Quote:
Originally Posted by sophiedufort
I got gerbils the other day, free off Craigslist, and thought about breeding them, but they are very aggressive and I fear for my snakes, so I will revert to mice/rats. By the way, whoever is rushing to give me a lecture on my decision to feed live prey to my snakes, please know that my husband and I are very careful. We stand by, and will reach down in the feeding tub to remove the crazy mouse/rat/gerbil as soon as we see the slightest sign of aggression, even if there is a risk that the snake will strike us by accident. Once I get rid of all gerbils (I still have five) will never get any again.
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Aggressive gerbils? I wonder if they were abused by their previous owner? Gerbils are usually quite docile, though some are flighty. Juvies tend to go through a nippy stage, but they only nip softly and never bite to draw blood the way mice and hamsters do. The only time I've ever seen aggression in gerbils is towards other rodents(they are extremely territorial against other rodent species and will try to kill any mice or rats that they encounter). Sounds like your source may have mistreated them.
I would definitely choose to feed gerbils before hamsters. African Soft Furs are great but pretty hard to find. If you can find ASFs, though, you should definitely get those because they get to a perfect size for ball pythons to eat and are naturally encountered prey. I've heard they bite, though, so be careful.
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