Survey: handleable vs not

[stellamaris]

I'm curious to know what percentage of pet gerbils,

1.  are handleable, or

2.  enjoy it.

I'll start (from my extensive experience of only one gerbil)

My gerbil was hand-raised.  He does NOT want to be picked up, but he'll walk onto my hands in hopes of a treat.  He climbs all over me, and, after running off some energy and getting several treats, will sit for an entire minute at a time to be 'scritched' and petted.  I'm wondering if he's enjoying it so much because he has no buddy to groom him.  Anyone else?

[LilyandDaisy]

It depends what you mean by handleable. I think almost all gerbils can be handled, if your hands are fast enough to keep up with them. Most gerbils are very fast and difficult to handle when young, but they tend to calm down as they get older.

I'm not sure whether gerbils enjoy handling. Lily and Daisy (and Storm when he was alive) will sit in my hand, and be stroked for a few seconds, even if they could have got off. For the most part, they seem to see handling as a means to an end. For example, when she's out for a run, Daisy will climb onto my knee and sit and stare at me, which is very sweet, but I know it's only because she's hoping I'm going to hand out sunflower seeds. Lily will jump onto my hand even when I don't want her to (for example if I'm trying to do something in the cage), but that's just because she's hoping I will take her out of the cage so she can run around.

I've only met one gerbil (out of 22) that I truly could not handle. I remember that gerbil as being really aggressive, although I'm not sure now whether it was all the time or just sometimes. When I think about it nowadays, it seems really strange for a gerbil to be so aggressive. This gerbil once attacked my finger and wouldn't let go. The pain was excruciating, and I had scars and numbness in the area for years afterwards. He also did the same thing to someone else. After that everyone was just too afraid to go near him and he was basically fed, given water etc, but never touched again. 21 out of 22 gives about a 95% handleable rate which is pretty good.

[barryozzy]

Currently I have 4 that love to be picked up and will climb up my arm to my shoulder. And four who will come to me and tolerate being picked up but won't jump into my hand for it. They're all okay with being petted though. 6 I tamed since they were born, and 2 I tamed when they were young adults.


My previous gerbil nipped a lot and I wasn't able to tame him properly by the time he died from a stroke.


The one before that, I didn't really know anything about gerbils and I was afraid of him because he bit me once.


The first one I had only lived a week because he bit my dad hard and hung on, and fell on the floor and hurt himself.

[Thea]

I've had 7 gerbils including mine now, and like LilyandDaisy said, it's hard to tell whether they've liked being handled or not. All of them have/do allow me to handle them, but may not particularly like it. Mali gets quite nervous when I handle her, however I've noticed that recently she seems to be less so (less digging on me and less pooing on me!). Pippa, however, loves to come out the cage from what I can see, although I'm not sure about being held.

My last gerbils, Rolo and Storme, I can 100% say LOVED being held though. Both of them 'gerbil purred' every time I took them out through their whole lives, which is a sign of happiness as far as I'm aware, and would lay in my hand to be stroked.

[Markpd]

Aww that's lovely Thea (about Rolo and Storme, you were lucky to have them . I'm sure you've told me before, but my memory sucks!).

**********************

The 1st pair gerbils our family had I don't remember much about them, as I was only 8+ at the time, I just have vague memories of them being fast but generally friendly.
The 2nd (lone ) Gerbil I had I do remember some things about him, he would sit still on my hand for a little while (maybe 10s or so?) whilst I stroked him, when he'd had enough he'd give me a gentle nip to let me know. Typically I would be sat on the sofa by then, so at which point he'd run up my arm, onto my shoulder, jump onto the back of the sofa and then onto explore the window sill (I'm sure he must have nibbled some of my mum's plants! lol ). In general he was easy to pick up and handle, but didn't stay still for long.

My current pair though, don't like to be handled, they're not scared of me though. When my hands are in their cage, they'll either ignore me or just sniff my hands (probably hoping for treats, lol). But if I try to pick them up they'll just hop away. Avon will never stay still in my hands (bar once a few months ago, a curious anomaly), he's tricky to transport, you have to let him run from one hand to the next.
Blake does on the odd occasion sit still in my hands for the 1st few seconds, at which point I can stroke him. But afterwards he scrambles to get out, and on 2 occasions he's just suddenly lept out of my hands! Once I was near enough the cage that he made it on there, the other time he landed on the floor! Needless to say, I'm wary of carrying him now and do it quickly!
Oh, Blake is quite happy to get onto my hand to use it as a lift though .

[ninguino]

Ceres has been my only gerbil this far and she won't allow anyone to handle her. Usually she would climb into everyone and it's pretty used to jump into our hands if there's a treat to be found. She's also very used to use my hand as a platform. Sometimes I feel like I'm some kind of elevator for her.

Also, when quiet enough or enjoying a treat, she allows us to pet her head, but she's never been willing to be handled.

[Markpd]

Sometimes I feel like I'm some kind of elevator for her

My thoughts exactly!
PS Cool name, named after the dwarf planet or Roman mythology?

[ninguino]

Dec 2, 2021 14:44:40 GMT -8 Markpd said:

PS Cool name, named after the dwarf planet or Roman mythology?

Thanks! I agree it's a great name. It was decided by the six-year-old kid in the house and she's named after the dwarf planet. She is a bit of an astronomy buff and wants to be an astronaut baker

The other gerbil we tried to introduce her was going to be called Eris, but it became Iris when she was adopted again.