point I think the guinea pig cage was damaged and so it was put in with the rabbit - not the best idea and the guinea pig ended up being killed by the rabbit (not sure whether on purpose or not).

Last thing I remember is my rabbit being there one day and then not the next and my dad talking with his mate about their fantastic rabbit stew (to this day I don't know if they actually ate it or just said it to freak me and my sis out).
 
To those telling us to get some other pet, (e.g Mark1989, Amp34 etc), no! We've chosen Gerbils for which ever reasons & that's what we're after! Suggesting another pet for xyz is fine, I don't have a problem with that. But this is a Gerbil thread so don't tell us to get something else! :p

I love cats, but as has been mentioned by DoneADougalOnSofa they are more expensive to look after, not to mention having damaged furniture & nearly constantly having to clean up fur.
Love rats too, they are more sociable & friendly, but they seem to have loads of health problems (more than Gerbils) & don't live as long either :(.
Guinea pigs are adorable creatures, but not what I'm after atm. Love rabbits too!

Crizzy
No they don't, at least not the ones I had, and not the ones I've read about.
They're up night and day.

robfosters
Re wheels & wild rodents, you should read the study about what happened when they put wheels outside to see if any wild animals would use them, they did! :D lol
Sorry to hear about your poor hamster :(.

Roar87
Cool! :) And a great age for a hamster!

javv5
Gerbils should not be kept alone.
I know years ago that wasn't known, or at least mentioned, as my last Gerbil was sold to me (in 1984) by himself, he lived to about 4yrs old, so he can't have (I hope) been too bored or lonely. I did play with him quite a lot after school. I'm going for at least a pair this time though.

pepp77
Well that was real nice of your dad!

Inoton
Any updates?
 
Assimilator1 said:
Yea Guinea pigs are very cute :), even if they are a bit daft! ;).

Btw, any Gerbil owners (past or present) housed them in large cages/tanks? (as in way above the sometimes recommended supposed 'ideal' of 10 gallons per Gerbil)
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25 years ago or longer, we had had the typical rotastack cages and 5 gerbils. Then my work was throwing out a perspex display case lid. It was a good 5ft x 3ft x 3ft. So I fitted it with a wire lid and put 3 or 4 bales of sawdust / woodflakes in it. And was home to our colony of gerbils They bloody loved it.

Things I learned. Pet shops are crap at telling the sex of an adolescent gerbil. Adolescent gerbils turn into territorial adults. Gerbil babies are kinda ugly wriggly pink things. Adult gerbils eat each others young if not separated :( . Escaped gerbils will eat anything they can chew - speaker cable, fridge cable... They love frosties btw. when enticing them out of the skirting board. And they love to dig. Can dig all day and all night. Squeaky wheels are really annoying at 3am.
 
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