Handling a gerbil...?

[tirilliel]

I saw another threat about handling gerbils by their tails but I just wanted to know what was the most appropriate way to pick up a gerbil?

I had gerbils in the past and the way I learned to get them was to pick them up by the base of the tail only for a short moment until you can get then into your hand. This is how I did it back when I was younger.

I have been doing the same with my new gerbil Orlando. I have found that gerbil’s aren’t as easy to pick up as a tubby Syrian hamster for example. They tend to kick their back legs real hard to scoot out of the way of your hand. I find the best way was to grab the base of the tail then when they are still pick them up like this and them place the gerbil in my hand.

I sometimes will hold the base of the tail with my fingers while he is in the other hand to prevent him of jumping out as I bring him back to his cage or when I’m about to put him down in a play area.

Besides these few times of tail handling I simply just hold him in my hand and let him crawl up my arms or from hand to hand to hand.

When I was young one of my friends also had some gerbils. Ill never forgot the day that he picked up his male by the tail and the gerbil finally fell to the floor leaving is de-gloved tail flesh in my friends fingers. It was horrible and my friend almost vomited right after.

I knew something wasn’t right because this gerbil had little spots of fur missing on the tail and what appeared to be small scabs which I assume were from the ripping flesh of the tail.

I just want to make sure handling a gerbil by the base of the tail wont eventually cause a de-gloving.

[RyanF]

I always just scoop them up with both hands. They seem to like it better that way.

[RW]

If a gerbil has to be picked up by the tail, you're doing it the right way, which is by the base, but the gerbil's body weight should be supported with your other hand.

My concern is that picking your gerbil up by the tail all the time isn't exactly going to build his trust in you. There are better ways to pick him up if he won't climb into your hand or even sit still long enough for you to scoop him up. Try using a plastic cup or mug instead. Lay the cup on the tank floor, wait until Orlando crawls in, pick him up in the cup, then let him crawl out onto your hand.

I never mess with my gerbils' tails unless it's an absolute necessity. For one thing, I'm afraid of misjudging and grabbing wrong, ending up with a gerbil missing part of its tail. The biggest reason, though, is because I don't think my gerbils would like it at all. Sometimes even a really tame one just doesn't want to be picked up. That's when I use a cup.

RW

[RyanF]

Sometimes, I use a paper towel/toilet cardbaord roll. They just climb right in thinking it is a new tunnel and then you can pick them up and right into your hand. ;D

[Christine]

Never pick a gerbil up by the tail, if absolutley necessesary you can restrain them there.

My gerbils leap into my hands the second they see them, and love to sit cuddled in a palm to get their foreheads rubbed. They also like getting brushed, and climbing up to ride my shoulder while I walk around the house. I let them out for runs around hte room as a reward, they come over when they see my hand on the ground so can be returned to their cage immediately, and are given peanuts and peas as a reward for responding asap.

Once you build a bond with Orlando you shouldn't have to pick him up, whenever you want to move him he'll jump onto your hand happily.

But new gerbils can be hard, especially if they weren't bought from a breeder and you'll have to gain his trust. I'd use the two hand scoop method or a jar when you need to handle him, as suggested, until he's used to getting held and comes to enjoy it.

[sandy]

I have owned and bred gerbils a long time. I would not recommend kids or new owners pick up a gerbil by the tail, and if you only have a few gerbils, and have the time it takes to catch it and pick it up or tame it, to pick it up properly, you should do so.

Having said that, I have a lot of gerbils. The oldest ones that I have tamed climb up my arm when I put it in the tank. The young ones and those that I haven't had a chance to tame do not, and I DO catch them by the tail and pick them up, but only the BASE of the tail near the bum. I am very very practiced at doing it with a very gentle touch and very quickly so that they are not uncomfortable with the transfer into my hand.

I do not let a gerbil dangle by its tail for any length of time. I have NEVER had a gerbil's tail come off in my hand, after more that 20 years of handling gerbils.

[sweetie]

I use the scoop method. I cup my hands together under the gerbil and pick them up. They are all (well except Blackie) receptive to this method. I also havea fish net for when I am in a hurry and run from me because they do not want to go back in their tanks

[mice]

Our gerbils really aren't very tame at the moment so we've found the best way to get them out of the tank when we need to clean them is to show them a clean jam jar, the climb straight into it and we can get them out fairly quickly. We're trying to get them to like us by putting out hands in the tank on a daily basis and just letting them run over them and sometime we give them a treat in the hope that eventually they'll sit in our hands long enough to let us take them out that way. Not making a lot of progess at the moment though.