To want them to die?

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

Stupidly and in a moment of weakness, I gave in to dd's requests and got her a pair of gerbils. they are horrid fuckers. Cute to look at but both me and her are scared of them and the only person willing to handle them is dh. They only need cleaning once a fortnight and so that's the only time they leave their cage. I do feel sorry for them, no handling means they are probably scared of us. so, is it unreasonable to either want them to die or try to rehome them given their lack of human contact. i suppose that they are lucky inasmuch as they have each other, but.
I have made a mental promise that she is never having any more pets after the debacle with the stick insects.

Years ago a friend of mine had gerbils named Mark and Robbie (yes Take That the first time around).
Anyway, she came home one day and her Mum asked when she'd last fed them. She said the day before and her Mum answered 'well mark must have been hungry, as he's eaten Robbie'

I'd never have gerbils after that.

DD is having rats for Christmas though.....

My gerbils were lovely. Friede and Matilda (and their 26 assorted babies, turns out Matilda was actually Matthew). They were tame but we did take them out and cuddle them a lot. Yes, Frieda ate her babies when stressed, but that was when we wouldn't leave them alone. Anyway, there were plenty more babies.

Hamsters are the easiest small rodent for children, IMO. One at a time so there's no temptation to eat each other.