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Gerbils
Description: Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian ... more  Gerbils ... rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats. Most are primarily diurnal (though some do exhibit crepuscular behavior), and almost all are omnivorous. The word "gerbil" is a diminutive form of "jerboa", though the jerboas are an unrelated group of rodents occupying a similar ecological niche. One Mongolian species, Meriones unguiculatus, also known as the Clawed Jird, is a gentle and hardy animal that has become a popular pet. It was first brought to the United States in 1954 by Dr. Victor Schwentker for use in research. Gerbils are typically between six and twelve inches (150 to 300 mm) long, including the tail which makes up approximately one half of their total length. One species, however, the Great Gerbil, or Rhombomys opimus, originally native to Turkmenistan, can grow to more than 16 inches (400 mm) in length. The average adult gerbil weighs approximately 2 1/2 ounces. As of August 19, 2003, officials in western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region began releasing eagles to combat the damage they say the great gerbils have done to eleven million acres (46,000 kmē) of grassland. Pet gerbils have an average lifespan of 2 to 4 years.Newest Review: ... two of them, a grey one and a brown one. I'd been watching them for days. So after getting all the equipment ready we went to ... more ... buy them. It all went well and we put them in the cage. Later that afternoon we realised something was wrong with the grey one's leg - he had a club foot. After phoning Pets and Home and talking about the options they told us to bring him back and they'd swap him for another one. So we did, they assured us he wouldn't be put down. So we returned with a white gerbil. That afternoon my Dad started making remarks about the 'disabled' gerbil that we'd 'abandoned'. He started calling him Tim after that character Tiny Tim w...more |
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Gerbils - Simply The Best (2567 words)
by bettyboopy - written on 23/05/07 (Very useful, 1657 readings)
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<< What Are Gerbils? >> ------------------------------------ Gerbils are members of the rodent family, originating in Mongolia, and some parts of China. They are also known as Desert Rats, and are one of the most popular pets with children as they are fun to look after and rarely bite, unless frightened. Compared to hamsters, gerbils in my opinion are little angels! They grow to around 15cm in length, with their tail usually around two thirds as long as the body. They come in many colours, sandy, grey, black, white, brown, and many a mixture of all the colours! They are desert animals, therefor don't drink alot of water, and don't urinate alot ...
Things that go "eek" in the night!!! **updated** (1676 words)
by sunbeam - written on 11/11/00 (Very useful, 288 readings)
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EEK! This is a heart-warming story about my little eeks. I have two little eeksters at the moment as they are now known and I’m writing this opinion because I want to share with potential and present gerbil owners the wonderful and emotional experiences I have had with mine. If you don’t already love gerbils then I ask you to read this first before making any decisions, as I hope to make this as informative and interesting as I can. If you do already own gerbils then this will probably raise a smile or two as you relate to my opinion. I have owned two sets of gerbils in my time and they were as different in manner as chalk and cheese, ...
Gerbils: Gerbilly versatile (1225 words)
by platypuskn - written on 01/12/06 (Very useful, 812 readings)
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You probably all know about gerbils and their amazing kidneys. I bet you all remember the diagrams of how their kidneys re-absorb so much water, and so they never need to drink. I'm sure I learned about them for about three years in a row at school. But,did you know they make fantastic pets. Alledgedlymore intelligent than rats! Anyway, I thought I'd divide this review up into a few sections, so you can skip through to specific bits if you want. Gerbil history Gerbils originally came from Mongolia and China, and started becoming pets in the 1960s. They aren't wild caught any more though, as they are very easy to breed in ...
Gerbils : Great little pets that make a facinating colonyfrom sandemp
31/01/2005
Gerbils : In memory of Cloe and Joey gerbilfrom mumsymary
07/02/2004
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