Veterinarian Harrisburg Pennsylvania -Veterinary

We here in our veterinarian clinic in Harrisburg Pennsylvania let people know as much information about any pets they might be interested in. Gerbils can be quite easily tamed, given patience and consistency. First, some hints on picking up gerbils:
Never pick up a gerbil by the tail. The best way is to carry gerbil is simply cupped in the palm of the hand. You can gently hold the scruff of the neck (hold the loose skin on the back of the neck) to prevent the gerbil from getting away if necessary. If you are not comfortable picking up an untamed gerbil as above, then allow the gerbil to walk into a cup or can turned on its side, and then tip the cup up to carry the gerbil. Place a hand over the cup as gerbils can jump very well. You can also use a cardboard tube (e.g. from a paper towel roll) for this purpose. Taming a gerbil requires some patience to gain its trust, but it will make handling your gerbils much easier and rewarding.
Here's a rundown of the steps involved:
•Give new gerbils a few days to adjust to their new home (keep maintenance and interaction to a minimum).
•Move slowly and speak softly around the gerbils.
•Limit interaction to times when the gerbil is awake - waking a gerbil isn't a good way to gain its trust!
•Start just sitting next to cage to acclimate gerbils to your presence.
•Offer a treat (sunflower or pumpkin seeds) when the gerbil approaches the cage bars.
•Once your gebils are comfortable taking treats from your hand through the bars of the cage, offer treat through open cage door.
•Once your gerbil happily takes treats from your hand, place a treat on your open hand to entice a gerbil to step up onto hand to retrieve treat.