Gerbils vs. Hamsters

tribble

Personally I think gerbils win hands down by virtue of the fact that most hamsters are

1. Psycotic
2. Smelly
3. Vicious
4. Stoopid
5. Plagued by disease

whereas gerbils are
1. Friendly
2. Clean (and don't smell)
3. Intelligent (except when they're very young and they just bounce 12 feet accross the room)
4. Tougher (little disease, live longer)

I used to sell both these little guys by the ton but it always ages to convince people (especially mothers) that gerbils were the most suitible pet.
It seemed the tail put them off.
Bizzarly little girls seemed to prefer the tail.

tribble

koneko

Ah, I remember when I had a lovely little gerbil.

They're very cute indeed. It never once bit or attacked me in any way. *sniff*

RIP little gerbil friend

FAYESY

I breed both & I love both equally although the hammis do tend to be more aggresive & smell a bit more! if you want cuddly (after a while!) then hammis are cute if you want hyperactive bouncy fun get a few gerbils! I find rats make the best pets but I cannot seem to get that through to people! my ratties are nothing like horrible wild rats!

Mind you the best pets ever are sugar gliders!

Faye:p

watty

I vote Cavies (Guinea Pigs). They arn't "Rats".

Hamsters are cute rats with very short tails desguised as Guinea pig babies (who will never have a tail).

Gerbils are cute rats, amazingly cute, that are small with long legs.

Squirrels are of course Rats with big bushy tails.

Jury is out on Rabbits and Hares. They used to be thought to be rats (Rodents), but perhaps arn't.


Cavies (Guinea Pigs) cos of the teeth were thought to be rodents but DNA shows they aren't. Many current books and websites still erronously list them as rodents.

Other giveaways:
:: Babies born with adult teeth, adult fur, sighted and able to run around even eating grass next day. Rats are born blind & helpless.
:: Amazingly for a small mammal, upo to 72 days pregnacy..
:: Only two teats, curiously positioned just above thigh
:: No tail at all.
:: Only three toes on back, but 4 fingers and grip pad on front. (They have registered a complaint about not getting issued with an apposable thumb).
:: Two stage digestion. 1st stage is a special pellet they immediately eat again, they have a specail gut bacteria they need to eat grass, so only one antibotic works, normal antibotic makes them starve to death (Rabbits and Hares have a similar curious digestion, causing Jury to be currently out on their rodent membership). This was not noticed till 20th Century even though Cavies kept in Europe (from Peru) since 17th Century!

Only similaritiies to Rodents / Rats:
Smart
Front teeth like rats that keep growing
Small and furry (up to size of dwarf Rabbit).


Cavies are curiously a BAD pet for a small child because they DON'T bite. (See what a dog does if its tongue is pulled...).

FAYESY

Rabbits & Hares are part of the lagomorph family which also includes Pikas & Degus, it is thought that Cavies are also a member of the lagomorph family although this is still under discussion.

Not all rats are born hairless & blind! Nile Rats are born fully furred & are ready to run! unlike fancy rats & wild rats that are born naked & blind.

There are many differnt speicies of hamster each with there own personality traits, Syrians are the largest & have to live alone, Russians can live in pairs or groups, Roborovskis can live in pairs or single sex groups & are very lively & fun, Chinese hamsters can be kept in pairs although I found the females killed the males! so they are probably better off kept like syrians apart except for mating. There are also mouse like hamsters but I have never kept any of these.

As far as I know squirrels are not rodents!?!? will have to do more research to confirm this.

tribble

There are many differnt speicies of hamster each with there own personality traits, Syrians are the largest & have to live alone, Russians can live in pairs or groups, Roborovskis can live in pairs or single sex groups & are very lively & fun, Chinese hamsters can be kept in pairs although I found the females killed the males! so they are probably better off kept like syrians apart except for mating. There are also mouse like hamsters but I have never kept any of these.

Ah yes i forgot to mention that i had Syrians in mind when i wrote the poll. Bizzarly we had a mating couple who were kept together 24/7/365 and never fought. The female ate her babies very occasionaly but the male just ignored them. Russians tend to be smaller and not so friendly (though we only had 4 or 5 of them).

tribble

Mr. Fancypants

Go Gerbils Go

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?s=&postid=634091

My 3 gerbils are 4 years old and still learning new tricks
One of them did a tumble the other day!