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Difference between mouse and a gerbil?

35K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  andreaS15 
#1 ·
Would someone enlighen me and tell me what is the difference between the two species, please?
 
#2 ·
There are huge differences, gerbils are a lot bigger for one. Gerbils come from more arid countries than mice, whereas mice are globally widespread.
Gerbils are desert animals and don't urinate the same way mice do, they don't smell half as much as mice and only need to be cleaned out once a month.
They need at least 5inches of bedding as they have natural digging behaviours that they need to fulfil.
I recommend the following websites for information on gerbils:

The Mongolian Gerbil Website - Gerbil Forum. - Home
NGS Frontpage
The eRodent Gerbil Page.
 
#3 ·
Are you watching Technical information, or just a brief description?

Gerbils are larger, have furred tails, and are from the desert. Mice are commonly found almost everywhere, and with both their are different species of each, the regular gerbil we have as pets is called the Mongolian gerbil. Both come in wide variety of colours. Male gerbils get along better with other male gerbils then male mice do with other male mice.
gerbils also don't smell near as bad as mice do, only because they do not drink as much, so do not urinate as often.

What kind of information are you looking for?
 
#6 ·
Gerbils are lovely. There are several varieties, but like Andrea said, Mongolians are most often kept as pets. However, other species are also interesting to keep such as Duprasi (a.k.a the fat tailed gerbil, you'll see why in pictures on NGS Frontpage) :D
They're lovely little creatures :D
About the urinating thing, they urinate in a slightly different way to mice too, the urine is much more highly concentrated. They drink quite a lot of water, but retain most of what they drink, so very little liquid is released from the body. Gross, but interesting how nature prepares animals for the conditions they live in! :)
 
#9 ·
Well everyone told you the difference between the two animals!! :) I just wanted to add,they both have their pros and cons...but I like mice a little better then gerbils!
 
#10 ·
Vanilla_Rat said:
Well everyone told you the difference between the two animals!! :) I just wanted to add,they both have their pros and cons...but I like mice a little better then gerbils!
I just wanted to add,they both have their pros and cons...but I like gerbils a little better then mice!

;)
hehehehe:giggle:
 
#11 ·
girlrazor said:
I just wanted to add,they both have their pros and cons...but I like gerbils a little better then mice!

;)
hehehehe:giggle:
hehehe.... Ditto
But I have a huge thing about 'smell' though.
Mice sure are cute though, and I love how you can keep so many females together, and introductions are SO easy compaired to gerbil intros.
 
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