HAMSTERS vs GERBILS | Which is the better pet for you? 

I had to buy a wooden wheel for my gerbils, because they did start chewing on the wheel. They chew the wooden one too, but at least it is safer.

I've had gerbils for many years so I honestly prefer them more for me like you said I love to see them interact and I recently just got 2 new gerbils and they're cuties!

I agree with everything you say in this. As for the 1st section in my area gerbils are hard to come by. Since i work in a petstore we get them in if you special order them. Most of the time i see them on CL as feeders which is sad but they make great pets for people who want active animals in the daytime. In section 2 about sizing i like how you included the Europe vs US disclaimer. It's sad that the US is so far behind but we still think of these small animals as throw away pets and don't seem to care as much about their welfare like other countries so trying to advocate for better is still a work in progress. And thank you for mentioning to the community the risk for pairing dwarf hamsters. People tell me all the time it's fine that they can be in pairs. I've had to remind people the same thing of it's best to house solitary instead to avoid a fight or death. I like your wording on they don't need another pair in order to thrive. So very true. Also at the end when you picked the one you prefer more, i kind of had a hunch it was Gerbils. One because i see you more as the Gerbil Lady and two i see your smile when you talk about them so it's a dead giveaway. So this was quite a fun video and hopefully this also encourages new time pet owners or owners going from one animal to the other will understand the difference better. I feel like we could touch on this topic more in the future once the community for gerbils grows and like you said there is hardly any info on gerbil care so we need kind of a platform to get this info flowing through the community. I've seen people say for instance different wheel sizes. "Gerbils should have 8 inches" "No they need 9 inches" "No they actually need 12 inches". So that's one example. For awhile people kept gerbils in 6-7 inch wheels which doesn't look comfy and also the type of wheels matter too. So hopefully more ppl like you and say Erin's Ark will bring more info to the table for Gerbil owners.

gerbils are cute but something about the length of the tail is so off putting 😭

So in California, you can smoke marijuana, but you can’t own a gerbil? ..... Makes sense to me

I have two gerbils and a Russian dwarf. Gerbils pretty chill, would rather stay in their tank chewing and digging. The hamster however is a tiny demon in a small furry suit. Your gerbil videos are what helped me know about tank set up as loads on hamsters not so many on gerbils.

I don't have a ton of experience in this area but back in my early 20s, I had one male gerbil in a 10 gal aquiaum and he was very happy. He made a huge attachment to me and he would hang out with me for hours out of cage. He would run around the edge of the couch and all over me but never off the couch and I even took him outside (I'd not do that today due to preditors) but he stayed within feet of me and would never run off. It was amazing! He followed me everywhere and would never run away. I gave him a wheel and he never used it so I took it out eventually. I gave him about 6 to 8 inches of bedding and he LOVED it and used every single inch! He dug A TON! They are very active. I was suprised he never used a wheel given how active he was but still. And yes, super fun to watch. He was tame about out of the store though. Anyway, this is the first time hearing about gerbils MUST be in pairs. But, I haven't looked for gerbils since though but intresting.

Gerbil squad

I've never had gerbils before although i would really really like to have a couple in the future. But my male Syrian hamster is amazing! His name is Hamurai warrior and he is so chill and loves to be handled and actually will sleep on my chest and just hang out with me! I love him bunches!

I love gerbils! I had two but one died about 6 months ago and the other a few days ago!! 🙁 I feel lonely without hearing them! They had such a character and made me smile! ☹️

So glad to see another one of your videos!! I have a Syrian hamster, Charlotte, who is black with a bit of white on her hand feet and chest; I love her so much, but she does sleep most of the day. I wanted a hamster ever since you had them on your channel. I bet gerbils might be more interesting to watch, especially if there's two.. I hope you'll acquire another hamster down the road. They're so cute to watch, hold, and give treats to! Thanks for the video Terra!!❤️🐹

Have you ever considered owning rats? They are so sweet ❤️

I've had gerbils and hamsters too and what i've found is that gerbils just seem to be a lot more fun, social and ive never had any gerbils that bite! all hamsters I have had were biting machines and just sleep a lot! gerbils are hard to handle cause they move around so much but they seem to have much more personality in my opinion! gerbils for the wind is my overall reccomendation! great video also :)

I got my first gerbils today! They live in a 20 gallon tank, I’m going to order some stickers and turn it into a beach theme🤣

I’m sad my friend Guinea pig passed and she did not treat it good she put a wheel in it cage I knew if I said anything her mom would yell at me it did not have any bedding and I did not know what to do I tried to tell her but she thought I was lien and did not listen the Guinea pig was not even a month old😭

hamsters and gerbils and both illegal in new zealand 😩 so instead, i've been owning mice for two years. and i plan on starting my mousery in a few months, once i have enough money saved up for emergencies and extra cages.

I always wanted to have a gerbil and since I'm finally at age to get one and planning for it this video help me a lot. Although it's very hard to look for information since not many people have them as pets.

I had my gerbil for almost 3 years now and he was doing great! Except, these last few months his ear started bleeding, and we stopped it, then it came back, and we stopped it. He didn’t bleed for about 3 weeks until his ear started bleeding again! We just used hydrogen peroxide on his ear and it looked fine. We suspected it was ear mites and went to Pet supplies plus and asked a worker what would work best. The worker said dog ear mite medicine and it worked. Than our hamster started getting it too and on one side a whole chunk of his fur was ripped off. We used the same thing and it worked. Use this method if they are itching a lot, and there is blood coming out there ears.

I’ve been researching gerbils for awhile and I love them! I think I’m going to get a few soon, I’m very excited!

Great video. Thanks for sharing! I particularly enjoyed your speech and the way you’re introducing everything. You were particularly enlightening, and I appreciate the effort you put into making this content. Keep up the great work!

I had a trio of gerbil brothers. The pet store insisted they would be fine together, so I reluctantly took all three. Several months later, I have two dead gerbils and one hurt very badly. I housed them in an Ikea Detolf. Sadly, the last boy died, so I decided to buy a baby male syrian hamster, and he is the cutest, sweetest and most perfect hamster. I named him Merlin, because he is pure hammy magic. I'm so glad I found him, he keeps me company in my bedroom at night. I just love him.

Great breakdown! Really enjoy this style of video. Maybe do one on the different hamster species?

I took my hamster to the vet yesterday because she had a lump on her, they couldn’t tell if it was a tumor or abscess. I’m scared to lose her.

A 29 gallon tank is decent for gerbils because you can give them some deep bedding and I attached the wheel to the screen lid with twist ties. The deep bedding makes it so they can still hop into the wheel but I also stack wooden bendy bridges to make it easier.

Thanks for all the great insight. I still have research to do but am leaning towards Gerbils since they seem to be more social with each other.

I got a hamster yesterday for my birthday I love him sooooo much

Hey I really need advice one of my gerbils lost both top teeth and its bottom teeth got so long we had to clip them. Then we accidentally clipped them too short so that his bottom lip (or whatever you call it) completely conceals his bottom teeth. We give him applesauce and a really great powdered food for gerbils mixed in when he loses teeth. He is grabbing his bottom teeth and opening his mouth wide and overall just looks really uncomfortable having really short teeth. What should we do (or will he just be fine)? I will copy and paste this to a couple of other gerbil youtubers who might know. Also please use the reply instead of just commenting so I get the notification.

That was an awesome video! More videos like this. I have 2 syrian hamsters I'm cleaning Poppy's cage now and watching your video lol x

There are a few other species of domesticated gerbils, for example duprasi gerbils. Some people find duprasi gerbils to be a bit more "hamster-like" than Mongolian gerbils. They're hard to find though. For Mongolian gerbils the AGS recommends 12% protein, but I think you can get up to 16% without any harm. Hamster foods can be 18%+ so I wouldn't give those to gerbils.

I just got gerbils. Please give me recommendations or things they need or shouldn’t have? I really need help I didn’t do enough research I got a huge cage and tons of bedding mostly wooden toys and houses. They have a flying saucer wheel because I don’t know the proper size and don’t want them getting hurt. Anything helps.🙂🙂❤️❤️

I got a lot of feedback from multiple places/ppl, saying male syrian hamsters are the best type to get, but mine is already 2 yrs old & is still so grouchy, just wants to be left alone, no matter how patient I am in trying to get it to be friendlier. It lives in a huge double-decker bin cage which is filled with everything a hamster could want. Trying now to adopt a pair of gerbils, will see if I can have more luck getting them to like me...

Appreciate this video. I started researching gerbils but decided to pursue a hamster instead after coming across this video a few weeks ago. Excited to adopt one soon!

I have had 5 gerbils and currently have 3. 2 are in a 40 gallon tank and the other one (we just got him and are in the process of bonding the three however we don't think it will be possible because they place we got him from did say that he was aggressive towards other gerbils and they had already tried) the other one is in a 10 gallon with a 10 gallon on top of it. Any advice on how to bond them? I know it's hard especially if there is a already bonded pair but all of them are males.

i'm looking into maybe getting gerbils since you can have 2 at once, but my last syrian hamster named belly passed away when i was at basic training... my mom said she might have died because of stress because she knew i wasn't around anymore, but i'm looking into getting more small animals and i want a hamster and gerbils. just needed my questions answered thank you...

For me my gerbil was a re-home. His past owner wasn't very educated and gave him to me with a plastic critter cage and all on his own with hamster food. Luckily ive done as much research as i know of as a first time small animal owner and am working on getting him another male friend and a better diet and his home:)

Do u recommend s mix of the studio, crystal, and loft white extra tubes(ovo habitrail)

Does anyone have any experience of gerbils chewing out of a bin cage? I have a bin cage and it has some edge places where they might b able to chew on. I'm getting a new pet soon and I was thinking about trying to get a couple of gerbils as I've previously owned hamsters but some people were saying that they would chew out of their bin! If anyone knows if that's true please lmk because if they do I'll probably just get another hamster so I don't lose them

I love your vast coverage of info and comparison as I’m trying to decide which animal to get for my sons tenth birthday. Thank you!

I’ve had both and my gerbils were more friendly,lived longer, they also love cuddles more and are very michevious

I am a gerbil breeder right now my two are having some fighting issues so I am bonding them with your suggestion!

Where do you get your bedding from and how much does it cost? What's a good place to buy bedding for a good price?

I have two female gerbils from the same litter, for 2 months now...and they are fighting and drawing blood, I've tried reintroducing them but they aren't getting along at all. I have a 75 gallon tank and I built a tank divider to separate them. When ever I try to hold them, they both pee on me. I want them to be nice...but I don't know if they'll love eachother again.

This was a truly informative video 😍 Thank u so much!

I owned a pair if gerbils a few years back but I haven’t seen any gerbils at the pet stores near me since I got mine. (No shelters near me have small animals either)

Thank you. Very helpful.

Hey I'm thinking of getting gerbils but I have 4 cages put together by tubes is that ok? Or will they fight because of the multiple levels. I have two 10 gallon tanks, a Critter Trail, and a 650 Square inch bin cage all connected by tubes will be will that be okay for 2 gerbils?

I have two gerbils! They are playful and kind, but I don’t understand why it is bad to get them at Pet Smart. I have gotten them on Pet Smart, as I did with my last gerbils. Is there something I don’t understand about the shop?

Iam wanting to get some gerbils. I want to do some research first on them. any suggestions on where I can find some information about them online?

Excellent information - thank you.

Chinese hamsters are also strictly solitary btw :)

I watched this after getting a gerbil and found out she was the perfect little baby (Her name is celestia and she has black fur with white on paws and under her mouth)

Thank you so much, Very informative video!!!!! I learn a lot on both animals!!!!

I have a 20 gallon tank that I used for my mice. Would this be an okay tank to use for gerbils/hamster?

I have had both but my favorite are gerbils. They were the first small pets that I was allowed to get. Back then they only came in brown. I named they Spock and Kirk.

Can you do a leopard gecko care guide because I have a leopard gecko and I am always interested in learning something new about him. his name is buddy and he is very sweet. I would also recommend a leopard gecko for a beginner reptile love you and I am interested in getting a hamster thank to you

I'm the same in terms of letting them interact with each other. My budgies too, I just let them play with each other, I don't have animals to force them to be exactly how I want. As long as they're happy, I am happy. lol I also prefer gerbils.

I got my gerbils from PetSmart too...couldnt find them elsewhere sadly!

Hey one of my gerbils got really sick and we kind of had to force feed him applesauce. Thankfully he has made a nearly complete recovery but I spilled lots of applesauce all over him. After three days it is dry, still really uncomfortable, and not gone at all. Does anyone have any advice on how to clean him sand baths don’t work and I know you aren’t supposed to get them that wet so I don’t know what to do)?

20gallon is that about 70x35x35cm? You are right that sounds reaaally tiny. I'm from Germany and I have a kallax cage build that has three 140x40cm levels and people tell me it is not big enough because the recommend size here is 100x50cm.

Gerbils are funny and curious. They also don't bite and I love it. Taming depends on the personality and one of my gerbils just doesn't care while the other one is willing to climb on my hand and take treats. They also don't smell as much so if your parents or roommates are scared of smelly pets then gerbils are great pets for you!

Love your videos so much! :))

your little wave when you say hey guys is so cute

I live in Wisconsin and almost all pet store has gerbils which I find really cool because I have owned 3 gerbils before and plan on getting 2 more soon and they usually range from 10 to 20 dollars in Wisconsin, right now I own a Syrian and she's mg first hamster.

Are hampsters good with small children? Do they not like to be held a lot?

I've had both gerbils and hamsters. I agree with your views as well. I also prefer gerbils slightly. Of the 7 hamsters I've had only one had an illness, but still lived until he was 3 years and 2 months old. Of my gerbils one ended up getting a scent gland tumor. He still lived until he was four years and 5 months old. I don't think I'll ever have gerbils again because it was very difficult to keep him from picking at the tumor once it had developed (age 4). It was heartbreaking and is not uncommon in male gerbils. Females can get them too, but it's less common. I found that the taptalk gerbil forum had some great information and many of the people on it had quite a bit of experience. Great video!

Sadly most pet stores don't make it a requirement to sell gerbils in pairs and so sometimes you end up with a gerbil who wasn't housed with another one for a while and once they get older it's harder to introduce new gerbils to each other. All of the 4 gerbils I have ever owned never had a tank mate because of that but I make it a point to be social with them myself everyday.

I have 1 gerbil and 3 mice. My gerbils lives in a 55 gallon tank and i dont know how many square inches it is but it is way more than 450 sq. My gerbil cant be in pairs because she attacks them. She has 7 or 8 inches of bedding and i totally agree with most of this stuff but i really loveee gerbils

I got a large reptile cage for my gerbil. It seemed large enough for the time but I always wanted to get a bigger one..

I feel bad because I refuse to buy live animals (accept feeder goldfish) from petco and petsmart but a gerbil I want to get off craigslist is by his own self, and I dont have anywhere else to get gerbils. Any tips anyone?

I love your hair ❤️ ur amazing and an inspiration to me!!!!

*OMG EARLY* LOVE UR CHANNEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *Your Amazing* ❤💕

Very informative video, thank you!

I have 4 critter trail cages and connected them together which is bigger then an aquarium I don’t think they are meant to be bought singular(I have dwarfs btw)

I bought a lizard cage aquarium at petsmart for my hamster, it has a plastic draw that pulls out and worked perfect!

I just upgraded my hamster from a 20 gallon tank too a 40 gallon breeder tank and was thinking about getting two girbils! Thanks for making this video!

Great information, very informative.

Great video. Thanks for sharing! I particularly enjoyed your speech and the way you’re introducing everything. You were particularly enlightening, and I appreciate the effort you put into making this content. Keep up the great work!😍😍😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🤩😄😘😘

We have a 4 year old and wondering which hamster would be best for her?

I tried all kinds of wheels on my gerbils Was not able to find one that they used (and plastic was out of question anyway - tiny shredder machines!)

This helped me so much! I have a hamster now but looking for the get two gerbils in the future.

Solitary animals like hamsters are generally easier to get tame then social animals like gerbils that would rather interact with each other then be handled, though that can also differ on the individual animal of course. Great video! 😊

Both are omnivores but I think because of some google research that hamsters need more animal protein and fat than gerbils

Love your videos!!

I had looked into gerbil care but I guess my time was wasted since I live in California

omg the gerbil on the thumbnail is exactly like my gerbil! Smokey! :D

I've kept both and do prefer gerbils. I've only ever had one nice hamster that didn't bite. I've never been bitten by any of my gerbils and they were fine being handled

When I was in middle school I adopted my 6th grade science class female gerbil named Chippy(brown/tannish) and ended up getting her a friend a black gerbil I named Jazzmine(I named her that because I was taking piano at the time). They were amazing pets.

aw ty for this i was debating on which one to get :)

Glad to see you're doing well! Maybe some day you'll get a hammy but no rush. Let yourself spoil the little number of pets you have now and relax. Also, I feel like reptiles and birds are where I thrive. Grew up with both and will forever love my scaly and feathered babies haha! You do make me wanna dip my toe in rodents though! I prefer animals that will sit with me (I'm an artist and homeschool kid) so lizards and birds do well. I'm thinking about Male rats for the past few years. I'd like to adopt a lazy pair or trio some day but only when I have money for vet visits and a massive cage. I want like three ferret cages connected lol!

Yes, hamsters are definitely more available. We used to have a local pet store that had gerbils all the time but the owners retired. We have a new local pet store and they don't have gerbils often. Our local PetSmart is cutting out their pet sales. They only have 2 guinea pigs, 1 hamster, and 5 birds left. They are sold out of all other pets. So we don't have many gerbils around. If you want a gerbil you have to go about 45 minutes away.

My gerbils turned 2 this Christmas ( I got them on Christmas but they weren't that old) they are the best and easiest to care for. They are also easy to tame. I have a hamster, but for some reason they just aren't as fun to have.

Yeah I have one gerbil and I kept reading/seeing videos on internet that they are lonely if alone so I bought another and the other attacked my gerbil... So I think they are solitary animals..I have them in separate tanks and they do very well alone... they also don't like to be held at all... Neither one... I try to tame them every single day and had em for several months and hasn't helped at all... They are too scared and I give treats and everything... it really bums me out they don't like to be held... The only cool thing is the tunnels they make and yes they dig and chew alot. I think I'm going to go pick up a male saryian hamster so I can actually hold it ☺️

Good vid. I know people talk about Syrian hamsters being easier to tame because they've been domesticated the longest, but I actually don't think that's the reason. Even wild caught Syrians become tame within a matter of days. Something about being solitary nocturnal desert rodents makes them docile, don't know what it is. The largely solitary duprasi gerbil for example is the same, despite being domesticated for a fraction of the time. As for Mongolian gerbils, as with mice, they're a lot harder to tame as you say when kept in groups. The only typical exception to this are domesticated male mice, who usually have to be kept alone. Male mice kept alone will become quite tame. Gerbils kept alone will too, but there's no good reason to do it normally, but of course, it can happen from time to time for various reasons.

When I was a kid we owned gerbils, I think my mom had males & females living together all the time. We constantly had babies & I sold them to the pet store for $1 per baby. I currently have 4 robos cause I like lower maintenance & love to watch them. Two of my robos are very entertaining & the pair I bought are low key with the female barely coming out at all. I separated the pair cause they turned out to be male & female. I would not recommend my mass gerbil babies but back then we didn't know any better.

also there are gerbil forums and from my experience you should give them a mixture of seeds, a handful of hay, fruits and veggies in small portions weekly and pellets. I would recommend the Sunseed vita prima mouse, rat and gerbil formula. I give 1 tablespoon of food per gerbil to them in the morning as well as a handful of hay. Gerbils will typically eat 10 grams of food per day. I handfeed my gerbils and once they are done I sprinkle the rest around their cage (always make sure they have food available) sprinkling food allows them to use their natural instincts which is scavenging for food . By hand feeding them you also allow them to get used to you and become more comfortable. I also give them 2-3 small spinach leaves and 1 blueberry per gerbil. I will also give them a cut up slice of apple, cut up strawberry or carrot every 1-2 weeks. I will also try to give them 1 cardboard tube about the size of a toilet paper roll per day (you can cut up paper towel roll or rapping paper rolls etc.)

@PicklesPets I agree with everything you said, except for the size of their tank. They need a minimum of 40 gallon breeder tank. This is a new requirement for USA.

My hamster escaped literally so many times no matter how much I tried to figure out all the ways he could escape. Although he died a few years ago. I was doing everything for my hamster but he suddenly died at about the age of 1...not even 1. He was my FIRST pet but I think I did pretty well although maybe a bigger cage/ tank would have been good. I was VERY sad when he died and cried for about 2 hours. I had 2 gerbils and one eventually died. It was a perculiar death and he got stuck in a toilet roll...yes..a toilet roll. I was distraught. But I then only had one gerbil in its own and obviously it’s not great to have a gerbil alone. So I risked it with 2 young gerbils and they had a minor fight when I introduced them in an empty bath to each other but they were fine, just a bit scared of each other. They got along so well after that and cleaned each other and slept on top of each other and were so CUTE! The old one died at the age of a little over 3 years old. (That happened yesterday). So now I still have the less old 2 left. The one with black fur is fat and shy (as always) and Ace is light brownish grey with a light black on parts of his fur on the top part of his hair. They have been without their older brother for about 20 hours now and are doing well. Also, when I used to have a hamster the noise of the wheel!! Seriously though!! The seeds in the wheel are like crrrwhhsjfnsjfnnejekfnsifn!! 😂. He escaped a lot too...so smart! I don’t think he died of a disease or illness though I do think it was natural. Wow, that was LOOONNNNG!

I have a pet rat his bother passed away recently and he’s lonely but I’m scared to get another rat and I know rat normally don’t get along with lost rodents but I’ve seen rats and hamsters being friends so what animals is the best for his friend

Does anyone know any shops with a gerbil in the uk/ England

I’m all the way for hamsters! :) I just got a baby Chinese dwarf and he’s the cutest and sweetest little guy! I personally don’t get hamsters from petco/petsmart. I go to a place called “ pet plus “ they ALWAYS have their fur babies as babies! i personally think if you want a hamster? I say get one as a baby so you can hold it and such! Lol. :)