Post by j on May 2, 2004 8:13:12 GMT -8
Peter said:
But Floppy is right about when you frighten a gerbil it can be harder to tame them! Because than they will associate you with danger and unpleasant things! So never chase gerbils for example!Indeed not an advise I would give! I would say to let them get used to their new environment 1-2 days, not 2 weeks! That is really not necessary in my opinion. The younger they are, the easier it is to tame them. So I would also start handling them almost right after you have purchased them.
Yeah it sucked. My first pair ever and I thought I was doing the responsible thing by doing all the research and asking on boards.
Didn't even make sense to me cause then I started hearing about split cage methods and these people were getting new gerbils and handling them the same day.. so..duh..lol
I did the hand chase thing with them because after a month or so the taming was not working. But actually they got used to it. They wouldn't run anymore. When they saw me take the top off the tank they wouldn't run, they would just sit there and let me grab them lol so I continued to do and still do it. She's definatley a lot better than she used to be though. I can pretty much do what I want with them. Once I got a mite infestation I really had to handle them and take my chances..lol
But yeah, I don't do it with the new pups. Some..er not even sure how many..atleast 2 different ones..lol (all agoutis) jump right on my hand. ;D ;D