Gerbils

Perenially sat in the hamsters shadow, the gerbil is often overlooked as a pet. However, they are brilliant little creatures, that in my opinion, are better pets than their larger counterparts. Smaller and more agile than hamsters, they have two large back feet, and two hand like front feet. They are cheap to keep, needing a small amount of food and water every day, and only need changing every month or so. They are very receptive to handling, and as long as you handle them regularly, they will behave just like hamsters, inquisitive, but knowing their limits. They will not bite if well cared for.They are so good thato once one of them got out of ...  Read the complete review

If your child is pestering you for a pet, I would recommend gerbils. These are sociable, inquisitive cheeky and comical little creatures. Its best to get two of the same sex together to stop them from being lonely. Get two from the same litter so they do not fight and always get them at the same time if you get one and then go back and get another the first one will be cage territorial and may fight to the death with the newcomer. You can usually buy them from pet shops and they are about £7-8 each. Make sure you have a cage with several levels on so they can get plenty of exercise in there also try and avoid cages with lots of plastic items i.e. ...  Read the complete review

----------------WHAT EXACTLY ARE GERBILS?------------- Gerbils are in fact classified as desert rats, they are originally from Mongolia and in the wild, live in tunnels and chambers under the ground with their family. They look similar to hamsters but have much longer tails, which helps them steady themselves when they are crawling around and standing on their hind legs. However unlike hamsters, they aren't 'nocturnal' and instead tend to sleep for a few hours, active for a couple of hours, sleep for a few hours, active for a couple of hours...and so on... There are over 20 different colours of gerbil coat as can be seen on the website ...  Read the complete review

WHAT IS A GERBIL? =============== Im sorry if you think this is stating the obvious but i was recently very suprised at the amount of people who do not know what a gerbil actually is. Gerbils are members of the rodent family, they resemble a mouse although they are slightly larger in size. Most full grown gerbils will be around 4 inches in body length and then their long smooth tail can be up to the same length again. MY EXPERIENCE ============== I started off with four gerbils but they bred and i ended up with 14! They are great little pets though, great fun to watch then dig and play, they are also generally friendly which makes ...  Read the complete review

Gerbils are wonderful pets - if you like rodents! They are generally very friendly and easy to tame; if you spend a little time with them every day letting them come to your hand and having a sniff, they will soon be sitting in your hand if not running up your arm and onto your shoulder! Gerbils are much less bitey than hamsters, and less smelly than rats. They are not nocturnal so they provide entertainment during the day and don't make too much noise at night! Pet gerbils are best kept in tanks (or gerbilariums) where you can fill them with a deep layer of sawdust that they can dig tunnels into. Anything plastic will soon be chewed through, and ...  Read the complete review