10 Fun Animal Facts- Gerbils
When most people think of gerbils, the first thing that comes to mind is hamsters, mice and other rodents because most people cannot differentiate between some species of rodents. But gerbils have made themselves known as a great first pet for kids and are very friendly and social animals. Gerbils are sometimes mistaken for kangaroo Rats because of their elongated back feet and long tails.
1. Gerbils will thump the ground with their back feet and if you have more than one gerbil in a cage, they will all join in thumping together. Gerbils will thump when they are excited, happy, stressed or even bored and young gerbils will thump for no reason at all.
2. Gerbils are social animals and will live best when kept in pairs or if in a large enough cage, more than two. Just make sure all the gerbils in the cage are the same sex or you will have babies in no time.
3. The general life span of a gerbil is between 2-3 years but both of my gerbils lived for 4 years.
4. According to Doctors Foster and Smith, "Gerbils were first brought to the United States in 1949." and " Gerbils are small desert-dwelling animals originally found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The most common gerbil species kept as a pet is the Mongolian gerbil."
5. Unlike most other rodents the father gerbil will help raise the pups after the mother gives birth, so there is no need to separate the pair when the babies are born.
6. Gerbils love to gnaw and their teeth keep growing throughout their entire lives, therefore they should always have something hard to chew on. Dog biscuits, blocks of untreated wood and vegetables should be given to them.
7. Gerbils can hop and jump and will race each other around their cage and when let out of the cage. They are very fast jumpers and if they get loose, you will have a hard time catching them.
8. A gerbils entire body is covered in fur, even its tail.
9. Gerbils are very inquisitive and will check out anything new.
10. In the wild, gerbils will roll themselves in the sand to make their fur shinier and smoother.
Sources:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?c=17342&articleid=2768&d=612&category=485
Published by Mary Kirkland
Mary is originally from Redondo Beach, California and now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and daughter. Mary has had extensive experience with small animal care as well as rescuing and re-homing.... View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentSounds like I don't need gerbils, then -- I am slow and stodgy! If mine got away, they'd say, "YES!"