2 Popular Pets for Children: Hamsters and Gerbils

Hamsters and gerbils are actually rodents children often want as pets. This can be a good way to get your child acclimated to caring for a mammal that he or she can actually pick up and pet. Gerbils require little care, but can be a fun pet for a child to have.

Many people do not know the difference between hamsters and gerbils. Both are members of the rodent family. Hamsters are larger and fluffier than gerbils. Gerbils have tails that are fluffy and hamster tails are long and sleek. There are certain rules to follow when getting hamsters or gerbils for your children:

Hamsters and gerbils will not cohabit - you should not put a hamster and a gerbil in the same cage. Hamsters and gerbils can be very territorial. If you want more than one creature, then get two littermates and put them in the same cage from the very start.

Do not try to introduce a hamster or a gerbil into cage with an existing pet.

Never put two older animals together in the same cage as they will literally fight to the death.

These creatures cannot be "trained" no matter what the guy at the pet store tells you.

Make sure you have a wheel in the cage or some other form of active entertainment. In addition to a wheel, you can also put an empty roll of toilet paper into the cage for the use as an exerciser.

The hamster or gerbil can be taken out of its cage and allowed to run around, however, they can get lost very easily. This is the reason why many people use a hamster ball.

If you have two of the same critters in one cage, ensure they are of the same sex. Otherwise, you are going to have a lot of gerbils or hamsters running around. They are very prolific breeders.

A fish tank makes the best container for the hamster or gerbil. Use a fish tank instead of a plastic rodent cage as the animal can gnaw through plastic and will also kick the litter out of a wire cage. There are fish tanks that have a netted top that cost a little bit more money, but are well worth the investment.

It is important that your hamster or gerbil has something on which gnaw because the teeth of rodents continue to grow. They have to keep gnawing at something in order to keep their teeth from growing to the point where they extend into the bottom or roof of the mouth. IF the animal does not have something on which to gnaw, the teeth will continue to grow to the point where the animal gets an infection and dies.

As part of the set up of your hamster or gerbil's living quarters, you need to have a bottle of water that will drip down whenever it sucks on the tube. These are sold in pet shops and come in a variety of sizes.

The animal must be fed every day and the normal rule of thumb is to just make sure the bowl is filled all of the time with food. Your children can also be in charge of making sure the animal has fresh water. Although the bottle will last for a week at least, it is nice to change the water ever day to give the pet fresh water. If well cared for, expect these pets to live only about 2 years on average.