Gerbils or hamster??

[Sometimeswinning]

I've always been against this type of pet but as dd4 is asking for one I thought I would do some research. Apparently Gerbils are more family friendly than Hamsters. Anyone with advice?

Guinea pigs are the best! We have 3 and I love them. They are friendly, curious, funny creatures and each of ours has a different personality. They don't smell, they aren't agressive and they aren't boring in the slightest they take time to get used to you but now they wheek for breakfast and dinner, enjoy chin rubs and know the sound of the treat bag being opened

They do need space though, their cage is bigger than dd's bed

How could you not love this face!

Lots of the horrible gerbil stories here involve 3 gerbils. Groups of 3 gerbils are notorious for fighting. They always do best in pairs, no more, no less.

A Syrian hamster from a good breeder is probably your best option as the size and slowness just makes them easier to handle. Gerbils are sweet but fast.

Something we’ve had success with re socialising our two gerbils, is a folding playpen. It’s big enough for one to sit in calmly with the gerbils and their toys, and just let them get brave and walk over you! They can climb the side, but in my experience it’s been right where I am on the other side supervising and she’s after my attention! You can easily stop them making it out. One of them heads straight for my daughter’s shoulder and burrows down in her hair! Wearing something soft also seems to encourage them, though they could still nibble it so don’t wear best.

Guinea pigs! Wretched hamsters keep you awake all night, give you heart attacks every day when you think they've died and then finally do kick the hamster bucket at about 18 months. Far too much stress!

This is what we have.

A friend of mine had two gerbils and one ate the other!

Hamsters would be mire suitable for a 4 year old to handle. As long as your child is taught how to pick the hamster up there should not be problems.

Make sure you get a big cage with lots of activities for the hamster and it will be fun for your daughter to watch.

Change out theire bedding regularly, especially where they pee as it really stinks.

I was a bit older when i had my hamster, i was 12 and i had him for almost 3 years. He was lovely.

@Beamur

The cannibalism does sometimes happen to be fair. I don't think that they kill each other, but gerbils do like a bit of protein and I think if their cage mate died, they do sometimes have a nibble... It's a bit gross but they're not sentimental.. You will rarely see a happier face than a gerbil with a little bit of cheese or boiled egg!

Gerbils do that when a cage mate has died, it's their way of stopping a potential predator from thinking that the horde are weakened by illness and so an easy target.

and can be quite difficult to catch they can be tricky but you need to think smarter (which TBH isn't hard with guinea-pigs )

Yes if ours don't want to come out they go and sit in the corner upstairs which is the easiest place to find them and pick them up 😂

We've had both. I would say hamster as long as you take the time to gently tame when you first get it. For the first 2 weeks I would sit in the bath with it once a day ( no water!) and let it run around and get used to me and pick him up without risk if dropping him from a height. I still miss our hamster- he was so friendly and funny.

Rats. Rats are the best rodents!
Absolutely the best pet after cats and dogs, but require a lot of work, space and know-how. Probably not ideal for a 4 year old either.

Rollmopsrule did you have a Syrian or dwarf?

Rats all the way!
Intelligent and affectionate. Won’t bite like hamsters.

We didn’t see our hamster much but the kids were younger.
The gerbils are a lot more lively and the youngest enjoys getting them out for a cuddle.
Piggies seem to need such a big space/ cage, we didn’t have the room!

We have a rescue guinea pig and although very sweet, I wouldn't get another. They are basically pooping and pissing machines.
We have a dog and he's the best. Sorry, but any other pet is vastly inferior!

Small pets are not suitable for children. Especially not someone as young as four. Even if you’re caring for them children don’t know how to handle them. They also don’t understand why the animal may not always want to play and may want to sleep when child is awake. Then like clockwork after a VERY short time. They child is bored of them and the animal in online for sale!

If you did decide to go ahead, you’d have to find an exotic pet specialist, regular vets don’t have the specialist knowledge to treat small animals effectively. Next consider medical bills. They can be extortionate!! Long gone are the days of small animals being ‘cheap pets’. We must give animals the space, environment, attention and medical care they deserve. I’ve rescued many small animals so I speak entirely from experience.

twinguineas
I didn't know that. I knew that gerbils do have a reputation for eating their chums, but having had multiple pairs of gerbils over the years I had never actually seen it myself.
Luckily we always seemed to have pairs that got on well and when one died, we took it out fairly promptly.
I rather miss having them, but I'm not sure if would be wise to get some now we have cats.

Rat cages and mice cage (to a lesser extent) smell more than hamsters and gerbils. Some rats and mice smell more than others. It can be to do with hormones and how settled the pack is. But people often make big mistakes when it comes to how the keep them which adds to the smell. A properly managed mice or rat cage will hardly smell.
To manage smell,

• Don’t get unneutered male mice. They stink.
• Don’t clean them too much or they just mark their territory again. Clean cages bits at a time.
• Get a good diet, food sold by pets and homes etc is often bed for them and adds to smell.
• Litter train using the ‘pee rock’ method.

Hamsters don't always bite!!!! Our current hamster has never bitten, he'll happily come out for a cosy with dd2 during the day - sleeps on her shoulder on the sofa or in her hoodie pocket. He's getting on a bit now, we'll be so sad when he goes.

I’ve had both. Syrian (big) hamsters have to be kept alone as they attack other hamsters, they sleep all day but can become very tame and easy to handle in the evenings. Dwarf hamsters (Russian tiny grey ones) need to be kept in pairs, they’re lively but don’t like being handled. Mine bit a lot.

Gerbils can be very friendly and tame if you buy babies and handle them daily. But be warned; they jump like tiny kangaroos and are escape artists. They smell less than hamsters as they produce less urine. Many people keep them in old fish tanks tanks with mesh lids, filled with a mixture of hay and woodchip flakes so they can make burrows. They like to live in pairs or small groups.
They need to chew so give them plenty of old loo rolls and cardboard to shred!

For kids I’d probably go for gerbils, as they rarely bite hard (if they do it’s more a warning nip). Hamsters tend to bite unexpectedly and like a stapler so lots of blood!

To socialise 2 gerbils: split the tank/cage with wire mesh so they can see, smell and rub noses without injuring each other. After a few weeks introduce them on neutral ground eg a bath tub without water. If they start boxing or chasing (an aggressive chase is like sudden darting and the aggressor will try to bite ears/throat) separate and try again a few weeks later.

The only time I’ve successfully introduced strange gerbils was when an adult female lost her mate and was pining. I put 2 newly weaned female babies into her cage with her and watched for a few hours; lots of sniffing, licking then they all fell asleep in a huddle. They lived happily until they died of old age!

Groups of 3 gerbils are notorious for fighting. They always do best in pairs, no more, no less

I disagree. I’ve successfully kept groups of 3 and 4, either single sex or 3 females with a male (they even piled their newborns in the same nest and shared the feeding!)
Just make sure the tank isn’t too big. Moving a group to a bigger tank/cage can lead to fights over territory!

If they will be living in someone's bedroom dont get a hamster as they are active at night and will keep them awake.

Areyousureted we had a Syrian. He lived till he was 3 years old. The whole family were besotted even my husband who was not the slightest bit interested at first.