Which rodent to get? - Page 4 - Paw Talk

Vanilla_Rat · #46 04-25-2008, 06:36 AM

Yup and so will rats!

I thought you meant social as in wanting to be with their own kind.But I have owned and raised rats for many yrs and they are much like little dogs.They love to be with people.Male rats are more cuddly then females (in most cases) and will come to you for more love.My 3 boys are constantly wanting my attention and love and will sit on my shoulder or in the pocket of my hoodie.

Rats love being with people and love being with other rats.
You can ask anyone who has rats on this board and they will tell you the same thing.

I never experianced a jird.They could be highly social animals,as your saying.I believe you.Thats cool.But so are rats.Maybe your friend's rat wasn't very interested in cuddling...but most rats are! It all depends on the personality.I am sure it is the same way with jirds! You could get a jird that doesn't wanna be with humans! They all have different personalities.

Just like you have your opinion and I have mine!

howmanypeoplear · #47 04-25-2008, 11:53 PM

I have two female Degus. I bought one when I was college because I thought it was cute. I did not know much about it. I had the poor thing in a tiny one level cage all alone with CEDAR bedding. Tisk Tisk.

I got her a friend and a multi level cage with pine bedding. They eat hampster food because I never bought Degu food.

The first was a impulse buy, the second was a way to right the wrong I did by buying just one (however the pet store had her alone too.)

I got into more then I bargained for. They are very nice animals...they do not bite, but they do not cuddle or hold still either. I am moving to a studio apartment in a week. I don't want to bring them (and do not think I am allowed). I have yet to find a way to keep all their bedding in the cage instead of everywhere and I am never home so they don't get much time out of the cage.

Still I am responsible for them. I would never turn them out to a bad home and I wont get them PTS, but if I could find a good home for them I would like to pass them along. Their cage, remaining food and bedding plus all their toys could go with them for free if I found a good home. Anyone know where to look? I am in the MPLS, MN area. I have a yahoo account under howmanypeopleareonhere if anyone wanted to respond by e-mail. Thanks.

Georgia163 · #48 04-27-2008, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanilla_Rat


	Yup and so will rats! I thought you meant social as in wanting to be with their own kind.But I have owned and raised rats for many yrs and they are much like little dogs.They love to be with people.Male rats are more cuddly then females (in most cases) and will come to you for more love.My 3 boys are constantly wanting my attention and love and will sit on my shoulder or in the pocket of my hoodie. Rats love being with people and love being with other rats. You can ask anyone who has rats on this board and they will tell you the same thing. I never experianced a jird.They could be highly social animals,as your saying.I believe you.Thats cool.But so are rats.Maybe your friend's rat wasn't very interested in cuddling...but most rats are! It all depends on the personality.I am sure it is the same way with jirds! You could get a jird that doesn't wanna be with humans! They all have different personalities. Just like you have your opinion and I have mine!

Im still on the search for a jird tho, so if you or anyone knows where i could get one, let me know.

Vanilla_Rat · #49 04-27-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Georgia163


	Im still on the search for a jird tho, so if you or anyone knows where i could get one, let me know.

I know,just as my opinion is mine!

Anyway I can't help you in search of jirds.I have no clue where to get them.You cannot get them at all here.Where are you located?
Did you trying looking up breeders?

Vanilla_Rat · #50 04-27-2008, 11:14 AM

I had a look and well I found a couple listings/group things...but I am not sure where your located.So I don't know if these are much help.

http://members.shaw.ca/petitepaws/list.html
http://www.google.com/Top/Recreation...ents/Breeders/

Georgia163 · #51 04-28-2008, 02:42 AM

I live in the derbyshire/nottinghamshire area, two places that used to sell jirds around here have closed down and the farm where i got my others from has stopped selling jirds because 'they look too much like rats so no-one buys them' < thats what they said when i phoned them up.

Thanks

Vanilla_Rat · #52 04-28-2008, 02:15 PM

Is that in the UK?
I am in Canada,so...I am probably not much help!

I seen pictures of jirds and they DO NOT look like rats.They look more like gerbils then rats.

Chinchi · #53 04-28-2008, 03:20 PM

What do you mean by "jirds"
There are 4 jirds out there, so just to say "jird" is not the best thing

http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
On this site you can read about the shaws, libyan, sundervall's and persian jird

Georgia163 · #54 04-29-2008, 02:41 AM

I know about the different jird species, but they are so rare her in the UK that any would do.

Chinchi · #55 04-29-2008, 02:55 AM

Well, you just said "jird" to the person who started the tread. It's okay that you know what a jird is, but you can't expect that every body else knows

So it would be a lot smarter to say what type of jird you are talking about.

I would like a jird some day, but to make people understand what I mean, I would say I want a persian jird... With the shaws jird you could just say shaws, then most people know what you mean.

Do you understand what I'm trying to get at?

Georgia163 · #56 04-30-2008, 02:48 AM

Yes, of course i do.

The 'jird' that i was refering to is just jirds in general, i think that everyone has the favorite jird species. Therefore i was not specifacally saying a type of jird for the thread-starter to purchase, because i think that everyone likes some jirds better than others.

Chinchi · #57 04-30-2008, 06:08 AM

Okay...

Sushi-Sempai · #58 04-30-2008, 03:48 PM

i am gonna say mice. My boyfriend and I have mice and we clean them out about every 5 to 6 days when we notice the cage is beginning to develop an odor. Rats may be more social initially but mice warm up to you fast. Also because they are smaller they are a little easier to clean and require a bit less space. Also if you just get a couple of females at the same time they will be fabulous friends and you can engage in what we have termed "mice TV" or the endless entertainment of watching them and all their silly habits in the cage when you aren't playing with them yourself. Not that I doubt that any of the other mentioned rodents are just as entertaining, just we are in college ourselves and have not noticed a problem keeping up with the mice, however my cat does tend to get a bit hungry for attention around midterms and finals.

P.S. I have also had hamsters and guinea pigs and I would not recommend hamsters just based on the aforementioned circumstances but guinea pigs are sweet and social just take more time.

Georgia163 · #59 05-23-2008, 02:27 PM

I would dissagre with owning guinea pigs unless you have lots of outdoor room for them to roam, otherwise they do not get enough exercise or enough nutrition from grass.

Jennicat · #60 05-28-2008, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Georgia163


	I would dissagre with owning guinea pigs unless you have lots of outdoor room for them to roam, otherwise they do not get enough exercise or enough nutrition from grass.

I would definitely consider this untrue. Hay, pellets, and fresh vegetables provide a complete diet for a guinea pig. They do not require "lots of outdoor room" any more than dogs require eating elk like wolves.