Gerbils are basically the rodent version of a cat except they like to live in pairs. They use a sand bath as a bathroom much like how cats use litter boxes and gerbils approach you on their own terms much like cats do. Give them fresh water and enough food and you could easily leave for 2 or 3 days and gerbils would be just fine but it is still better if you can make arrangements for someone to check on them. Also she is right there is no such thing as a starter pet. These rodents are depending on you to take proper care of them, they are not just some cheap rat to be left in the wrong cage to be miserable and die. Most families that buy these small rodents don't often get the all the proper information about each one and think they are all the same resulting in a unhappy animal especially with gerbils. Gerbils are a very different rodent from a hamster, they need room to burrow and very specific cage requirements. Please do your research on these rodents before you buy them cause your not going to get all the proper info from the Petco you go to.

I've had both over the years. (My mom told me I had to prove myself by showing I could take care of a rodent before we could get a family cat. Now, 3 decades later, I've had dozens of rodents, a half-dozen spoiled cats, 2 dogs, and countless fish.) I personally prefer Gerbils over Hamsters for a few reasons. - When holding a Gerbil you can gently place your thumb over their tail to brace them against falling out of your hand, which seems to make them feel more confident in your hand, while Hamsters will sometimes derpy-derp their way right out of your hand, so always keep them over a soft surface when holding them. (Also, remember that Gerbils like to be in a "hand burrito" so give them gentle hand "hugs" when holding. Hamsters seem to do fine with an open hand.) Not having to worry about your Gerbil taking a tumble is very nice, just be gentle when bracing their tail. Never pick them up by their tail or pull it or brace it too hard, as they will likely nip you. - Gerbils are architectural geniuses, building amazing gravity-defying arches and tunnels in their fish-tank digging chambers. Hamsters, on the other hand, can easily be kept in a plastic bin cage, but they will make a mess of it. - Gerbils are pretty clean (assuming their bedding has been changed recently), while Hamsters often have a bad smell and require much more frequent cage cleanings (as in every 2 weeks at least for a Hamster, while it's more like every 1-2 months for a pair of Gerbils). Gerbils are fastidious cat-like rodents, obsessed with hygiene (and digging), while Hamsters are much more food-obsessed than cleanliness-obsessed. Plus, when Hamsters eject food from their side pouches, it's, uh... pretty gross. Gerbils don't do that, but they are, basically, the "Mormons" of the rodent world, constantly stashing what seems like a year's supply of food in their burrows (so be careful not to overfeed too much or you'll just end up throwing away a lot of food during cage cleanings). - Gerbils chirp very soft happy songs to each other, but since Hamsters are solitary, they don't tend to vocalize. Don't get me wrong, I've loved all my Hamsters and Gerbils over the years. Nevertheless, I feel like Gerbils are easier to keep, as long as you can provide an appropriate cage (lower digging chamber FULL of bedding and upper chamber with food, water, wood chews, wheel, and sand bath in a glass or ceramic bowl). Hamsters have cheaper cage requirements, but require cleaning a LOT more often. Also, as the video says, Gerbils are more active during daylight hours, while Hamsters are more active at night. Both are, of course, adorable, cuddly hand pets... if treated properly. :)

My gerbils always loved both chasing and earing crickets.

Thank you for trying to spread a very important message. Unfortunately most ppl who walk into a petstore to buy an animal like a commodity, have zero idea what they're doing.

I never cared as much for dwarf hamsters ever since I was a kid I accidentally dropped one on the ground at the pet store cause he kept running lol they was to hyper but now my son has rats and I ended up loving them there way more fun then hamsters

The main difference I have found is that while hamsters like to chew, gerbils will destroy anything they can get their teeth onto. No matter how much wood, cardboard and chewable toys I gave them, they would chew their wheel whether it was wood or plastic, they chewed up their water bottle so I had to give them standing water in a ceramic ramakin (which always meant we soggy messes in their enclosure). Even the wooden shelf I used to elevate their food, water and wheel out of their bedding, they chewed one of the struts until the whole thing collapsed. I eventually had to wrap everything in wire mesh. My hamsters on the other hand never chewed anything plastic, so I could give them a wheel and a water bottle and plastic platforms as bridges along with the wooden bendy bridges to help them get up and down the enclosure (I had to make a bendy bridge out of metal rods for my gerbils to use as a ladder, because they could strip a bendy bridge down to the wires within a week). All of them were fine with being picked up, but none were ever comfortable enough to eat or groom themselves while being held, and basically as soon as they were picked up they would immediately begin looking for how to get home. For the same reason, they didn't seem to like playpens or running around in the bathtub. Especially the hamsters, they hated anything that wasn't their enclosures, whereas at least the gerbils would be a lot more curious. I would say gerbils are much more fun and lively pets, but hamsters are much more low maintenance.

I loved this video, very educational! I also found it interesting you found the hamster confidence better than the gerbils, I feel like my experience was the opposite! I was able to train my gerbils to do tricks, were my hamster wanted very little to do with me. I love the content! thank you so much for sharing and educating :)

I had both hamsters and gerbils as a kid and I loved my gerbils a little more cause they are diurnal and also one of my gerbils was extremely friendly, he would prop his little front feet up on the enclosure and stare at me when I came home from school until I took him out and let him fall asleep as I pet him, I miss him He was also born in my house (on accident) and I bonded with him and his 3 siblings all the time

Great video and very informative. I appreciate the time put into it. Thanks!

Great video as always. Gerbils are my preference, but I like hamsters and I learned some things I didn't know about them from this video. Hopefully some people stuck between the two Pets will find this video :)

Gerbils are one of the most emotional creatures

You answered so many of my questions!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!

I use to have a gerbil and he lived for 4 years he was basically my emotional support buddy

1:57 my sister had 2 hamsters once when she was 9, She had a male (Mike, which looked very much like the hamster on the video) and a female (Rosa) and She said she wanted to get mike a "girlfriend" so he wont feel alone and sad. He ate Rosa. Im serious, she came home from school to give them food and you could see Rosa's skelet

My little russian dwarf hamster Loves people and comes to me when his name is called 😊

I’m still thinking about Gerbils and Hamsters but at the min I’m on the Gerbil side

Oh wow. I'm the total opposite with my gerbils. I used to own and breed them and they were the tamest and sweetest things. The breeding pair especially were very greedy with wanting my attention and would fall asleep in my hand. The wife or husband would get anxious and throw a tantrum if I was petting the other too long. Before I could even put the spouse in the tank, the other was leaping into my hand and pushing the other out of it so they could get their spa day. LOL I miss them so much. I got a female winter/russian hamster on the 4th. I had a russian a long time ago who lived to be 6 yrs old. That hamster was so extroverted and friendly and craved attention. My little Pepper however, is a bit like me, VERY introverted and shy but very sweet.

My Gerbil sadly passed away recently I had her for 3 beautiful years, the day I found her ... I held her in my hands and cried..

I’m loving this channel

I would choose gerbils over a hamster every day 😌

As a kid I had both hamsters and gerbils but never knew all these details cuz....well I was a kid. Interesting to know now 30 years later. Sounds to me like Gerbils are the better choice.

How do you have the wheel on the glass wall like that ? A suction cup ? That's so cool

I had the opposite, I had both. the hamster tried to bite Anyone who tried to pick it up but the gerbils was friendly & let Anyone pick them up.

Dwarf hamsters are much much more prone to diabetes. Any other hamsters rarely get diabetes.

It,s hard to choose, but I like my gerbels more than the hamster haha. But I sometimes fell that they don't care about me, they just like the seeds I gave them xD. I guess they are quite happy, but it's hard to say. Nevertheless gerbels never smell and are soooo easy to take care of, I just love them.

Great video

Our gerbils never seemed to like being held or touched that much, but would sit on your hand and let you stroke them when they were eating 👍🏼😃

So many people saying that hamsters are worse because they aren't cuddly/bite easily..um..I get the feeling that most of these people got hamsters without actually doing proper research?? I can't imagine any person who has DONE research on hamsters, getting one thinking that they will be 'cuddle buddies' and all that..I mean..that's literally not the hamster's nature. Yes they can occasionally tolerate people picking them up and cuddling them in some way but the general rule is the opposite. Usually they will mostly let you pet them and pick then up for a few pets/roam time but that's just about it. They're not your ''cuddly'' pet. So if you get a hamster without knowing this and you end up disappointed, it's not really the hamster's fault lol. I had done a bunch of research before getting my hamster, I never went into getting it thinking that it will be a cuddle pet so I was never disappointed either. Personally right now I have a hamster but I'd like to own gerbils too, I think they're also interesting in different ways.

I have both

Gerbils seem pretty wicked to be honest. And I agree any pet is a pet. Regardless if considered as an easy or first time thing 🤘

Yeah this is true you cannot house hamsters together cos they are best living on their own they see there owner as companion

I was at a pet store once and a hamster was happily munching on another hamster's intestines.

Well done video.

Not to be horrible to Hamsters, but I feel the reason Gerbils are more skittish is because they are more intelligent and aware of their surroundings. Hamsters seem to struggle to recognise possible dangers. For instance they'll walk off high places if you don't watch them, which is something a Gerbil wouldn't do. You can teach them tricks too, good luck with that with a Hamster 😐

I love gerbils so much! I laughed when you called hamsters “these little maniacs” 😂

Iv had dogs, cats, a hamster, a rabbit and 2 squirrels. Hamsters are easy to take care of. Squirrels are hard

I have a Syrian. I got her meal worms once and she was like wth?

What happens when one gerbil dies? They’re social animals. How do you know that gerbil’s replacement will be compatible with the one that’s still alive?

How do you manage to spot clean without messing up their tunnels? Especially if you're trying to find pee spots....

Mine are so cute💖

Gerbils are very expensive in terms of start up costs and maintenance. I had a hamster years ago, very lovable and I could hold him and pet him. Smaller cage with tunnels and no worry of him chewing out of it. Very minimal investment. I did make the mistake of recently purchasing my first pair of gerbils without proper research and assuming it would be equivalent to owning a hamster. Bought a wire cage with plastic floor that stated it was made for gerbils and hamsters. Long story short, they escaped (but I recovered them), and they are now in a 40 gallon terrarium. All total, I’ve invested over $400 in the past 3 weeks getting these guys set up. They seem very happy now, but they are skiddish and usually burrowed out of site. I will take care of them until their last day but I’m done with gerbils after that.

Nice information

Is there a way to bond with my gerbils if I have cats?

So should the Gerbils be the same sex when you are buying them in pairs or it doesn’t matter?

but you should add some paper thing thing the box so they can dig under, cause that's what they are ment to do

I got my gerbil from someone who put two gerbils in plastic cages. They chewed out and one died.

I may be purchasing another hamster soon and I need ask I am not home much and they sleep on my opposite sleep schedule.

Why is a plastic bin not suitable for gerbils?

Do gerbils NEED a friend?

I have had animals of different kinds for 30 yrs.. I got a male gerbil then got a female today.. introduced them w the male out of the cage at first but they started fighting, so I Separated them. I think I made the wrong decision trying to get him a friend 😒 the female is aggressive, not the male.. what to do?😐

Hi

Gerbils are more dirty,I have one male gerbil and one male hamster and the hamster is more clean

Xlnt video

Personally i dont find hamsters appealing, they hibernate, and are nocturnal

Couldn't get past 1st minute, felt judged. Just wanted to compare and contrast

🤔Can artificial light hours ,fool Hamsters 🐹 to engage, in our daytime🌙 cycle...

eh,i have gerbils and hamster,most my frinds find ogly,even my ex gf,sey she cant look on them

gerbils dont live for 6 years its 3 years at most

Both are omnivores but hamsters need more animal protein and fat

Syrian hamsters live beetween 2-4 years,not 1-3 years because they can’t live 1 year if it is that is because of a disease and even dwarf hamsters live like 2 years on average

Jesus is coming, so please repent and turn to Him and believe what He did to us so u may be saved🥰🥰 He is our Lord and Savior and bc of Him we dont have to go to hell

Well,, I should disagree when you said "hamster are solitary". Cause actually it depend on what kinds of hamster do have,, if that syrian yess they're solitary!! But,, if what you had a dwarf then it was the opposite,, cause they do needs a companion especially roborovski hamster. The problem is many ppl adopt dwarf hamster don't realized that if they decided to adopt a pair dwarf hamster than they would be have a babies soon or later so if we as the owner didn't prepared extra cages than it will be disaster cause it will overpopulation,, i'll be there position one's. So again,, we should considering which one of hamster do we wants to adopted so the things bout' "overpopulation" could be managed.. Over all I agree with all you said in your videos.. Btw I do had a gerbils but what I had was a fat tail gerbils not a Mongolian gerbils cause here in my country (Indonesia) there's no breeders of Mongolian gerbil 😂😂😂

If your hamster is sleep when you are awake, waken it up.