I'm leaving on vacation for the whole month of July, and one of my sisters agreed to take in my gerbils from mid-June till I return. I told her not to try to handle or hand-feed the gerbils (two males, about 5 months by then) as they may bite her. This was my experience two weeks ago when I left for a week and upon return, one of them bit me a few times before settling down. They never bit me before. Now I'm really worried that by the time I return, they'll have totally forgotten me and be bad biters. Yesterday my dad tried to feed them sunflower seeds and the biter-for-a-while bit him. But when I did it instead, he didn't bite, just hopped on my hand and ate it. How long a memory do gerbils have of their owners? If they do bite, can I train this out of them? How? Is there a way to avoid them starting to bite in the first place? My dad suggested I just give them away and get new ones when I come back, but not only do I not know who I can give them to, but I don't want to -- I love them. Is this a good idea though? Whether I do or not though, I'm really concerned about the likely biting behavior. Amy
