[Alas Babylon!]

difference between a hamster & a gerbil?..there's more dark-meat on a hamster!

Actually, I'll have to disagree with you here. Dark meat is usually found in the back legs, right? And a gerbil, designed for jumping, has much bigger back legs than a hamster. So a gerbil will have more dark meat, and a hamster, well, it looks like a little pig, so it would be the rodent version of the "other WHITE meat".

[Orangedog]

Either way, you have to cook them slow, like in a crock pot.