Out of Style

Rodents are, generally, regarded as kids' pets. These days, most kids get a hamster as their 'first pet'. In the 1990s, however, the rodent pet market was pretty evenly divided between hamsters, and gerbils.

Gerbils were a fad pet. It happens fairly often - Dalmatians, for instance, were super popular for a brief time after the release of 101 Dalmatians. Soon enough, people realized that the breed was too much for them, and shelters were flooded with Dalmatians. Eventually it evened out and they're back to being the relatively uncommon breed they were before.
Gerbils were very popular in the 90s, as classroom pets and for children. I grew up with gerbils, not hamsters, and I still prefer them. They're smart, active, gentle, social creatures. But for whatever reason, they fell out of favour and most kids have hamsters now. Gerbils have become fairly rare. This means that when we get gerbils at the shelter, it's a nightmare trying to get them adopted - nobody wants a gerbil anymore.

Which brings me to these three boys. Larry, Curly and Moe were surrendered to the shelter back in May for whatever reason. They were only 6 weeks old at the time, so I assume whoever surrendered them had also bred them. Well done, you!
Gerbils are one of those species that take forever to be adopted. Chinchillas take forever, doves take forever, and gerbils take forever. It's just inevitable.

These guys weren't very sociable either. Larry here was fairly friendly, Curly was okay, but Moe was almost impossible to handle. Crossing our fingers, we shipped them off to Pet Valu and hoped that they'd have better luck than us.

They were at Pet Valu for almost two months, with absolutely no interest. Eventually Pet Valu asked us to take them back, as they were taking up space that they could use for hamsters or guinea pigs, who always get adopted quickly. The boys came back to the shelter.

The good news is that their time at Pet Valu really brought these guys out of their shells. I think I was too hasty labelling them 'skittish' when they arrived - after all, they were only 6 weeks old. It's normal for young rodents to be nervous. Now that they're fully mature, these boys are totally sweet. All three are easy to handle, gentle, curious, and happy to run right onto your hand.

They've now been waiting over three months. I wish someone would take them. Honestly, I have two very old dwarf hamsters right now, and if they were to pass away, I would take these three boys immediately. I still love gerbils, these boys are sweet and they deserve a home after all this time. (Note: I don't actually want my hamsters to pass away. Keep on trucking, my old men!)

I will never understand why hamsters emerged 'victorious' in the childrens' pet industry. I love my hamsters, but gerbils make better pets. They're awake during the day, they're less likely to bite, they're smarter, they're more active. But - and I do think this worked against them - they have tails. And tails make people think of mice. Hamsters are fluffy and tail-less.
Cute wins over practical every time.