As you consider welcoming a delightful little fluff ball into your family, you might have several questions. What foods do they need? How can you best care for them? What are their lifespans? What specific circumstances do they need to live full lives? These are all part of the exciting journey of pet ownership.
If you find yourself in this position, rest assured that you will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of your pet options. This guide will equip you with the knowledge to create the perfect hamster or gerbil sanctuary in your home.
This article discusses how gerbils and hamsters may or may not be similar. They fall into specific categories:
- Lifespan
- Size and color
- Diet
- Social behaviors
- Activity levels
- Grooming requirements
- Housing needs
- Health concerns
This is your ultimate guide to choosing the right animal for you. In the end, we will discuss some frequently asked questions about gerbils and hamsters. We highly recommend continuing to read if you need any of this information.
General Information Regarding Both Animals & Prerequisites
Before purchasing a hamster or a gerbil, it’s imperative to understand that these little critters will need plenty of love and affection. Not so much that you or your family begin to annoy and irritate them, but these are not the ideal pets for people with busy lifestyles.
Regardless of your schedule, both hamsters and gerbils require regular interaction and care. If you’re unable to provide this consistently, it’s best to postpone getting a pet until your circumstances change. This commitment to routine care is a key part of responsible pet ownership.
It would be entirely unfair to the animals to be mistreated or forgotten. Merely because they are alive and their food needs are met does not necessarily mean that they are living a good life. To that end, be considerate.
Finally, it would be wise to take your gerbil or hamster to a vet when initially getting them (especially if they are not coming from an animal shelter or similar facility). You’ll want a good idea of your pets’ health and ensure they have all mandatory vaccinations and shots to start their lives on the right foot.
What Is the Difference Between a Hamster and Gerbil?
While gerbils and hamsters are similar animals, they have several significant differences in physical characteristics, nutritional needs, and life expectancies.
Hamsters, traditionally speaking, have lower life spans than gerbils. One primary reason for this is their size, but other factors are also considered. Nevertheless, while they are good pets for children, dealing with mortality is something you will have to do.
1. Life Span
The first thing we will discuss is lifespan. This is important as you must expect how long these animals will remain with you.
Hamster
A hamster’s average life expectancy is between two to three years, depending on the breed of hamster you get, their quality of life, and how active they are daily. This can have some moderate fluctuation, but the general timeline is right there, so everything is out and in the open; a hamster is considered “old” at only one and a half years of age.
Gerbil
Gerbils have significantly longer lifespans than hamsters by default, with some more reclusive species capping out at only four years of age. However, with more exclusive care and an extremely posh lifestyle, certain species (like the Pachyuromys Duprasi, for example) can live up to seven years!
2. Size & Color
As beautiful and vast as our world is, both hamsters and gerbils can come in some spectacularly exciting patterns and colors (within reason, you won’t see a green or purple gerbil or a hamster).
All jokes aside, the patterns on these little creatures can be very captivating, but they can also be incredibly bland. Monotone color patterns are relatively common in both animals.
Colors, patterns, and unique shading concepts are all relative to the animal and, more importantly, the species of each one you get. Each has colors suited to survival and a little random flavor from Mother Nature.
Hamster
Hamsters grow to be 2.2 to 4.1 inches long. They can have a wide variety of color patterns at their disposal (and for your interest to a lesser degree), with species being the only real determining factor in how broad the scope of these colors is.
Species prevalent amongst the small pet community will often see many colors available. For example, Syrian hamsters have color charts showcasing as many as 48 other possible variants and more niche ones that are harder to document and explain.
Gerbil
Gerbils can grow between 6 to 12 inches long, including their tail. Their color differences are just as robust and unique as those of hamsters. Devoted breeders are pushing the boundaries on what kinds of color varieties are available, with the only fundamental limitation (aside from reality) being the species themselves.
Gerbils have been documented with roughly 40+ color combinations, and more are possible if you consider specific spot patterns, like spotted, pied, and mottled, for example.
3. Diet
Your pet’s dietary needs will heavily define not only its lifespan but also how good of a life it leads and often how likely your animals are to be comfortable around you and expect exceptional treats upon seeing you.
A flexible diet that allows for treats (fresh veggies and other similarly suited items) will make your pet excited to see you and live a longer, happier life. We will not go incredibly deep into each pet’s specific dietary needs, but the general understanding is that a good mix of pellets and garden fresh is the way to go for each pet.
Hamster
As far as a specific diet goes, hamsters can eat most garden fresh veggies, everything from carrots, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and even cucumber and basil will fit into your little one’s diet. It goes without saying that most of these will need to be cut to fit comfortably into a cage, let alone a dish, but that is beside the point.
After cutting the veggies, your hamster can happily enjoy the greens and benefit from them as such. Alternatively, you can also go with some quality store-bought pellet food if meal prep isn’t exactly your forte. Adding some fresh veggies will definitely extend your pet’s life and give them a bit of variety.
Gerbil
In the wild, gerbils usually get by on whatever greenery they can manage to get their paws on, so anything like seeds, herbs, leaves, and the like would be a welcome place on their menu, but when owned as pets, these options change slightly.
A kibble that is packed with nutritional value and supplementing all of their primary mineral needs will guarantee that your gerbil’s daily needs are met, but much like hamsters, splashing in some leafy greens will be a delightful culinary treat and one that will help extend your animal’s life as well.
4. Social Behaviors
Behavior is a very important trait in most pets, as it usually marks the defining difference between a pet perfectly suited for a family (in most cases, keeping children in mind) and a pet more likely to thrive when having a single owner or a home with only adults in it.
It’s imperative to keep in mind that most social behaviors that a pet has initially start with the proclivities of the animal’s species. Individual characteristics can arise whilst the animal is being raised; think of learned behaviors.
Hamster
Social behaviors within pets often start with the things that are ingrained in their DNA. Some species of hamsters, for example, are very prone to being social and enjoy being held and interacted with extremely often. This is further skewed by differences in gender.
An excellent example of this would be that male hamsters are typically more apt to play and have a good time when they are younger, while females show more signs of being aggressive or wanting to keep their space to themselves.
When shopping for your hamster, it’s good to do extensive research on what traits you deem valuable and which species of hamster would innately align with these choices.
Gerbil
The overall social norms of gerbils are fascinating to observe, especially if you plan on owning several of them. For instance, gerbils are very prone to sleeping in groups or piles, showing a very prominent leaning towards family. This is even more pronounced when you take their day-to-day lives into consideration.
In these situations, you can watch them cleaning each other, potentially vying for the strongest in the cage with wrestling matches (no tickets required), and finally, good old-fashioned snuggling. All in all, gerbils are very social creatures and will display some of these behaviors to you as an owner.
As the owner, you can expect gerbils to be somewhat compassionate towards you but significantly less so than a hamster would be. These little creatures like to be left to their own devices without being held and played with because it can scare them, which may lead to biting and scratching.
5. Activity Levels
Animals of all sorts need some level of activity or an outlet for energy in order to not only be healthy, but happy, and to that end, hamsters and gerbils are very similar in their activity needs, but they do get these lifestyle fulfillments in different ways.
The primary difference between the two is that hamsters prefer toys and outside activities to get their workout in, whilst gerbils prefer their physical activity to be intertwined with their daily lives.
Hamster
If you think about owning a hamster, your mind might naturally gravitate towards seeing one getting a nice run on or, at the very least, seeing a wheel inside a hamster’s cage. The animal is keen on getting its play from outside stimuli and has a pretty docile lifestyle afterward.
Thankfully, however, you can play with your hamster personally, holding it, perhaps having a little ball and other toys for it to chase and manipulate. This will allow them to have a good time and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some hamsters can also appreciate unique bedding that will enable them to burrow around.
Gerbil
Contrary to hamsters, gerbils prefer to keep their exercise straightforward and natural, often getting their physical activity from burrowing, wrestling with other gerbils, and doing laps around their cage. However, it’s worth noting that gerbils also love toys.
Gerbils ideally want their toys to be interactive tunnels, burrows, or small platforms to climb and wriggle around on. This would truly indulge their innate sense of exploration, giving them a fuller and more natural lifestyle.
6. Grooming Requirements
Very few people enjoy being dirty, and most pet owners cannot stand the idea of having dirty pets. To that end, you may be wondering just how extensive of a routine is required to keep your pet gerbil or hamster clean.
Thankfully, hamsters and gerbils alike handle the vast majority of their grooming needs without any personal interaction from you as their caretaker, with the most direct involvement typically being the occasional sand bathe or two.
Hamster
Because hamsters naturally secrete a kind of oil they coat on themselves while grooming, you usually won’t have to get involved with its daily routine no matter how things might appear, as the hamster itself usually has a handle on its well-being.
The only times a hamster may need additional assistance with its grooming routine are if it has feces stuck to its rear end or its fur becomes extremely matted with dirt or other debris. This isn’t likely to occur, but these should be the only times you would need to personally intervene.
Assuming the above case does play out, there are several dry scrub shampoos available on the market that will get your pet back to a normal level of cleanliness. However, you should never douse your hamster in water for a “normal” bath; this can be incredibly dangerous and traumatizing to the hamster.
A proper sand bath (with specific, sterilized sand made for this purpose) can be utilized in conjunction with the hamster’s natural oils to make its coat shine, but this process should be handled by your hamster alone; no additional involvement from yourself is necessary.
If you observe your hamster to be especially dirty or have extremely undesirable smells, you may want to take it to the vet. It may have an unseen wound hidden beneath its fur, which can be causing the added smell or fur clumps.
Gerbil
Thankfully, many of the truths that ring out from a hamster’s grooming technique resonate soundly with gerbils. The part about them being especially afraid of water is even more pronounced with gerbils than with hamsters.
Gerbils will often take care of their own hygienic needs by self-grooming or getting a little help from their brothers and sisters in group grooming events. For that reason, you won’t have to directly involve yourself in helping them get clean.
If you attempt to bathe your gerbil, their innate fear of being handled in conjunction with being placed into an environment they are terrified of (water) will cause them to become traumatized, irrational, and potentially depressed.
Lastly, they gain the additional benefit of having a nice sand bathe with the same sterilized sand mentioned with the hamster. This gives them a wonderful time to play together and enjoy life, and you have peace of mind knowing your pet is clean.
7. Housing Needs
Housing is a relatively straightforward topic for both hamsters and gerbils. The biggest differences lie in the understanding that gerbils require a lot of room to nest and burrow, whilst hamsters do not need nearly as much.
Specific cage volumes will vary depending on what breed you get, and this remains true amongst hamsters and gerbils, so additional research will be required to ensure their specific needs are met.
Hamster
As noted above, hamsters need space according to their species. Syrian hamsters, for example, need roughly 900 square inches of space to roam, explore, and feel content, including their favorite toys and other odds and ends.
Additionally, your hamster will need specific places to rest comfortably and nest down. These places can be artificially made with fake tree trunks, tunnels, and the like, or they can be manufactured by your hamster with bedding that allows them to do it themselves, but it is mandatory.
Gerbil
Once again, the housing needs of these two animals remain largely the same, with only acute differences noted between species. However, the overarching ideals remain the same: sufficient living space to explore and plenty of room to nest and burrow.
Gerbils value burrowing and digging highly, as it makes them feel safer and more at home. A proper gerbilarium (housing unit for gerbils) will give them ample room for this, and when coupled with the right toys, bedding, and platforming, it will allow your gerbil to feel right at home.
The more gerbils you intend to have, the more space you will inevitably need, and with them being highly social creatures, you will need to keep scaling in mind when pressing forward.
8. Health Concerns
As you might expect, certain unique hurdles come into play when dealing with smaller creatures. These are outside the norm of simply having smaller lifespans, like bigger chances of getting injuries and scrapes on their paws, or certain conditions that can arise due to their species.
Hamster
As hamsters age, their health will gradually decline, like all things. However, some of the more prominent and more controllable issues you can expect as a potential hamster owner are occasional hair loss, scent gland issues, digestive problems, diabetes, and potentially even respiratory infections.
A vast majority of these things can be taken care of with proper preventative work, like occasional visits to a vet and careful maintenance of their enclosures, but other things can crop up over time. To that end, be vigilant about your hamsters’ daily lives and look for changes that might indicate poor health.
If you aren’t sure what to look for, a dirty cage, for example, can gradually lead to respiratory problems due to breathing in their waste. A bad diet can lead to diabetes or digestive problems, and finally, scent gland issues can grow tumors, which is unfortunate. Still, you should always take some time to give your furry pal the once-over.
Gerbil
In much the same fashion as hamsters, gerbils are prone to their own set of health concerns that vary slightly based on species. Some of these issues can be digestive disorders spurred on by poor diet, but others can be diseases that your gerbil can contract.
Unfortunately, gerbils are well-documented as being prone to bone and muscle disorders. As they are relatively frail, getting their limbs stuck can easily break them, requiring a visit to the vet.
Additional issues involving your gerbils’ skin can also crop up, which is why keeping a keen eye on their daily lives is very important. Irritations of the skin and hair are rather common and can lead to some particularly nasty infections if left unchecked.
Other more serious issues that can occur would be mites, kidney disease, tumors, and various kinds of poisoning due to them attempting to chew and gnaw on things they shouldn’t, which is why you should be mindful of what their cages are made of.
Are Hamsters Better Than Gerbils?
Handing away the title of better isn’t something you can specifically say because you’d ideally be basing these kinds of viewpoints on personal opinions as opposed to facts. For example, if you value an animal with a longer lifespan, you would say gerbils are better pets.
If you wanted a pet you could interact with and play with more often, you would be more likely to give hamsters that crown. Then, such things truly boil down to your individual preferences.
Can I Put a Gerbil With a Hamster?
Hypothetically, yes, you CAN put a gerbil and a hamster in the same cage, but their time and quality of life would be incredibly short and very agitated, as they don’t mesh together particularly well, and their lifestyles are similar but different.
There shouldn’t be a scenario where you are forced to put one of these pets with the other. If that is a situation you are looking at, you’d be better off letting one of them go so that they both can have a better quality of life.
Do Gerbils Burrow More Than Hamsters?
Gerbils do burrow more than hamsters, primarily because a gerbil’s entire lifestyle is based around hiding, being reclusive, and staying hidden. Meanwhile, hamsters are much more keen on being social, making them less willing to burrow constantly.
Which Is Friendlier: A Hamster or Gerbil?
A hamster is far more open to being held and interacted with than a gerbil is, so it will innately win the trophy of being friendly. However, if that phrasing was turned into something more friendly to fellows of its species, then gerbils would handily take that victory, as they live in groups and love to be amongst each other.
Which Animal Is Right for You?
The best animal for you truly boils down to how often you want to interact with your pet, how much overall investment you have in watching your animal (or animals) live a long and meaningful life without you being directly involved in it daily, and how your family and other pets will play a part in this newly established lifestyle.
