Gerbil Prefers Being Held Certain Time of Day

[tobirolo]

I'm not sure if this is anything interesting or new to see, but I was curious about the observation I made. I've had Mango for nearly a full week now and considering I adopted him from PetSmart he's rather tame (based on some of the things I've read, gerbils from pet stores are generally unfriendly/harder to tame), and I haven't done any of the taming tricks I see others recommending, such as the bathtub one. I just sort of managed to pick him up a few times and now he likes me?? He also hasn't bitten me (though he does nibble my fingers sometimes, but it doesn't hurt too bad), which I take is a pretty good sign.

Now, what I have noticed is he only likes to (or at least allows me to) pick him up in the evenings. When I put my hand in his tank he'll sniff me and even sit in my palm but if I try to move it even a little bit he calmly hops off or scurries away. But during the evenings if I reach my hand into the tank he'll hurry over and try to climb up my arm (which has resulted in him falling off in the heat of his excitement and not being able to hold on). And it's only ever in the evenings. Not once have I been able to pick him up and let him climb on me and my shoulders before 5pm, at least.

I figured this was just a part of a gerbil's personality or routine, but it had me interested in asking if anyone else has had similar situations with their gerbils. I just find it cute how he'll be so excited about being picked up. I often worry he's scared of me or something but when he desperately attempts to crawl up my bare arm I feel a lil' bit of the love 

Anyway, sorry for the longer post. I tend to ramble... Anyone care to discuss this a bit? Even if it is just to tell me this is nothing new, and very common, and I'm just getting a little too excited over a silly observation

[zainabgerbil]

That's such a coincidence! As of today, I've had my two gerbils for a week. On the first night they were here they both came up and sniffed my fingers and climbed on them. They were really tame considering they were from PetSmart. I haven't really been able to check out your observation because I have school and I'm not able to play with them much But I'll try to check it out!

[manxlisa]

Sorry for replying late. Only just seen your post.
I’ve had my two boys Stan and Ollie for three weeks now. Ive noticed that they appear to be more brave first thing in the morning or in the evenings. If they are up during the day, they are definitely more skittish!