Today I've watched the ep "Bye Bye Fly" where Mikey turned into a rodent (actually, that was funny! :grin:). But whom did he turn into exactly? :???: In one translation they said it was a hamster, in another one they claimed it was a rabbit. I haven't found the Russian equivalent to the word "Gerbil" even in the biggest dictionary.

It is a rodent people keep as pets. They're a bit like mice (which makes me wonder why Mike looked like a hamster.)

Thanks. Is it an English word? (I just wonder why I haven't found it in the encyclopedia).

I don't know if it's an English word. The entry I found says gerbil's are from Africa and Asia minor. And there's even some in Russia.

Ahhh! Gerbils... my expertise!

I honestly think they turned Mike into a hamster. Hamsters are light brown, have fuzzy fur, and they have very short tails.

I only had gerbils as pets when I was kid, cause I liked them more than hamsters. These guys take after the 'kangaroo rat', which is found in desert-like regions of northern Africa, Arabia, and Mongolia.

Gerbils are normally dark brown, have sleek fur, and a long tail that has a taft of fur at the end. They are also ten times more active that hamsters, and like scratching or chewing on things (a sign that they are burrowing animals).

http://www.gerbils.co.uk/

Aren't they soooo cute! :grin:
http://portfolio.iu.edu/sdlee/Images/gerbils.jpg

Whereas, this is a hamster...
http://portfolio.iu.edu/sdlee/Images/hamster.gif

*shuts up now*

LOL! How adorable. I wish I had some sort of rodent for a pet, but my parents were always afraid that it'd get loose and the house would become it's playground. Eh, parents are strange, ne?

heh, now instead of having a pet rodent despite your parents, now you have a pet rodent for a parent! :lol:

Gah!
*resists urge to bap Machias*
Now that I think of it, 'tis a bit ironic. :wink:

Gerbils are definately the cutest rodents I've ever seen. My brothers and I used to have four of them, one each, but one day my youngest bro thought that they didn't look happy inside their cage and decided to set them free. We never got to see them again... :cry:

Awww....that's sad :sad:

*hehe* that's the bad thing about gerbils. They are so hyper and skittish, they can be such a pain to catch if they get loose in the house!

It was funny, one gerbil I had named Hoggle had chewed out of the lil plastic cage he was in one morning. (He was still new, so I kept him in that cage until the other gerbils got used to him)

But Dad was sitting at the kitchen table drinking his coffee and reading the paper, when Hoggle goes running across the top of his bare feet. That surely gave him a jump start to the day! :lol:

If i could, i'd give you one of our baby hamsters.... :sad:

*snickers at Azure's urges*

And would anyone happen to know why they called Michaelangelo a gerbil when he was actually a hamster? Maybe they didn't know what a gerbil really looked like. I know I didn't until I looked it up today. I was a hamster person.

I had no idea what gerbils really looked like either. Hamsters I knew, but gerbils I just assumed were similar.

Hey, remember it's a TMNT discussion! :wink: Let's talk of Mikey. He was turned into a rodent without ears (so that can't be a rabbit) and without tail (and according to the photo HorseTechie has provided (BTW thanx HT they look really cute) gerbils have long tails.)

So I agree with those who said Mike was a hamster but I've got one more theory... Maybe Mike is a Guinea pig? :grin:

A guinea pig?? I dunno...I haven't seen that episode in such a long time. But maybe he was a guinea pig. Poor Mike...

:lol: Thta's was what I thought too. They drew Mike soooo big, he looked more like a genia pig!

But we should all know the vaildity and irrational logic of the TMNT cartoons had. Like, how else can the TMNT (who are supposed to be in hiding) drive around a nearly vacant NYC in a colorful van with the logo on it and huge arsenal all over, and not cause the police to call in the SWAT team on them?

Well, I do agree that they should have chosen a less attractive van if they were going to hide. But were they? I mean, they did not want anyone to know about their lair but they were not hiding like... err... Like the Sailor Scouts, if you've seen this anime.

Okay, I know it is not a very good comparison and maybe an insult for the Turtles. :smile: