Post by PinkGerbil on Aug 21, 2007 16:20:29 GMT -5
Your best bet is getting a gerbil from a breeder rather than a petstore. Breeders hand tame and socialize gerbil pups just days after they are born, and spend alot of time with them.
How to find a breeder? You can usually find a breeder by doing a google search by typing in the name of your state and typing in "gerbil breeder", or the AGS has a list of breeders. However when I first started out with gerbils and hamsters for pets, I couldn't really find any breeders in my area at first, so I had no choice to go through a petstore.
Before I discuss the petstore option, I am going to list another option first. Local Shelters. There is a ton of shelters out there that have many gerbils looking for a good home. The down fall though, some of these gerbils might of been abused or neglected as pets in there previous home and might be very hard to tame. On the upside, shelters do screen all the animals of illnesses when they are at the shelter, or some might even have temporary foster homes where they have been handled more and socialized more. Whereas, petstores do not do this at all. I have adopted gerbils from shelters in the past, and I do have to say it is very rewarding and heart warming when you do earn there love and trust and give them a second chance to have a loving home.
Ok onto petstores. I guess when buying a gerbil from a petstore to use your best judgement and your gut instinct. You should also see how well the petstore clerk can handle the gerbil. Also look around the tank and see if you see any mites or blood lice. Mites are little tiny black bugs, you almost can't see them, and blood lice are bigger reddish brown bugs that crawl around in the tank. If you see this you do not want to buy these gerbils. Blood lice and mites mutiply fast!!! and your home and other pets will be infested with these bugs in no time. I have read horror stories on other websites where it is almost impossible to get rid of these bugs.
(in fact I came across a petstore 2 months ago that had blood lice, I immediatly told my husband to stop touching things in the petstore, and we left immediatly, and quite shockingly this petstore is still in business and selling pets to people).
If you don't see any bugs at the petstore, but it is a new petstore to you, you may want to give your gerbil a one time mite treatment before you get your new gerbil situated and into there new tank and home:
1) Find a closed off containor that is well ventalated, and lightly spray the containor with mite/ and lice spray. (those little plastic carrying cases work well for this). And let your gerbil stay in this containor for about 20 minutes. So if there is any kind of lice or mites on your gerbil that you didn't see, it will kill all of them. I never directly spray my gerbils with this spray, because I have heard in some cases that it has been harmful for a gerbil if it gets near there eyes or nose.
If you really trust the petstore and know they use well sanatizing methods with the animals in the store and you never had an incident such as this, you may want to skip this step. This is another benefit of getting a gerbil from a breeder, breeders always take proper precautions to make sure there gerbils stay clean and don't get bugs.
If you do the one time mite treatment for precaution, check the containor after you do this, look around in it. If your gerbil did have mites/blood lice you will see them dead in the containor, if your gerbil didn't than you won't see any.
2) you may want to do this before you pick out your gerbils. Depending on how many gerbils your get will depend on the size of tank you will buy for your gerbils.
2-3 gerbils (10 gallon tank)
3 or more gerbils (20 gallon tank)
I also use a 30 gallon tank for some of my breeding gerbils, or I buy cages on e-bay big enough for sugar gliders, I just tape off the button of the cage if it is wired, because it can cause feet ulsers for your gerbils or there tail can get caught in between the wired floor.
Also, if you are using a previously used tank or cage from another pet you should clean the tank in the bath tub with scolding hot water, a cup of bleach, and a tiny bit of antibacterial soap. Antibacterial soap is good and sanatizes the tank of any bacteria illnesses that can spread to your gerbils. If you use antibacterial soap make sure you get all the soap out of the tank before you take it out of the bath tub. I often let the water run out of the bath tub, and than rinse the tank with plain water a few times.
They will also need a water bottle, and an exercise wheel. I like the oasis water bottles that come with the water guard. Also, from my experience, and from some friends experiences with gerbils, if you have enough room in your tank or cage you may want to have 2 exercise wheels. Because I have had a few gerbils declan and have fights break out over the exercise wheel, and have had friends have the same experience with there gerbils. I like those exercise wheels that are wired and gridded, there for the gerbils tail does not get caught in it.
For food, I never buy the gerbil/hamster food. I find it too grainy, with mostly grain and hardly any food in it. I usually look through the bags at the store that are for rabbits or guinea pigs, this food seems to be better quality, and I pick the bags that look the least grainy.
Whenever, I bring home I new pet, whether it be a gerbil or a hamster, I usually give them time to get situated before I try to interact with them. I usually will talk to them alot the first week I have them, then after that I start socializing with them and then try handling them.
When I first had Sammy, he wasn't that tame, he was quite wild and wouldn't really let me pick him up. I used the sock method with him, and each day I would try to pick him up with socks on my hand, and each day I would do this a bit longer or however long he would let me do this. You will probably have to do this if you get your gerbils from a petstore and they are not that tame, if you get your gerbils from a breeder than you should be able to handle them with no problem.
I alwasy scoop my gerbils up with 1 or 2 of my hands, so they are supported when I pick them up. I usually talk to them too first before I pick them up, so they know I am there and going to spend time with them.
How to find a breeder? You can usually find a breeder by doing a google search by typing in the name of your state and typing in "gerbil breeder", or the AGS has a list of breeders. However when I first started out with gerbils and hamsters for pets, I couldn't really find any breeders in my area at first, so I had no choice to go through a petstore.
Before I discuss the petstore option, I am going to list another option first. Local Shelters. There is a ton of shelters out there that have many gerbils looking for a good home. The down fall though, some of these gerbils might of been abused or neglected as pets in there previous home and might be very hard to tame. On the upside, shelters do screen all the animals of illnesses when they are at the shelter, or some might even have temporary foster homes where they have been handled more and socialized more. Whereas, petstores do not do this at all. I have adopted gerbils from shelters in the past, and I do have to say it is very rewarding and heart warming when you do earn there love and trust and give them a second chance to have a loving home.
Ok onto petstores. I guess when buying a gerbil from a petstore to use your best judgement and your gut instinct. You should also see how well the petstore clerk can handle the gerbil. Also look around the tank and see if you see any mites or blood lice. Mites are little tiny black bugs, you almost can't see them, and blood lice are bigger reddish brown bugs that crawl around in the tank. If you see this you do not want to buy these gerbils. Blood lice and mites mutiply fast!!! and your home and other pets will be infested with these bugs in no time. I have read horror stories on other websites where it is almost impossible to get rid of these bugs.
(in fact I came across a petstore 2 months ago that had blood lice, I immediatly told my husband to stop touching things in the petstore, and we left immediatly, and quite shockingly this petstore is still in business and selling pets to people).
If you don't see any bugs at the petstore, but it is a new petstore to you, you may want to give your gerbil a one time mite treatment before you get your new gerbil situated and into there new tank and home:
1) Find a closed off containor that is well ventalated, and lightly spray the containor with mite/ and lice spray. (those little plastic carrying cases work well for this). And let your gerbil stay in this containor for about 20 minutes. So if there is any kind of lice or mites on your gerbil that you didn't see, it will kill all of them. I never directly spray my gerbils with this spray, because I have heard in some cases that it has been harmful for a gerbil if it gets near there eyes or nose.
If you really trust the petstore and know they use well sanatizing methods with the animals in the store and you never had an incident such as this, you may want to skip this step. This is another benefit of getting a gerbil from a breeder, breeders always take proper precautions to make sure there gerbils stay clean and don't get bugs.
If you do the one time mite treatment for precaution, check the containor after you do this, look around in it. If your gerbil did have mites/blood lice you will see them dead in the containor, if your gerbil didn't than you won't see any.
2) you may want to do this before you pick out your gerbils. Depending on how many gerbils your get will depend on the size of tank you will buy for your gerbils.
2-3 gerbils (10 gallon tank)
3 or more gerbils (20 gallon tank)
I also use a 30 gallon tank for some of my breeding gerbils, or I buy cages on e-bay big enough for sugar gliders, I just tape off the button of the cage if it is wired, because it can cause feet ulsers for your gerbils or there tail can get caught in between the wired floor.
Also, if you are using a previously used tank or cage from another pet you should clean the tank in the bath tub with scolding hot water, a cup of bleach, and a tiny bit of antibacterial soap. Antibacterial soap is good and sanatizes the tank of any bacteria illnesses that can spread to your gerbils. If you use antibacterial soap make sure you get all the soap out of the tank before you take it out of the bath tub. I often let the water run out of the bath tub, and than rinse the tank with plain water a few times.
They will also need a water bottle, and an exercise wheel. I like the oasis water bottles that come with the water guard. Also, from my experience, and from some friends experiences with gerbils, if you have enough room in your tank or cage you may want to have 2 exercise wheels. Because I have had a few gerbils declan and have fights break out over the exercise wheel, and have had friends have the same experience with there gerbils. I like those exercise wheels that are wired and gridded, there for the gerbils tail does not get caught in it.
For food, I never buy the gerbil/hamster food. I find it too grainy, with mostly grain and hardly any food in it. I usually look through the bags at the store that are for rabbits or guinea pigs, this food seems to be better quality, and I pick the bags that look the least grainy.
Whenever, I bring home I new pet, whether it be a gerbil or a hamster, I usually give them time to get situated before I try to interact with them. I usually will talk to them alot the first week I have them, then after that I start socializing with them and then try handling them.
When I first had Sammy, he wasn't that tame, he was quite wild and wouldn't really let me pick him up. I used the sock method with him, and each day I would try to pick him up with socks on my hand, and each day I would do this a bit longer or however long he would let me do this. You will probably have to do this if you get your gerbils from a petstore and they are not that tame, if you get your gerbils from a breeder than you should be able to handle them with no problem.
I alwasy scoop my gerbils up with 1 or 2 of my hands, so they are supported when I pick them up. I usually talk to them too first before I pick them up, so they know I am there and going to spend time with them.