Hamsters Or Gerbils?

I wanted to buy a birthday present for friends of mine. Nice couple. They have their birthday a week a part and we celebrate it somewhere in the middle.

Knowing how much they both love critters, I decided that this year I would get them critters. At one time they raised Little Fuzzy, a squirrel. This time I thought, I would choose hamsters. They are cute, they like the wheel, they can be either regular size (3-4”) or dwarfs, about 2”.

As I set on my fact finding journey regarding hamsters, I discovered gerbils. Nah, I said to myself. Their look resembles mice; I thought I’d stick to hamsters. But something was gnawing at me, I still wasn’t sure. After spending a couple of nights researching the pros and cons of each animal, I developed a hamster vs. gerbil checklist which might help you if you ever have to choose.

Age of the caretaker: The first question I was asked by the pet store specialist was “how old are the children you are getting the hamster for?” Me: “Oh, one is close to 70, the other is close to 60.” Pet store specialist “Oh good!” with a sigh of relief.
Conclusion? This is not a pet for young children.

Do you sleep at night? If yes, you need to know that hamsters are nocturnal animals. Your hamster will be working the wheel all night long. Even if you put the hamster in a different room, you’d still hear the wheel turning.
If you work at night, no problem. Both of you are awake at night.

Do you like to have two hamsters in one cage? Make sure you get two females. Hamsters are very territorial and two males will fight to the death to gain control of the space. Females are more tolerant of each other. However, females go into heat and produce more odors.
Basically this is a solitary animal. Get just one.

Do you like to pick them up and play with them? Hamsters have poor eyesight. They can be startled by an approaching hand and bite. Their bite hurts.

I ended up getting two gerbils. They are sisters from the same litter. Here are my reasons for choosing the gerbils –

- They are awake during the day.
- They were very curious and friendly.
- It seems that there was more interaction with them. Isn’t that why you get a pet?
- The more I looked at them, the less they looked like mice.

Ruth and Naomi are very happy in their new home, they are well adjusted, friendly, and adorable.

For an update on Miss Ruth and Miss Naomi check this post.

Here's Miss Naomi.

Stay tuned for help in choosing a cage.