Nobody can deny the popularity of hamsters throughout the years as a fun, easy to maintain pet. However, anybody who has ever owned a hamster has also discovered that they are far from the perfect pet. Sure, they’re cute, they’re funny, and they’re gentle, but as a pet, they have their flaws.
Gerbils, on the other hand, may not be perfect, but as a pet, they come much closer to the ideal that people are looking for; especially when they’re giving the pet to their children.
Consider the following comparison between gerbils and hamsters, and you’ll soon find that gerbils may very well be the hamsters of the future.
Gerbils have a unique sleep and activity cycle that alternates between playing and napping all day and all night long. This means that you’ll be able to watch them play, and have some “time off” at any time of the day or night. Hamsters, on the other hand, are entirely nocturnal. This means that if you or your child is only up during the daytime, almost all of your time with your pet will happen during naptime.
Healthy gerbils are extremely active, curious creatures that are always racing about, digging, running in the wheel, playing, gnawing, and doing lots of other entertaining activities. Hamsters are lazy balls of fluff that only waddle on the running wheel and prefer to sit around.
Gerbils are very social creatures, preferring to live in pairs, and enjoying your company very much. Hamsters are solitary creatures that enjoy living alone, are prone to fighting when sharing a cage, and will even cannibalize their own young!
Mongolian gerbils – another name for the standard gerbil – are extremely curious. They are quick to investigate anything new in the cage, and are always watching what you’re doing when you’re in the same room. Hamsters are easily startled and will even fear bite for simple reasons such as being awakened in the daytime.
And, perhaps the best thing about gerbil keeping is how clean they are! Since they’re native to the deserts of Mongolia, they take in little water, and therefore produce very little urine. This means that the cage needs far less cleaning, and it doesn’t get smelly until quite a long time has passed. Hamsters get very smelly, very fast. This can be kept to a minimum by putting a “litter box” in the corner of the cage, but the whole thing will need cleaning frequently, and you’ll need to get used to that special odor coming from the cage only a few days after the last wash.
Since today’s pet owners have the internet available to them to help them to make informed decisions about pet ownership, it isn’t too much of a stretch to believe that gerbils may soon be the more popular pet among rodent keepers.
Julie Campbell is a gerbil owner and enthusiast, and has gained a great deal of expertise through her gerbil keeping experirence and extensive research. For more information about keeping gerbils, gerbil care, and information about gerbil products, visit her website at http://www.gerbil.5u.com.
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