We gots gerbils! And had a great day.
Today has been pretty incredible. We got up at the butt crack of dawn and hopped a bus downtown to grab breakfast. Then we hopped a bus to Pet Smart and picked up two gerbils instead of the one hamster we originally intended on buying for my birthday because gerbils are half the price of hamsters. These two were right up at the front of the glass in our faces the whole time we were there. Curious little buggers.
We came home and set them up in their new home (the cheapest cage there, and it came with food, cage liner, a toy, a wheel, a food dish and a water bottle), then went out to lunch/dinner. Now, after a tiring day of being bought, handled repeatedly by strangers and learning how to maneuver their new home, they’re asleep in a pile in the corner.
And after a tiring day of getting our bills caught up, and running from one side of town to the other on the most crowded bus line in the city, M and I are both just sort of puttering around on gadgets.
I tried to molest Him but He told me I wasn’t getting fucked right now. Big meanie.
Oh! Zedd? Is petrified of the gerbils. Color me shocked. No, I’m serious. Cause when we hamster-sat for my neighbor, he was totally curious and excited about the furry little bugger. But when I tried to show him the gerbils, he made a noise we’ve never heard before. Then he started attacking Baby any time Baby came around, and screaming at me in a way he hasn’t screamed in a long time.
So… it’s gonna take more than a day. Big surprise. Everything takes more than a day (month… year…) with Zedd.
We haven’t named the rodents yet. So far, names that M’s said no to are Town Mouse and Country Mouse, Calvin and Hobbes, Pinky and the Brain, Jack and Jim (Daniels and Beam, respectively), Bert and Ernie, Bill and Ted, Wayne and Garth, Ben and Jerry, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, and He looked at me funny when I suggested we name the tan one Leopold because he looks like a Leopold.
I dunno, I thought it’d be weird enough to get a yes.
I think it should be my decision cause they’re my birthday present. Course, I also have no idea what I want to name them. I’m just throwing names out. Though He originally suggested Yin and Yang even though the tan one’s not white, and He said maybe to Ren and Stimpy. But I don’t really like either of those.
So… we’re still looking.
They’re friggin hilarious.
The black one’s all teeth. Rude mother fucker just walked up to my hand and started gnawing on it. I’m pretty sure it’s because I had just put on lemon lotion, though. So no more wearing fruity lotion when I’m handling them.
The tan one’s a smart little bugger. And he ran himself ragged in the wheel damn near all day.
The purple and white cage has plastic shelves with tubes coming off them so the little guys can get up to them, and I’ve got their food on one side and their wheel on the other. And the tan one’s figured out that he doesn’t have to go up the tube. He can climb the wall. So he climbs the wall to the top of the wheel, then grabs ahold of the wheel and shoots across the cage, landing on the soft blue bottom.
Yeah… the bottom’s blue. It’s called “CareFresh” and it looks sort of like ripped up cardboard, but they say it’s not.
After five or six tries, he finally decided to crawl under the wheel instead, and low and behold, he made it. Now he tries to scoot across the top of the wheel by holding it with one paw. Sometimes he makes it, and then he jumps from the top of the wheel to the shelf. Mostly, he just shoots to the other side of the cage.
On the way home, I kept looking through the holes in the box and they would put their noses up to my eye. In the cage, we put our fingers or noses up to the cage and they either put their noses up to ours or play with our fingers.
M’s completely enamored with them. He’s been watching them every time we sit down. Adorable.
Rayne,
Zedd’s no dummy. he knows gerbils are omnivores while hamsters are far more vergetarian. He feels threatened by creatures he feels may well take to hunting him if they get out of that (obviously too flimsy) cage.
By the way, did you make sure to get a same sex pair? If not, count on having to deal with litters of pups. these rodents breed like…rodents. As for names, how about George and Gracie; Burns and Allen; Luke and Leia; Han ans Solo; Dave and Mike; Red and Green. No, no; No need to thank me, just trying to help.
Dave
@dweaver999 Oh hey… that makes sense.
And yeah, we got two boys. No way do I want to deal with litters. Not right now, anyway.
I’m trying to convince Him to let me name them Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction). So far, He’s not biting. And I still say it should be my choice! Lol.
I’m so jealous, I want me some gerbils. But my Master says no pets in the house other than me.
@Kari Aww, no fair! Well, I’ll share my gerbils wif you. ~nods~ You just gots to feed and water them sometimes, and clean their cage. We’ll take turns.
They chew. A lot. Everything. Anything. Gerbils chew absolutely everything.
@Anonymous Lol. We’ve noticed this.
@rayne – If you’ve got one of those cages with tubes, try and find some of the metal rings that slide on the end. They’ll still try and chew them but you won’t need to replace the tubes.
Another really good thing for them, if you can’t find the rings and they’re eating the plastic tubes too quick… A fish tank. Just a big empty fish tank with sawdust in it. Nothing to chew. The lack of noise might settle the birds a bit more.
Rayne,
Actually, the worst thing you can do is to deny them something to chew on. Those long front teeth of theirs are growig all the time, and if not gnowed down by their chewing, will become so long they can’t eat (or so I’ve heard. The trick, of course, is to find them something good to chew on.
Dave
@dweaver999 The cage we got came with everything my boys could possibly need.
They’ve got these cute little fruit-flavored chew sticks with sprinkles on top that slide onto a metal post with colorful wooden blocks, a huge bag of one of the best brands of food, a bag of bright blue bedding that’s supposed to be safer than cedar or pine, a dish, a wheel and a water bottle.
I think part of the problem is that Zedd’s jealous. He gets mad every time we take them out to play with them. And suddenly, he’s trying to be braver, and all lovey, and vies for our attention. Which is making Baby jealous.
We’re gonna have to figure out a way to have both gerbil and birdy time daily since it seems the birds are ready for us to be in their faces again. Lol.
@dweaver999 – That’s why you put things like empty egg cartons or toilet paper rolls in their enclosures. Or wooden bits and pieces.
@Anonymous They destroy empty toilet paper rolls in under half an hour. Lol. I hadn’t thought of empty egg cartons. I might try that when we run out of eggs.