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How to Handle a Gerbil
How to Handle a Gerbil
The best way to handle a gerbil you have kept as a pet is to let it get used to your hand first. You can do this by placing your hand inside their cage and just letting it sniff around it. It may occasionally lick or nibble at your fingers. You should let it do this, as gerbils hardly ever bite to hurt. They do this to get to know those around them.
After your pet gerbil has gotten used to your hand enough, you can try to pick it up on your hand and let it play around. It might want to jump off and run away from your hand at first, but with time it will learn to get used to being around your hand. Sometimes they want to jump off from one hand to another. You should let them do so instead of forcing them to stay put. Forcing them to do anything or picking them up too high frightens them away. Also holding them at great heights raises the possibility of injury as they try to jump off all the time.
Usually gerbils like moving around on your hand. They might walk from one palm to another. They also don’t like being forced to stay in one place. They might get scared if you try doing so. Let them move around as much as they like. Sooner or later they will be used to your touch and smell. They will let you hold them in your hand eventually.
It is good to have the gerbils on your hand facing you. They tend to get less frightened when they are looking at you. Even then if they try to run away or jump off from your hand, you should not stop them. Gerbils are shy creatures who can get easily startled if you make too much of loud noises. They need to get used to the kind of noise humans are used to living around.
You should try feeding them when they are playing around on your palm. Gerbils don’t usually bite. But they tend to nip at your fingers to gain familiarity. Therefore, it is important for you to not be scared when they do this. If your gerbil is particularly jumpy about human touch and bites whenever someone tries to cuddle it, you should first try holding it by wearing a pair of gloves. Keep using the gloves until the gerbil is used to your touch. You will be able to handle it after sometime when it stops biting at your hand.
Once the gerbils are used to your hands you can stroke them or cuddle them as much as you wish to, they like walking around from one palm of your hand to the other. The key to taming a gerbil is to be patient about it. They are timid creatures that are not used to the amount of activities and noise that humans are used to. Therefore, they may take some time to get accustomed to the size and sound of a human.
This is the reason why children should not be allowed to handle gerbils. They may not realize that holding them too tightly will scare the gerbils and they will run off from their hands. They might also bite a little too hard on the children’s hands causing unnecessary injuries.
Gerbil pets, Gerbil information, Gerbil tips, Gerbil advice
Next Article: How to Spoil Your Gerbils
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