Gerbils make great pets for adults as well as for children. Almost all pet gerbils are Mongolian gerbils, which originate from the Mongolian desert. They are friendly and very easy to care for. They are dinural, so are awake night and day. They get very excited about any new thing you put into the tank for them and will immediately explore it. You can make cardboard buildings/tunnels for them and they will love crawling into, through, over, and on them. Then they will gnaw it all up.
Gerbils are more fun to watch then many television shows out there today.