# Fat-tailed gerbils?



## dee o gee (May 21, 2010)

Ever heard of them?  Was in my local pet shop and seen a cage of these, honestly thought they were giving deformed hamsters/gerbils a fancy name until I got home and googled them.  Iv never heard of them. 

Remember I posted about a horribly small cage I seen in the same shop, well I seen them again today and finally found them online: Ms.Pet Mini Paradise Hamster / Mice Cage - SMALL ANIMALS/Ms.Pet At 28cm x 22cm x 20cm it's the smallest cage I think Iv ever seen and the wheel is TINY.  At least they're selling them as a dwarf cage but they've stopped selling most hamster cages so the only one's their selling is this one, a habitrail ovo and a small crittertrail. So most unsuspecting people going in to buy a hamster/gerbil have a choice between a small, tiny or extra tiny cage.


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## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

yeah i've heard of the fat tails before! Never seen one in the flesh though!

and that cage is terrible  surely they can buy in better stock than that?!


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## dee o gee (May 21, 2010)

They're weird looking things, they look like a cross between a hamster and a gerbil, or a gerbil thats been stood on, squashed and had half a tail cut off, thats why I honestly thought they were deformed hamsters/gerbils with a fancy name and a bigger price tag. According to their fact sheet they only need to be kept in a standard hamster cage of 1 foot by 1 & 1/2 foot. 

While I was there some woman returned a guinea pig she'd only bought a few minutes before hand because her son didn't like it.  

That cage should be banned.  How anyone can think any animal could spend it's whole life cooped up in that is beyond me, even my box for bringing sickies to the vets is bigger than that.


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Duprasi's are cute and make nice pets apparently. I think they need a much bigger cage/tank than that though

That cage is horrific I can't see any animal being happy in there


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## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

dee o gee said:


> While I was there some woman returned a guinea pig she'd only bought a few minutes before hand because her son didn't like it.
> 
> That cage should be banned.  How anyone can think any animal could spend it's whole life cooped up in that is beyond me, even my box for bringing sickies to the vets is bigger than that.


  some people are just shocking! Did she get her refund? At least she's brought it back rather than leaving it cooped up outside with no attention, hopefully it will find a more loving home soon 

Our local pet shop sells really small cages as well and it just annoys me because people seem to think that just because the pet shop sells something, it must be good and right, but the reality is that the majority of cages in pet shops are unsuitable and the majority of people who buy their animals from pet shops won't pay out for cages like the Hamster Heaven or a few tiers of an Imac Fantasy because it's too expensive, so opt for tiny unsuitable things 



Nicky10 said:


> That cage is horrific I can't see any animal being happy in there


I dunno, think my horse would be quite at home in there :thumbup:


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## Cat_Crazy (Jul 15, 2009)

Duprasi are such adorable little things, they do look like a cross between a hamster and a gerbil though 

They definately wouldn't be happy in a cage however and are like gerbils in that they need to burrow so a large tank is much better.


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## dee o gee (May 21, 2010)

Verbatim said:


> some people are just shocking! Did she get her refund?


I hope not but Id say she probably did.  I was only down at the pets end when she was dropping the box back down, the tills were up the other side.



Verbatim said:


> I dunno, think my horse would be quite at home in there :thumbup:


Ah ya might even fit two in there quite comfortably!


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## feathers (Jul 21, 2010)

I can remember seeing tiny cages for dwarfs being sold for only about £10, and people think they're safe if marketed so.

And these fat tailed gerbils, well I'm sure they're lovely









but they just look like they have MASSIVE man parts.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

feathers said:


> I can remember seeing tiny cages for dwarfs being sold for only about £10, and people think they're safe if marketed so.
> 
> And these fat tailed gerbils, well I'm sure they're lovely
> 
> ...


Lol you are so mean!!

Yeah my carrier is as big as that cage!!! Grrr Am disgusted by peoples' view on suitable animal housing. The other day I had an argument with a guy on ebay who was selling rabbit hutches...4' but could makes other to peoples' spec...so I asked for a 6' double and he said he didn't make them that big. so I said he shouldn't advertise as rabbit hutches then as this is the RSPCA guidelines...and he cyber stropped me lol...saying about people like me laying down the law...I only wish i had been able to...I think in Switzerland they have actually bought out laws on pet cage sizes now. Can't remember the country but got angry when they were laughing about it in one of my tutorials 

oops sorry rant over!! xx


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## dee o gee (May 21, 2010)

feathers said:


> I can remember seeing tiny cages for dwarfs being sold for only about £10, and people think they're safe if marketed so.
> 
> And these fat tailed gerbils, well I'm sure they're lovely
> 
> ...


:lol: :lol: 
They're 25, 35 if you want a dwarf hamster with it so they're also hugely overpriced. 



niki87 said:


> Lol you are so mean!!
> 
> Yeah my carrier is as big as that cage!!! Grrr Am disgusted by peoples' view on suitable animal housing. The other day I had an argument with a guy on ebay who was selling rabbit hutches...4' but could makes other to peoples' spec...so I asked for a 6' double and he said he didn't make them that big. so I said he shouldn't advertise as rabbit hutches then as this is the RSPCA guidelines...and he cyber stropped me lol...saying about people like me laying down the law...I only wish i had been able to...I think in Switzerland they have actually bought out laws on pet cage sizes now. Can't remember the country but got angry when they were laughing about it in one of my tutorials
> 
> oops sorry rant over!! xx


I think your right about laws being brought in in some country, I think it could be switzerland or austria, can't seem to find anything about it online, it includes goldfish as well, I think they've banned those awful tiny bowls and something to do with not having all 4 sides of the tank transparent. I think it would be a brilliant idea if more countries followed suit, at least it would stop pet shops selling tiny cages and fish bowls.


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## dee o gee (May 21, 2010)

I was in jollyes last week and they too are selling these fat-tailed gerbils, they are also selling the tiny cage.  
On an upnote though I overheard a staff member telling a potential buyer of a horsfield tortoise to go do some more research before buying him. 

Whats other jollyes outlets like over there? The one here started selling animals not long ago, up until then they were just pet products. The animals are always in clean cages and never seem too stressed, food bowls and water bottles always seem to be clean as well. Anyone have any experience with animals bought there? Might concider getting my next smallie there.


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## sparklefinger (Nov 5, 2010)

my friend had one of these little fellas, she was friendly but couldn't stop nibbling you. she loved to sit in my hand and chew anything she could and if it was your hand then it was your hand that she nibbled on.


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