Pets can give huge rewards
The cast of Daylight Come by Myrna Moore at the Lawrence Batley Theatre. The play captures the pioneering spirit of early West Indian immigrants HAVING a pet can teach children many essential life skills.
Having always had pets, I would always recommend that children have pets in their life. The bond between a pet and its owner is very strong and provides huge rewards.
Along with the rewards comes the responsibility of caring for a living creature that depends upon you for all its needs. Caring for your pets’ needs means providing a good diet and living environment.
The choice of pet depends greatly on a family’s circumstances but gerbils continue to be a popular first pet for children and adults alike.
Gerbils love to play, chasing each other around, wrestling and boxing. They will also groom one another, sleep in piles, and cuddle together. Your gerbils will be much happier if kept at least in pairs (same sex unless you plan to breed, which requires a lot more care).
Some gerbils will fight, although this is sometimes difficult to distinguish from the play wrestling or boxing behaviour commonly exhibited. Often, one animal will appear distressed and loud high pitched squeaks may be heard, and the behaviour appears more intense and violent than play.
Some gerbils, however, just cannot seem to get along. Young gerbils in the wild are sent off to find their own territories, so family groups may begin fighting as the babies mature. If so, they need to be separated.
Gerbils, like most other rodents, are avid chewers and will chew their way through everything. It is important to provide appropriate chewing toys, like wooden blocks and branches, to allow the gerbils to indulge this natural chewing and gnawing activity.
In the wild, gerbils live in a complex system of tunnels and burrows, so it is nice to allow your gerbil to have room to burrow in their enclosure. A deep layer of wood shavings combined with hay will provide the perfect material to allow your gerbil to do some burrowing.
Gerbils are generally very healthy, robust little creatures who never have a day’s illness in their lives, however just occasionally they do suffer from various ailments. If recognised early, your vet can treat most of these successfully.