Bud has Passed

Our senior gerbil Bud passed on this morning a little after 6:30am. He died in his cozy (bonk-bonk) on my lap. Funny thing is though;  that about 5 minutes before Bud died, Dexter was thumping so loud that we heard it and knew something was wrong. Toby and Dexter's cage is right in front of Bud. They can see and can smell each other all the time. I do believe that Dexter was telling us something about Bud. I also think that these three might have been closer than we thought.

Bud was about 4 years old. He was at first paired with Trixie. He adored her. After Trixie passed, we tried pairing up Toby and Dexter with him. It never worked out so Bud ended up being a lone gerbil. He thrived.  Bud became our "people" gerbil. He answered to his name. Loved getting hand gerbil massages. Shoulder sitter and watch tv while doing it. Loved our laps. We were his clan. There were times that Bud groomed my arm like gerbils do when they groom each other. He was so gentle.  Bud liked being in the ball once in awhile. Wheel runner. Just a big wonderful 100+ gram white gerbil. We loved him so much. We will miss you.

Sam and Clarice Litter 2

"Bobby" (4 weeks old)

Clarice had her second and final litter this morning. So far three little pups. We took Sam and Bobby out last night. Clarice was showing signs that she was due very soon. Milly and Ginger are with Clarice helping to raise the second litter. They will take the place of Sam in the care department. Clarice was such a good mom with Bobby, Milly and Ginger. She will be a good mom to these pups.

Just pray the new litter will make through the next few days. This is the first critical stage of a pup's life.

Clarice had her litter too fast. I was going to clean the tank today. I will wait another week and do some spot cleaning. The wheel seems to calm her down so I left it in this time.  The wheel is raised so the new pups won't get hurt. This is gong to be fun watching these pups grow up with their older siblings caring for them.


Sam and Bobby are dong just fine. Bobby didn't know what do with his dad all by himself. He was used to his sisters around. They cuddled up last night in their new house. I saw Bobby eat out of the food bowl this morning. Bobby does know how to drink from the water bottle. I will probably put them in a 15 gallon later. Right now they are in a 10 gallon. They will be gong to the gerbil show in little over a month. Sam and Bobby will be competing.

Pups Now 3 weeks old

The pups are 3 weeks old as of March 14th. Their eyes are open. They are very active learning to be gerbils. They started sampling their parents food and chewing bits of cardboard. Their little teeth are coming in. So far their favorite is rolled oats. A nice soft food they can eat. The pups favorite place to play is in the chube.  They will be learning to use the water bottle soon as mom will start weaning them from the milk. Sam and Bobby will be in their own tank at the five week mark. Clarice is expected to have her second litter by then (if she is pregnant)..  The girls will stay with mom to help with the second litter and keep mom company. Milly is the calmest of the pups. She likes to be held. All the pups will be going to their first gerbil show to compete in the pup class April 30th in Bedford, MA.  Sam will be competing as well as my agouti Toby.

Big Day for the Pups

This is a big day for one of our girl pup. She opened her eyes today. We decided to call her Milly. She has a straight tail while her twin sister has a kink in her tail. That is the only way I can tell them apart right now. Bobby and his sister should be opening their eyes in the next day or two. They move so fast that it is hard to take a good picture. This was the best picture I could take of Milly today. She looks just like her daddy Sam.

12 Day Old Pups

The pups are now 12 days old. Fully furred in their premolt colors. Two orange girls are possibly argente and one gray boy probably sapphire. Sapphire is a beautiful color. It is lighter than lilac but darker than dove. The mom Clarice is a Dove.

6 Day Old Pups

The pups are starting to show their fuzz colors. One is clearly grey while the other two are orange. They are dark eyed. The grey will probably be either a grey agouti or a siamese. The orange ones have a few possiblites still. They could be nutmegs, DEH or others. Please let me know what you think. I won't know their sex until they are 7-10 days old.

4 Day Old Baby Gerbils

I just took this picture a few minutes ago. They are so cute. They are going to have dark eyes for sure. Can't determine colors yet. The skin tone is looking dark so their fur will be in the darker range. I think the fourth pup is gone unless hidden real well. They look strong, fed and healthy

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2 day old Gerbil babies

Here is a picture of my little babies. Only two days old. There are four in there. Count the paws.

Clarice and Sam - 4 babies born today

Born today. 4 little baby gerbils. Parents Clarice and Sam

Snow and Knitting

I really hope we have a snow day tomorrow. I want to do some knitting and play with my gerbils. I heard and saw on the radar that is going to be bad. I heard on the scale of the 1978 blizzard. I vaguely remember that as a kid. We had no school and my sister and I had a blast outside in the snow. Mom took pictures. I live in Northern Ohio so it is coming. Be careful tonight and tomorrow if you are on the roads. I would avoid going out unless you really really had to.

HHG February Pet Photo Contest - Need Entries

I am going to start back up the photo contest for February. I only have 3 entries. I would like at least a few more. I am accepting entries until January 31 at 11pm. Open to all pets. Please email them to me directly or  gerbilcontest@hhgerbilry.com

http://hhgerbilry.com/gerbilshow1.html

Thanks!

Meet Becca Rose

This is Becca Rose (formally Adora from previous post). I adopted her from the APL Friday, January 14, 2011. I visited her the night before and I had to adopt her. I estimate her age to be about 8 months old. She is a PEW (Pink eyed White). She is family to my older PEW male Bud. She is so sweet. Loves to chew. We got her a wheel yesterday and loves it. We also found out that the petstore that she and Bud came from no longer have white gerbils as all the white gerbils from that store are Bud's descendants. So now she is the last. It was fate that I got her. She is currently in a 5 1/2 gallon tank until we can get her into a 10. She loves her new home now since her old home was 1/2 that size and it was one of those all plastic Habitrail type cage with a wire bottom.  The names comes from the character Rebecca (Becca) from the HBO show Californication and Rose came from my sister and mom. Since she was family to Bud, "Rose Bud". She has a mangled ear probably from squabbling with her tank mates at the store. She might also have a dust problem as her nose is very red.

Featured Shelter Critter of the Week - Adora the Gerbil

This is little Adora. She came to the Friendship APL on the weekend of January 8, 2011. She is a cute ruby eyed white gerbil. She is an adult. She looks like a very sweet little girl. She current resides at the Friendship APL in Elyria Ohio. Would you consider giving this little girl a home?

Details about Adora can be found on Petfinder.com

Simone has passed

We got little Simone when she was 5 weeks old.  She turned into a a girl at 6 weeks old. Her first partner was Mona. After a little more than 2 1/2 years with Mona, she passed. Simone was then paired up with Sam. Sam adored her. Sam took real good care of her. Simone showed Sam the art of bed making. Simone was a sweet and gentle soul. She loved to be picked up. A shoulder sitter. Simone would have made a good show gerbil but she had nose allergies all her life. She loved her peas and corn. She was on metacam the final two weeks. It helped her much especially when Sam was ill over Christmas. Simone was well enough to take care of Sam.  The last couple of days Simone was on the decline. She had a bad tumor. Simone passed at the vet this morning. She will be buried next to Spot in my parents backyard.  Sweet Dreams little Simone.

Simone is Still Here

Simone is still with us. She is on metacam. She gets a dose everyday now. Her tumor did go away once but it came back with a vengeance. Her normal weight was 75 grams. Her heaviest with the tumor was 90 grams. She is now down to 85 grams. She still eats when we feed her and sometimes from the food bowl. She still drinks when we offer her the water bottle. She has not really chewed anything in over a week. I hear her grinding her teeth. She likes to sleep in a fleece cosy on our laps. She does sometimes get a small burst of energy but she is sleeping more and more. She is peeing but I have not seen any poop. She is peeing where she sleeps but Simone is still keeping her underbelly clean. Sam is taking good care of her by sleeping close to her and groom her when needed. Her coat is becoming raggy looking. She still has the lip problem.

Simone is over 3 years old. Is there anymore I can do? Should I take her to the vet to at least get her teeth checked? She is day to day.

Take a look at her last few pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gerbilgal/Gerbils2010

The pictures are the few last ones in the folder.

The Christmas Wish

Simone is a spotted Siamese. 3 years old.  Sam is a yellow Fox one year old.  Simone has been ill since early December. She has an abdominal tumor. She is currently on Metacam. She is back to her fiesty self. Doing all the normal gerbil stuff. Not 100% but she is happy. My first miracle this Christmas.

 

Sam got sick Friday morning on the 24th. We started him on antibiotics.  He did drink and ate very little all day Friday. He did take one or two long drinks Friday if I held the water bottle. This morning he was not looking good at all. Sam would not eat or drink. I did give him his medicine. The vet told me yesterday that I doing all I can for him. I even have a small reptile heater to help keep him warm. I was very hesitant to leave this morning to go spend Christmas with Steve's family 2 hours away. There was nothing else we could do for Sam so we left.  I did make a wish for Sam before leaving that he will be ok. We got back home about 5:30pm expecting the worst.  When there in the tank we saw Sam running about being a perfectly normal gerbil. The medicine worked! I have my Sam back. My wish came true. My second miracle.  

Sam is so happly that I have seen him sitting in the wheel twirling and swishing his tail. I have only seen this behavior done only once or twice before. I got some wonderful gifts for Christmas but my best gift was my little babies.

Merry Christmas One and All!

Gerbil Lovers Descend On Tulsa For Show - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

Gerbil Lovers Descend On Tulsa For Show - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

This looked like so much fun. I usually go to the the New England Show in the Spring.  Gerbils Shows are so cool.

Happy 3rd Brithday to Spot and Simone

Halloween Gerbils!

This is Spot and Simone. They were born on Halloween 3 years ago today.  I got them when they were just 3 weeks old. Tiny little pups. Spot is a 2 time blue ribbon AGS winner. Simone is just a sweet little girl that loves to be picked up. She is my last little girl out of 7 gerbils. I know have 4 gerbils that are seniors.

Wish my little ones a Happy Birthday!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Little Bear! 3 years old today

My Little Bear turned 3 years old today. I had him since he was a young pup at 7 weeks old. A big boy at 120 grams.

Sad, Sad, SAd Day

At about 4:50am this morning, Spot and Little Bear Declanned.

Steve was sleeping on the sofa chair last night because I am still getting over a cold. Steve heard a commotion. They were banging the plastic house around. It didn't stop. Steve got up and found them in a ball. Steve had a hardtime separating them. He got bit hard. He called for me. There was blood on LB and Spot. Spot immediately went into the 5 gallon. Started looking them over. Spot got the worst of it. His paw got bit hard. I cleaned them up the best I could. This happened about 4:50 in the morning. Thank god Steve was sleeping next to them or I might have had a dead gerbil in the morning. I think LB was the aggressor.

This morning. Not a scratch on LB. Spot on the other hand. His paw has swelled up a little. I put some Neosporin on it. He is not a happy gerbil right now. Little Bear is fine.

 Steve thought it was his blood on the gerbil but the proof was this morning. It was theirs. That means they cannot be together anymore.

If I wasn't sick and  if I didn't put that noisy plastic house in the tank, I hate to think of what I would have found in tne morning. Spot is now in a 10 gallon and recovering well.