gerbils

[Neo]

does anyone keep gerbils (not for feeders)? my lil bro wants some sorta rodent and i was thinking of getting him a gerbil for christmas. i found this caresheet saying they get depressed if kept alone so i was thinking of getting 1.1 till i read further that literally a few hours after giving birth the female will mate w/ her husband again. litters of about 6. for those who breed them what do u do w/ the extra gerbils (i dont have snakes to feed em to)

[Mark]

I used to keep 2. I had either 2 males or 2 females. They are a great pet.

[sapphire_moon]

great pet, but not really for handling. Hamsters are good, rats are usually real sweet hearts, usually more handable than hamsters

[Oliverian]

I would go for rats. They're just awesome, and have so much personality. You have to get a same sex pair, though. I have two females now, and they're just great. So friendly.

In my opinion gerbils don't really interact with you that much. (at least the ones i've seen.) They kind of move around and chew on things. But I've never actually kept them, so I wouldn't know much.

Rats are awesome, and a great pet for anyone wanting something that will interact and have it's own personality.
-TammyR

[Neo]

my mom had bad experence w/ mice/rats when she was little. she opened a cubbord and 4 baby mice jumped onto her face. and when she was at a murky creek she stuck her hands in to find some clams and she pulled out a snake so i'm not allowed to keep either.

but on the caresheet i read http://members.nanc.com/~mhaines/gerbil.html#section2.7 it says gerbils will allow handling over time if u start early and hamsters are nocturnal (bad for if my lil brother wants to watch it)

does neone know what to do w/ extra babies though? are they easily sellable?

[Auskan]

If you get two of the same sex, you won't have any babies (unless you buy a pregnant female).

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Degus are great pets, its best to keep 2 or more together. They are always active, love being handled, and a pair can only produce a litter of 4-6 babies every three months at the most. I myself am breeding degus but will not have any for christmas(sorry). In my opinion they are the ideal small rodent for a first timer. They dont normally bite(like hampsters do, not saying they all do but i have been bitten about 20 times by hampsters and 0 by degus) and they are active like gerbils but they LIKE to be handled. If you want a rodent, get degu. They grow bigger then hampsters but smaller than rats. Good luck!

Chris

[Linds]

For rodents, I've kept and/or bred spiny mice, rats, mice (fancy and lab), degus, gerbils, hamsters, and rabbits. All of the above are nocturnal.

Spiny mice are reluctant to bite, no matter how scared or if cornered, however they are very fast and drop their tails, which do not make them great for handling. They need to be kept in at least a pair.

I didn't like gerbils. I found them to be bitey little buggers.

Almost every single hamster I have ever come in to contact with was a biter... be it a pet that was handled daily, or a feeder, or in a store waiting for a new home.

The degus I had were NUTS! Even the ones I aquired at 6 weeks of age and handled daily grew in to little chargers with big teeth :eek: I eventually traded them to other people. Cannot be kept alone.

Mice are gross. They smell bad, and some bite.

Rats are awesome. Right now I have 200+, only one is a biter. My two pet rats will nip through the cage because they think I'm giving them food because everytime I stick my hands through there it is to give them treats, they never bite otherwise (this will happen with pretty well any animal if you condition it that way though). You can even teach them tricks and they can even learn their name. They can be kept solo or in groups.

Babies of any of the above (mice and rats are easier because you can just unload them as feeders, the rest aren't as commonly used) can be difficult to place on an ongoing basis. I'm talking free too, selling is even more of a challenge.

[snakehunter]

get two females, males might fight!

[Neo]

ok now i'm leaning more towards a degu. :D. they fit my bro's personality best. i read some pages about them and i was wondering how some of u who own degus get cages for them inexpensively. i wanna get 0.2 is that enough to fit their social needs or do i need to get 0.1 more.

oh and if i put a sand bowl and they choose that as their litter box will they still use a different sand bowl to bath in?

[Syco]

Two Degus should be plenty of company for each other, three might be better (they are very social animals) but two should do just fine. As far as the dust bath, mine use theirs as a litter bowl if I leave it in there. I usually just give them dust a few times a week and take it out when they are done. I'm just guessing, but I would think if you have two bowls they would probably use both! :p
Cages.... I have mine in a 55 gal aquarium but you can buy or make wire cages for them. They really like to have a lot of room.

[Stockwell]

I'm with Linds... I've bred all types of rodents.
Gerbils suck!! Nastiest little buggers. You ought
to try having a couple dozen loose in your car. Them and hamsters.. hate them both...
The old ball python days.... I used to drive miles to score gerbils...
seems like a life time ago
My vote for a good rodent pet is RATS