Gerbil taming problems????

[lexiesgerbils]

Hi everyone - I'm a first time gerbil owner and have two gerbils named Anna and Rebecca.  I got them for my then 9 year old daughter (who lost interest in them pretty quickly) when they were 8 weeks old and have had them for 18 months now.  The problem is that I don't seem to have made much progress in taming them depite 18 months of perseverence.  

They are in the smaller Pets at Home gerbilarium (advertised as suitable for 2 gerbils but I have now learned that the cage is far too small - it's a 6 gallon tank with an equal sized topper.  Today I bought them a 20 gallon tank (to which I will attach their existing topper -  but have not moved them yet.).  They both come when I call them and climb onto my hand to eat treats.  Rebecca always comes first and is usually pretty eager to come on my hand.  Anna is more hesitant and always needs some gental verbal coauxing.  As soon as I stop offering treats  (I don't like to give too many as they favour the fattening king - i.e. almonds and sunflower seeds) they both lose interest in me and my hand.  They both become scared when I take them out of the cage, either by catching them or by moving my had out of the cage after they had come on it, and show this by trying to burrow into my fingers and trying to head back into the cage.  At one time I would continue to handle them despite this - thinking they would calm down - but they would then poop everywhere and  take backward steps in becoming less willing to come onto my hand in the next few days until I had regained their trust.  Now I don't try to take Anna out of the cage at all and only take Rebecca out for a few seconds before putting her back in the cage when she starts trying to burrow into my fingers.

I'm not sure if they are untame or just don't like coming out of their cage.  They have a playpen - a plastic storage / bin container which I get out and place in front of their cage.  For the most part they come out into the playpen but go back into their cage at regular intervals and back out again.  Rebecca is a good jumper and can jump out of the playpen, but will only jump on the side where the cage is and climb on top of the cage and jump back into the playpen. She will not jump onto the floor on the other side which is just as far.   Sometimes they both just look through the open door into the playpen but show no interest in venturing into it at all.  When I clean their cage out I always use the playpen to hold them and let them walk into the playpen (or catch them and put them into it if they won't go) and then when I remove the cage to clean it they go nuts trying to escape out of the playpen - but the only place they want to escape to is back into their cage.  Once I've finished cleaning their cage and place it back next to the play pen they make a mad scramble to climb back into the cage - but if I leave the playpen in place they will come back out into it. 

Once I accidentally left the cage door open (with no play pen in front) and neither of them tried to escape.  

I would dearly love to be able to hold them both and have more interaction with then and out of cage time with me and also want to do the best I can by them but don't know where to go from here.    Should I accept that they do not want this due to their personality and temperment and just enjoy watching them in their new bigger cage along with treats in my hand and playpen time - or is this a taming problem and I'm doing something wrong in this regard?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[vexorg]

Every gerbil is different in nature, you couldn't really have more difference the the 4 boys we have in terms of how they all behave. I'm not sure they can be changed much from their initial way they are. WE have one, separate to get out and play, eagerly shuffles back and forward as you open the cage, will sunup your arm and sit on your shoulder, one of the other from the same litter never climbs out, pick him up and he lies as flat as possible in your hand. Both had been treated the same since we got them.

[crittercrazy]

Some of the behavior you described does sound a little odd. . . gerbils are very curious and I'm not sure why they wouldn't be at all interested in an escape opportunity. (when the door was left open)
Do you have some toys in the playpen? Something to make it a little more interesting? Maybe you could try transporting them from the cage into the playpen, therefore not giving them the option to go back in the cage.

As far as taming goes, holding them before they're ready is, as you found out, not going to work. I tried that with my first couple of gerbils. . . and neither of them ever became very tame.
It can become a little frustrating, but try to not hold either of them until they are ready for it. Meanwhile, perhaps you could try going back to the beginning and start over.
Here is a link to a taming guide I wrote: thegerbiljournal.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_3.html
Maybe you could start at the second or third step.

An finally, as Vexorg said, gerbils' personalities do vary a good deal. And they also rub off on each other. I have a pair of females like that. I introduced a young female to my adult girl Parsley, who has always been a trouble-maker. Within a couple of weeks, the younger girl, Penelope, who had been sweet and docile, started acting a lot like Parsley.
So the level of "tameness" will depend to some degree on the gerbils.

Well, good luck and I hope this helps.

[vexorg]

May 25, 2015 7:23:12 GMT -8 crittercrazy said:

Some of the behavior you described does sound a little odd. . . gerbils are very curious and I'm not sure why they wouldn't be at all interested in an escape opportunity. (when the door was left open)

Some of ours are have absolutely no interest in leaving the cage. Some even get very agitated out the cage and immediately want back in. One we have now hides under the shelf whenever the cage is open, only if there's a treat involved and normally half way out. She does not like being out, does everything possible to get back in her cage. I think some are very insecure and prefer the comfort of somewhere they know. 

[crittercrazy]

I guess not all gerbils are that curious then. I'm just used to having a gerbil escape at least once every couple of months, and being kept awake at night from their noisy attempts at freedom.

[ticandtac]

I'm having trouble taming my pair. Tac seems to actually be becoming less tame. Tic, well Tic is just Tic. Tic is skittish and neurotic. He's just starting to become bold enough to sniff at my hand and take treats. But as soon as the treat is gone, and I so much as wiggle a finger, he's off in a flash.

[lexiesgerbils]

Thank you all for your very helpful replies! I'm guessing the problem with my gerbils is a combination of their personalities / temperament and going too quickly with the last step of the taming method you describe in your article Crittercrazy. The design of their existing cage only allows me to lift place my hand right next to the door and so lifting them out of the cage from there. Once they are in their new tank I' will go back to the earlier steps and take it at the correct pace. Thank you so much!

[ticandtac]

I had a breakthrough with Tac today, at least I think it was a breakthrough. I got him to climb into my left hand while I gave him a treat with my right hand. Then I managed to lift him out of the cage a good five or six inches. All was fine until the treat ran out and he realized that he was being held. At which time he jumped back into the tank and scurried back into his burrow.

[daisy]

Remember that in nature, gerbil are prey animals and some of them can never really get over that. My gerbils come when called, take treats, don't mind being picked up for a moment or so, but don't like to be in any open type space and don't like to be held for long. When I transfer them to their playpen, I hold them for a few moment and pet them, but as soon as they start wiggling around and put them down. When they are ready to leave their playpen, they will stand on their back legs until I notice and then climb right up on to my hands to be taken back to their aquarium. 

I got them for my then 9 year old son, who definitely has less interest than I do.  He likes to move them from the aquarium to the playpen and back, but I do just about everything else. 

[betty]

I don't handle my gerbils as much as you guys, I just love to watch them being gerbils and looking adorably cute, however I have noticed that only really a small percentage actively 'want' to come out of their tank to be played with.

I have 1 dad and 3 of his kids who often on seeing me stand up at the top of their tank and when I open it they let me pick them up for a run in the run or on the sofa, no treats were ever involved in this.

Others wait at the top when treats are going around, but don't want to be picked up, and the remaining gerbils just run off when I open their lid.

I am currently considering breeding from this dad and his son to see if they can pass this natural friendliness on.... has anyone ever tried this? Well it would certainly make everyone's taming job easier?

[xxxamybxxx]

Reading this im so gald its not just my 3 who dont seem to want to come out to play! my previous 4 gerbils used to be so curious and sit and wait for me to pick them up... these guys getting them out is more like a game of cat and mouse!

i tried useing a glass jar for them to hop in so i could get them out... it worked for about 2 days then they got wise to it and wont go near it even when i left it in there cage so they didnt associate it with just coming out.

Once they are out they seem happy enough and it cant be that they dont like being touched because if they are eating or chewing and i stroke them they dont stop they happily carry on but the little devils will not voluntarily come out of there tank and hunting them down is no easy task in a 3ft tank with tank topper which is sitting on a side board im only just tall enough get my arm in as it is! lol

Amy