Scared, Wild Gerbils!! How to tame?? More...

Peanut · #1 01-01-2007, 10:06 PM

Hi,

We have just gotten two new gerbils, actually about 3 weeks ago. They aren't taming down and act more like wild animals than tame pets.

1. Is there anything we can do to make them enjoy being with their humans?

2. They don't seem to care for any type of food like peanut butter or sunflower seeds, is there anything anyone can think of to coax and reassure them?

3. How can we get them to come when they hear their names? They act scared of us inside their cage and when they get loose on the floor, and hyperactive when we let them run across our hands.

4. The incredibly hyper one will go into her ball, but the really timid one doesn't care so much for that. How long is it appropriate to keep them in their ball, we keep the timid one for 1/2 an hour (when she begins to sit in a corner) and the hyper one for an hour to and hour and half (and she's still not ready to slow down).

5. They act more like wild animals than tame pets. Will they ever calm down?

6. They don't chew, outside of their food. We put a box in their cage, tipped it upside down with some holes in it, and they prefer it over their plastic cup-shaped house. They have a nice nest any bird would be proud of. They don't like the chew sticks. Any suggestions for chewing toys/food/etc., or is their food hard enough?

I've had hamsters before, but never gerbils. I was told they would tame down like hamsters, by more than one source. My family had a wild rabbit (when I was a teenager) and we ended up keeping him as a loose house pet, and the gerbils behave more like he did than any hamsters I've known.

Please share your advice and knowledge,

Peanut's & Speedy's owners

LadyTalisman · #2 01-02-2007, 10:22 AM

Hi

It's quite sometime since I owned gerbils and can't remember much about how tame they were as was very young but I found this web site that might help

Good Luck

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/gerbils/a/gerbiltame.htm

Peanut · #3 01-02-2007, 09:35 PM

Thanks Gail, for the link, but it's a lot of it is treat-based, would you (or anyone, really) have any suggestions of treats to try? If anyone has any other ideas, too, I'd really love to hear them.

Peanut's person

LadyTalisman · #4 01-03-2007, 09:46 AM

Is this what you're looking for, it also has some don't feeds.

http://www.petwebsite.com/gerbil_othertreats.htm

Peanut · #5 01-22-2007, 08:22 PM

Hi I just wanted to give an update on the gerbils. They're still a bit wild, but the brown is tamer. The black one is still hyper.

We have found that a washed out nut-can gives them a place to sit while you're holding them so that they have a cubby to go into if they feel overstimulated.

We put a box with a couple holes in the side and a hole in top (which supported a toilet-paper tube. They took over the box and after a few days began remodeling (chewing), now they are addicted to toilet paper tubes.

They like dog kibble, but not enough to be treat oriented, but enough for a special treat to offer them.

We give them pets at night. We pet them on their back when they pop at least half-way out. If they don't pop out, then we don't pet them. They seem to be accepting us a little more in their cage now.

My assistant posters tell me I have to post dancing bananas, so here they are:

LadyTalisman · #6 01-27-2007, 06:05 PM

Glad things are starting to improve just have patience

Good Luck

oreokat · #7 07-06-2007, 05:35 PM

my gerbil acted wild when i got him he is an albino fat but silky cute gerbil named nibbles. but he was droped off at the petstore and does not like other gerbils so he is now a loner.

but,i have had him for 2 to 3 months now and i see a mager improvement for example

oreokat · #8 07-06-2007, 05:41 PM

my gerbil acted wild when i got him he is an albino fat but silky cute gerbil named nibbles. but he was droped off at the petstore and does not like other gerbils so he is now a loner.

but,i have had him for 2 to 3 months now and i see a mager improvement for example. 1 he always went wild in his exerciser ball and he still is.lol 2 he always did have a big appetite that would explain why he is BIG try giving ur's a cheese puff piece watch their faces and reactions. lol after i gave nibbles a piece of one he keeps beging for more i think because he actually does not mind to stay on my hands now,and he seems to follow me around in his glass cage. he will stop doing what he does and goes to the glass clossest to wear i am or going,but he still hates being picked up,just look up on diffrent sites for toys and diffrent foods.

but my gerbils allout favorite toys that are gone in 30 miniutes are toilet paper rolls u know the middle of them .lol

Peanut · #9 07-24-2007, 10:53 PM

Hi Oreocat,

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to see if ours likes cheesepuffs, too. They are both well tamed down, and they each have their own personality. Speedy loves exercise and running, while Peanut seems to be against it. Speedy loves the exercise ball, but Peanut will roll into a corner and sulk.

They both love toilet paper tubes, too, just like yours. I cut the toilet paper tubes in half and give them each their own piece. Sometimes when I have a paper towel tube I will cut it into 3 inch sections and toss it all in to them. They love this!

I hope to hear more about your gerbil. What did you decide to call it? I think albino animals are neat, but we had such a terrible with albino hamsters that we decided to try something that was neither an albino nor a hamster. And so, after looking at rabbits, we decided to get something smaller and ended up getting Peanut and Speedy.

Peanut's owner