File :-(, x, )
Gerbils Anonymous
So I've got two little black gerbils. Love 'em to death. They never bite, they're adorable to watch and easy to take care of.

Once in awhile, I'll gently pick one up and just let her chill out in my hand while I watch TV or whatnot. They love scritches behind the ears once they've calmed down.

My question is, after I handle them for a little bit and put them back in the cage, they make a b-line for their wooden house on the lower level of their cage.

Why is this? Is interaction unpleasant for them? Maybe they're just trying to get the human stink off?

Any ideas /an/?
>> bouncy weasel
try seeing if they'll walk onto your hand. if they do, that rules out the unpleastness.
>> bouncy weasel
woah, that was a bad typo...
>> Anonymous
>>121729

They won't.

They LOVE stealing treats from my hand, but I've come to the conclusion that, quite the opposite of rats, gerbils don't like to be played with.

Oh well, at least they're still fun to watch.
>> Anonymous
Hmm... Mine seemed to consider me part of their "playground", but never a buddy. They would jump on my hand, or try to climb up my arm, even jump into my sleeves. They would then use my sleeves and the whole shirt as tunnels.
It's been a few years since i had them, but i cannot recall them being susceptible to scratching or petting by me.
I didn't like keeping them in cages, and they would eventually start chewing continously on the bars, or scratching in a corner, throwing everything around. It was a three-story cage, and connected to a large tank with a wire-mesh tube but they hardly used the tank, and instead chewed on the bars of the cage... I was also worried about the metal barred floor being bad for their feet, so i kept a later group only in a tank. If you do, ensure proper ventilation, and an escape-proof lid, i think it's ammonia which can build up in the tank, if you don't fan out the air every day.
They were quite active in their tank, which had a larg root on the bottom, and was filled 1/3 with straw, hay and chips. This way they could build actual tunnels.
I would also let them run around outside their tank, so the only way out was my hand. They knew, and were thus never shy about my hand.
>> Anonymous
>>121736
Mine would climb in my hand sometimes. I never played with them much but I'd put them in the bathtub with some tubes and stuff that wouldn't fit in their cage and let them run around. Just find other ways to play with them, I guess.