I used to have gerbils (2 of them... "sisters" supposedly, until I woke up one morning and found 9 babies
), and years later I had a hamster. If I were to get another, I think I'd get a gerbil again, but maybe my hamster was just bad!
The woman who sold him to me told me that gerbils are much more gentle and willing to be held, but I already had gerbils and I wanted a hamster. I did get to hold the hamster once, when she handed him to me, but when I got him home, I never held him again. If I put my hand near him, he'd roll to his back and bare his teeth to bite
To clean his cage, I had to put the cage in a large cardboard box, remove the lid, put his little ball in there until he crawled in, and then close up the ball and let him run while I cleaned the cage. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that he would start climbing the cage, crawling across the top, and then dropping headfirst to the bottom of the cage
After a couple of months, he died suddenly in his "boot" house. He was a strange and mean little guy and I don't think I would get another one.
But there are lots of good reviews from other YTers on here too!