Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just wondering where you all go about getting gerbils for problem feeders and how much gerbils cost. Any info on this would be great! Thanks.

Dewey

Petsmart sells them, but they charge $8.99, Petco also occasionaly has them. Not too bad if you just need to jumpstart feeding, but if you will need them weekly you may have to breed them. I actually just got 4.4 to start breeding for my picky het pieds. They are way easier to take care of than rats. They drink very little water so they are almost odorless.
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1.2 Het Pied
1.1 Het Lavender Albino
1.1 Het Albino
0.7 Normals
1.0 50% Het lav albino

They are banned in California - maybe where you are too?
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

Why are they banned in California?

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Gerbils, ferrets, sugar gliders, etc. etc. The list is long - everything fun - some things they'll let you keep if you want to go through the proper permitting process, I think male ferrets are allowed but not females - don't remember. But we have nice weather!
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

Thanks, I'll have to add this to the long list of reasons why I hope never to live in California. I grant you that the weather and scenery are nice in many places there. It would be interesting to see a list of the most to least herp friendly and pet friendly states. Of course, the list would need to specify what criteria were used. Some places are probably not restrictive but probably don't have any popular support either. I've heard that owning corn snakes is illegal in Georgia. While I don't have a corn snake, that law would prejudice me against ever moving to Georgia.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

I am guessinbg again.....

I'd say due to the fact that California is warm enough that if gerbils escaped they could populate the area and kill off native species of rodents ....

Cali wants to protect the natives and keep gerbils out of the picture.........

good idea.......

I hate gerbils.they are so dumb with the kids....

they need a nest and they like a friend if they can get it...(pair with a kid left in with them)....

.......breed them......they are too costly to pay for at pet shops......

find someone who breeds them in your area........still going to pay too much..........$150 to like they said.$8.....

I got frozen for $30 for 45 of them and they are soooo huge....yet alot of balls won't eat frozen at all.....even gerbils....
luckily enough do.......
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you think????

The answer to "why not" is that most bans only hurt the innocent. While even responsible animal keepers are going to lose an animal occasionally, an occasional lost gerbil isn't likely to lead to an out of control feral gerbil population. Denying people a pet they want will do more harm than the occasioal escapee will do. Furthermore, those who really want to keep them will sneak them into the state anyway. Some of these people are also the ones more likely to be irresponsible and allow more escapes. Before any restriction is put on people, those favoring the restriction need to have strong justification. "Why not" should never count. "Why not" should get legislators impeached. The fact that some people don't like them is the weakest reason of all why others should be denied them.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Ok, I am not trying to start a fight here, but dont forget they are rodents, and breed like them. One pair of them "let go" by someone who doesnt want them could cause a big problem in an area in CA. I breed rats, mice and gerbils. I can see how any of them could cause a problem. My gerbals have around 8 per litter every 6-8 weeks. In 6 months thats 24-30 babies that will all be having babies of their own... gerbils shread EVERYTHING... tell me you want several hundred gerbils living in your back yard because someone let snowball and fluffy go back to the wild.

I'm not wanting to fight either, and thanks for putting that statement in your post. My point is not that invasive species can't be a problem. They often are a problem. My point is that these laws don't really do much good and are harmful mostly to good people who just want a particular pet. There are plenty of states where gerbils aren't illegal, and those states aren't overrun by gerbils. Furthermore, the law probably hasn't stopped some people in California from owning gerbils. Some people will have them, and some of those people will be irresponsible. In spite of those people, California is not overrun by gerbils. Yes, a breeding pair could multiply quickly, but a feral cat could also put a quick end to them before they bred the first little one. If I had them in my yard, I'd use traps to eliminate them. If I didn't live in such a tight neighborhood, I'd use traps supplemented with the occasional .22 or #8 birdshot.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

ok....so I didn't read the post slow enough to take it all in

why not or why

buy them anyways then?

use other sritters,russian chinese and roborovski hamsters syrians degus or duprasi ,jirds,guinea pigs,rabbits and quail or chicks or pigeons.something will work (chinese hamster is a good place to start )

I did read one thing....."an occasional animal will escape and will not populate the whole world" is what I got out of it.....

FACTS

the common english starling....billions of them populate this country....do you know how many were brought here to start the whole process???.......14....forteen

syrian hamsters........how many syatyed the whole teddy bear thing???.......and I don't think they can find them again in the wild? I loaned out my 1940'something book and it's never been returned yet......3 -three

red foxes are not native to UAS

loostrife is killing the Susquehanna river...non native

ringnecked pheasants non- native.tell that to the Dakotas..

in Pa when I was a kid.....you could see local canadian geese..now they are a nuisance.........mink have inhabited the entire state as well as beaver and coyotes....

critters don't take long to multiply.......

just look at the number one worst animal ever created by evolution or "intelligent design"...............they messed up the whole planet too fast.........humans.....

........anyways.......

..........gerbils suck to breed anyways.............really........
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you think????

buy them anyways then?

Why do people take this black and white view of things? This question makes it sound as if the only two perspectives are either to ban them or for everyone to buy them as snake food or pets. Why can't there be a middle ground that allows others to do something that I wouldn't? In many ways, I'm not just talking about gerbils here. I seem to run into more and more issues where there can be no middle ground. I've run into other things where when I express a personal distaste or even disgust for something, others will accuse me of wanting to round up people and have them shot. I realize that some issues have to be very black and white. I just don't see it here.

I'm not denying that invasive species can be a problem. I disagree with some of what you've given as examples.

The European starling and the English sparrow were both purposely introduced to Central Park in New York City because some fool wanted Central Park to contain all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. These invasive species exist not because an occasional keeper had an escapee. They were introduced here because someone wanted to see them in parks and backyards across America.

Canada Geese are multiplying because they have no predators now. I'm fairly certain that they were once considered an endangered species. Hunting bans were established, and with no one or nothing thinning the flocks, they became a nuisance.

Coyote and beaver are native to Pennsylvania. They were hunted out of the state in earlier years and are coming back. I don't know whether the beaver are returning naturally or have been introduced. Coyote are coming back on their own. Their presence has nothing to do with the pet trade or people trying to introduce them.

Another example of an invasive species that is expanding on its own is the armadillo. For some reason, they're going north and east. They've reached Middle Tennessee. No one is introducing them. They've just decided to move. No one's decided whether they're going to be a problem.

I think feral cats are a bigger problem than feral rodents. Of course, the cats may be part of the solution to the rodent problem, but the cats do tremendous damage to bird populations. We don't see anyone trying to ban cat ownership except the freaks that want to ban all pet ownership.

I don't particularly like cats or dogs anymore, but I don't try to ban either. I'm on good terms with the neighbor's dog on one side of me and on bad terms with the dog on the other side. I don't see why some people feel the need to support bans on everything that they don't like.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

I don't care if they ban anything ...anywhere.......

my examples were to show how a few critters can grow to a problem........not if it was an accident or not....accidents are nutria and killer beeeees.........see

........starlings and sparrows are worthless..........not even enough meat on them for me to eat.....and actually ugly almost.....

cats....the other white meat.........smoke 'em?

I love cats...........................dead ones...........

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you think????