Gerbil questions

[Suki Wingy]

My sister has one, they make absolutley wonderful pets

1. Can they be kept in wire cages, or can they squeeze through the bars?
Terrence was for the first few months and he was ok.

2. Are they best kept in pairs or can you keep just one?
You can keep just one if you get an adult male who is already on his own. Otherwise they do best in pairs of two females or two LITTERMATE males.

3. Do they have similar lifespans to those of hamsters?
yes.

4. Are they easy for children to handle, as technically it will be my brother's pet and he is nearly nine?
Yes. My sister is 8 years old and he loves to be petted and sit in her hand.

5. Are there any other special requirements that they have?
They sleep off and on durring the day so they won't be upset when you go in and wake them up. Also, since they are desert animals they drink less water which = less pee which = less smell.

[Jessika]

Gerbils and hamsters are relatively the same to care for. The big differences between the two are that gerbils are less prone to bite or be agitated as easily as hamsters are, but a downfall is that they are MUCH faster than hamsters! I prefer gerbils!

To answer question number 4, yes and no. As I said, they are less prone to bite, but they are a lot faster than hamsters so sometimes small children have a hard time keeping ahold of them.

[Miss Z]

To answer question number 4, yes and no. As I said, they are less prone to bite, but they are a lot faster than hamsters so sometimes small children have a hard time keeping ahold of them.

That's probably not a problem, as Tia is as fast as lightning at times and on numerous occasions we have caught her, and Kurt (my brother) keeps hold of her very well considering that she is a bit large for his hands and squirms a lot!
Thanks for the info

[Suki Wingy]

Here's Terrence

[Miss Z]

Here's Terrence

Aw, he's really cute

[Suki Wingy]

I know