taming a gerbil

marie-p · May 20, 2008

I haven't had gerbils since I was a kid and now I am foster mommy to a sweet little male gerbil from the local humane society. He is 2 years old and lives by himself.

I just got him yesterday and now I'm trying to figure out how to tame him. He isn't terrorized of me, but not very friendly either. He is really jumpy when I move suddenly and wont eat from my hands. I know he had been at the humane society since March 3 and probably has had limited interaction with people (there are lots of volunteers, but also lots of animals... so I guess time to socialize the animals is limited). I'm not sure of his background but hopefully I will find out more soon.

Does anyone have any tricks to taming gerbils?
So far, my plan is to steal all the sunflower seeds from his food (before giving it to him) and feed those to him by hand.

I have tamed rats before... which involved holding them for over half an hour at a time (the reason being that if nothing bad happens, rats can't stay scared for more than 20-30 minutes.) but I am really not sure if the same is true of gerbils. If it's not, I could end up doing more harm than good that way.

nekochan · May 20, 2008

I can't say 100% that this will work with gerbils, but it usually works very well for hamsters-- what I do is something I call "bathtub training" to tame hamsters. It sounds weird but it works great... You take the hamster (gerbil in this case) into the bathroom in the least stressful way possible-- if they are scared of being picked up you can use a cup or small carrier to scoop them up and bring them there. Make sure the bathtub's drain is closed, close the door of the bathroom and sit down or lay down in the tub. You may want to bring a pillow or something! Then let the hamster/gerbil loose in the tub. If they try to climb up you to escape from the tub you can use the carrier or a hand to gently block the way, but don't grab them or pick them up at all. Let them run around in the tub and over you for a while. Don't move around too much or too quickly. After a while, gently coax them back into the cup or carrier or whatever you used and bring them back to the cage. Repeat this for a while until the critter seems comfortable with you and doesn't get spooked at all when he's running around in the tub. When he seems comfortable you can start to gently pet him while in there or start putting your flat hand down and lift him up a little when he climbs onto it (without closing your hand over him at first so you don't scare him.) Since this is a gerbil and not a hamster you may want to wear old/thick clothes in case he decides to chew.
I've used this method with a bunch of hamsters (both Syrian and Dwarf) and it always works great. I use a bathtub because it forces the critter to climb around on/near you because you're taking up most of the available space, and because they can't easily escape and if they do escape they will be in the closed bathroom and easy to catch. If you have one of those small animal playpens, that would probably work ok as an alternative to the bathtub.

marie-p · May 21, 2008

Originally Posted by Nekochan

I can't say 100% that this will work with gerbils, but it usually works very well for hamsters-- what I do is something I call "bathtub training" to tame hamsters. It sounds weird but it works great... You take the hamster (gerbil in this case) into the bathroom in the least stressful way possible-- if they are scared of being picked up you can use a cup or small carrier to scoop them up and bring them there. Make sure the bathtub's drain is closed, close the door of the bathroom and sit down or lay down in the tub. You may want to bring a pillow or something! Then let the hamster/gerbil loose in the tub. If they try to climb up you to escape from the tub you can use the carrier or a hand to gently block the way, but don't grab them or pick them up at all. Let them run around in the tub and over you for a while. Don't move around too much or too quickly. After a while, gently coax them back into the cup or carrier or whatever you used and bring them back to the cage. Repeat this for a while until the critter seems comfortable with you and doesn't get spooked at all when he's running around in the tub. When he seems comfortable you can start to gently pet him while in there or start putting your flat hand down and lift him up a little when he climbs onto it (without closing your hand over him at first so you don't scare him.) Since this is a gerbil and not a hamster you may want to wear old/thick clothes in case he decides to chew.
I've used this method with a bunch of hamsters (both Syrian and Dwarf) and it always works great. I use a bathtub because it forces the critter to climb around on/near you because you're taking up most of the available space, and because they can't easily escape and if they do escape they will be in the closed bathroom and easy to catch. If you have one of those small animal playpens, that would probably work ok as an alternative to the bathtub.

That sounds like a fun idea!

But first, I'll have to find a way to completely block the bathtub because I wouldn't want the little guy to escape and hide behind the washer/dryer.

carrie640 · May 25, 2008

This totally reminds me of the gerbil I had in the mid-80s when I was like 12. He was a black gerbil named Speedy. He was NOT nice at all and you just could not pick him up for ANYTHING. When I attempted to pet him in his cage, he would hover right down and literally squeak like crazy. It was soooo queer...but nothing I did ever helped to get him over it.

Would love to know if you get something to work!!!!

taming a gerbil

marie-p

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nekochan

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marie-p

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carrie640

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