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Post by Markpd on Aug 14, 2020 9:41:52 GMT -8
Wow! That's still a load , I would love to meet them all! . I wanted to see all of Clare's Gerbils actually, but of course social distancing puts a stop to that atm! How did you end up with voles and harvest mice? Rescued animals from the wild?
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Post by betty on Aug 14, 2020 14:19:35 GMT -8
Ha ha - I get all sorts thorugh various means and from various places. All these are captive bred.
Always something new.
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Post by Guest101 on Aug 15, 2020 8:04:41 GMT -8
I think a hamster may e a better hope for me right now, as my family dosen't agree with takin animals on vacation or having someone take care of them. I will come back to this thread though if I ever want to learn more about gerbils. Thank you for all the information 😀🐁🐭
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Post by Guest101 on Aug 15, 2020 8:07:05 GMT -8
Sorry about the autocorrect 😅
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Post by Markpd on Aug 15, 2020 8:38:16 GMT -8
I don't see how a Hamster would be any different to Gerbils when going on holiday, am I missing something?
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Post by gerbilord on Aug 15, 2020 8:43:31 GMT -8
You'd still need someone to feed/care/check on behaviour for the hamster while you're away. That doesn't change with whatever pet you have, so you need to make sure you have everything planned out before you get them.
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Post by Markpd on Aug 15, 2020 9:09:30 GMT -8
And wouldn't it be the same number of days for each?
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Post by Guest 101 on Aug 15, 2020 13:03:29 GMT -8
Well, according to the hamster hideout forum and hamster central, you can safely leave a hamster for up to 5 days, but They need extra food and two or three water bottles. Maybe it's because gerbils tend to be more destructive?
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Post by Markpd on Aug 15, 2020 14:04:06 GMT -8
Ok then, then why can't the same rules apply to Gerbils? (question not aimed at you) I don't see that being more destructive would make any difference if the cage is Gerbil proof in the 1st place (so excluding e.g plastic bin cages). Extra bottles can be put in, I have 2 in my cage, initially it was because they couldn't get to the original glass one I put in the cage, but it would also serve as a back if I were away for a couple of days. Extra food could be put in for them too.
As for if any pets fall ill, I can't see why Hamsters would fare any better or any worse than Gerbils. I'm puzzled, do Gerbils get ill faster than Hamsters?? Seems unlikely..... 1 of them has got to be wrong surely?, but I don't know which! lol
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 15, 2020 14:15:55 GMT -8
There aren't really "rules" around these things, it entirely depends on the opinion of whoever you ask. I don't think I'd be comfortable with leaving either a gerbil or a hamster alone for 5 days, but others might be and it probably works out fine most of the time.
What I would say is, if your parents don't think it's worth getting pet care when you're on holiday, are they also going to think vet care isn't worth it?
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Post by Markpd on Aug 15, 2020 15:11:40 GMT -8
Fair enough. Funnily enough, a friend of mine asked me if I could look after his daughters pets (2 rats, 1 Gerbil and 3 snakes!) whilst they were on holiday for 2 weeks recently (back today), he initially asked me to just come in once! (I think on what his daughter suggested) I balked at that and said I would be quite happy to come in twice (which still seemed a bare minimum to me for the rodents, but hey...). Although the rats had 2 water bottles, the Gerbil only had 1 (the snakes hardly drank at all and didn't need feeding, lol), that single bottle seemed like a weak point to me (although no problems did occur). Also with a heatwave coming I opened 1 front little window for them on the 1st visit (after checking it was ok with him), despite that and the fan they had already left on (blowing towards the rats cage), when I visited the 2nd time it was really hot in the rodents room! (so I opened a small back window too) The Gerbil did briefly splay out in its sandbath so it was hot, that said, after ~30s it was running around and eating, so seemed ok, but it must have been close to the limit. But she was under the impression that it would be ok because it was a desert animal! I mentioned not with high humidity, and she conceded that (I must remember to mention to my mate that it's not just down to that, and that in the wild they have a deep burrow to escape to!).
Also, regarding a single water bottle for any animal, (belatedly) reading some of the zooplus reviews for the Living world water bottles, sometimes those develop faults suddenly within weeks after purchase (sometimes immediately!) where either the ball jams and no water comes out, or it leaks and loses all water in a day! Imagine that with a single bottle during 5 days!......
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Post by Guest101 on Aug 16, 2020 21:05:35 GMT -8
I most likely won't be getting another pet any time soon, but they're on board with vet care as I have a 200$ vet fund.
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Post by Markpd on Aug 17, 2020 11:27:23 GMT -8
Can't get anyone to pop in during holidays every 2-3days? Btw, if you're parents still think it's crazy to gets pets checked up on during holidays, ask them what would happen if the water bottle jammed up, or leaked and drained out.....
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Post by Guest101 on Aug 17, 2020 18:38:48 GMT -8
I was planning on getting a reptile waterer that's a lot more sanitary and holds a months worth of water. I won't leave a pet alone that long though! From there point of view, were not getting another pet so it dosen't matter. It turns out were not in the position to get a second pet, but in a year or two I'll either have three gerbils or a dwarf hamster.
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Post by Markpd on Aug 18, 2020 9:32:15 GMT -8
Fair enough, well when you do get them, make sure you introduce us
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