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Post by Josh on Jul 28, 2004 9:05:19 GMT -8
Ok, I am going to be getting a pair of female gerbils from petsmart in about 2 weeks. I already have everything I need except for a screen for the top of the aquarium.
I know the firstr step is to get them used to you and to be tame but I want to know if any training beyond that is possible? I am thinking of things like standing on command or rolling over or turing around on command.
I am pretty shure I could get the gerbils to do these things with a treat in my hand but is there any way to teach them voice commands or a hand signal and then give them a treat?
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Post by lizzy on Jul 28, 2004 14:25:10 GMT -8
i never got the idea that gerbils could be trained to do tricks.. i was under the impression rats could more so than gerbils..
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Post by josh on Jul 28, 2004 18:07:27 GMT -8
Yep, I read that too but I think it might be partly because no one tries with gerbils. Any other thoughts?
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Post by crazycritter on Jul 28, 2004 18:24:30 GMT -8
Mmm, I had a gerbil named Mr. Burns who would run an obstacle course, Jump from a stool to the couch, and race his mate up the stairs all for treats. I saw a site somewhere where a girl taught gerbils to press a lever to have a treat come down. I'll try to find it.
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Post by crazycritter on Jul 28, 2004 18:37:42 GMT -8
Mmm, I had a gerbil named Mr. Burns who would run an obstacle course, Jump from a stool to the couch, and race his mate up the stairs all for treats. I saw a site somewhere where a girl taught gerbils to press a lever to have a treat come down. I'll try to find it.
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Post by Josh on Jul 28, 2004 19:07:36 GMT -8
I think you could do something similar to what the girl did. Gerbils will realize when a certain action gets thm a treat and they will want to do that action. I think the real trick is for them to do it on command.
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Post by j on Jul 28, 2004 21:02:13 GMT -8
Where are you from?
You'd be better off trying to find a breeder near you than getting gerbils from Petsmart. Petsmart gerbils have never been handled, so you'll have more trouble taming them.
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Post by Josh on Jul 29, 2004 9:03:14 GMT -8
I looked for a breeder and I couldn't find one. Out of the two pet stores I knew of around me petsmart was the only one with gerbils. Yesterday I saw a pet store while we where driving. I stopped in and saw they had gerbils. As soon as I put my hand in the tank they ran over to it and got on it. I was like, thats it, I am getting them here. So later that night we went back and got two gerbils. They are very friendly but they dont eat sunflower seeds or dried banana from my hand. They will eat it from the food bowl though. I dont know what that is about because they are not afraid of me at all. I appreciate your concern for me and my gerbils but can we get back on topic now.
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Post by floppy on Jul 30, 2004 8:50:27 GMT -8
I have never heard of any gerbils doing tricks on command!! Can you speak gerbil or something?? An animal will do some things for a treat but I think it's ridiculous expecting them to do tricks on command! To be honest I can't understand why you would want them to sit/stand/roll etc. A gerbils natural curiosity is most likely the thing that would make them press a lever... Why not just enjoy them as pets and enjoy the antics they get up on their own!!
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Post by crazycritter on Jul 30, 2004 11:31:55 GMT -8
I agree with you, Floppy, to an extent. I know that my gerbils enjoyed the "game" I played with them. The obstacle courses, the stairs, the jumping. They were my tamest gerbils and always ran over to me when I opened the cage. One of them even came to you during free time when you patted the ground. I also think it is "ridiculous" to expect the gerbil to roll over, sit, stay...they aren't dogs. If you want a rodent that *can* do these things, get a rat. About the Lever tricks though, I found the site that I read that on. ~~~FROM THAT SITE~~~~~ Learning and conditioning For her Diploma, Vera worked with gerbils and trained them in a two-choice-discrimination task to discriminate between a triangle and a circle. The stimuli were presented in random order, and the animal was rewarded with food (Hanfsamen :-)) when it pressed the lever on the correct side, i.e. where the triangle appeared. The gerbils were tested every day (20 trials per day) and thus learned the task within three weeks. Later, they also learned to dicriminate between horizontal and vertical stripes. For further information ask Vera Brueckmann. Literature: Campbell, N., Straney, D. and Neuringer, A. (1969) Operant conditioning in the Mongolian gerbil. Psychonomic Science Vol. 16(5), pp. 255-256. home.wtal.de/ehr/gerbils/behavior.htm
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Post by floppy on Jul 30, 2004 15:45:42 GMT -8
I just had a look at that site and have to point out the heading... 'conditioning'. I do believe you can teach your gerbils some things yes, but to roll, sit, stay is totally crazy! To be honest, I think anyone who wants to do that is mad! Like you said, they are not dogs. I also think that training a dog that way can be cruel in some circumstance. I think a dog, or whatever animal, needs to sit and stay etc sometimes, but I hate people telling them to do it for their own enjoyment..."Oh, look what my dog can do" I hate to think that any animal is told to do something and gets 'punished' if he doesn't do it. He might not feel like rolling around the floor!!!
I think Josh should maybe join a circus! lol I'm sorry for going on Josh, but I think you are living on a different planet to the one I'm on!
Crazycritter, how do you know they couldn't just smell the food behind the triangle? It isn't impossible...
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Post by crazycritter on Jul 30, 2004 20:45:53 GMT -8
Floppy, I have to disagree with you on your veiws on dog training. My dog is a bordercollie Cross and he just loves to learn. He is very smart and learning new things is like a game to him, and it keeps him busy. I NEVER punish my dog when he doesn't do something. It is his choice whether he wants to speak or roll over or crawl on his belly. I agree with you that trying to train a gerbil to do these tricks is crazy, but i know that my dog enjoys what he does. He wouldn't get excited, bark, and wag his tail if he didn't. And with tthe conditioning done by Vera, I don't know. It IS possible that the gerbils smelled the food, but maybe you could take that up with her, NOT me. I was merely showing you what I have found on the subject.
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Post by Yushio on Jul 30, 2004 22:19:04 GMT -8
I agree with floppy!!! just found this site today...gerbils are so cute!
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Post by crazycritter on Jul 30, 2004 23:00:05 GMT -8
YES. I agree with Floppy for THE MOST PART. Leave your gerbils alone when it comes to training. Give them lots of toys and handle them. Just let them be gerbils. Just because we are humans doesn't mean we should have to control everything.
But, again, I disagree with Floppy about training dogs. As long as you keep it fun, your dog likes it, and your are ALWAYS nice to your dog, then I don't see a problem with it.
ALSO, I don't think you should be so harsh with Josh. It was just a question.
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Post by floppy on Jul 31, 2004 2:40:32 GMT -8
I think you may have taken me up a bit wrong about the dog training crazycritter! I did say I thought it was wrong in SOME circumstances! I said I thought it was bad when people DO punish their animal for not doing whatever trick they were supposed to do. You must know that some people are like that and want their animal to do what they say when they say it! That's all I meant! As for the research you found, I wasn't getting at you about that either! I was just pointing out what I thought about it! I don't think I was being harsh with Josh. Thinkgs are often taken out of context when people just see them written down. I think it was one of the most bizarre questions I have ever seen asked about gerbils and was just giving my opinion on it! I think this thread is funny!
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