Gerbil Surgeries

I have had a couple of gerbils go in for surgery recently. A couple of months ago my little slate girl Zoey had a lump on her ear that was removed. I sent it in for lab work. It turned out to a melnoma (can't spell). She is perfect fine. The vet joked that now she is half doberman.

Our four year boy Buddy developed a abcess on his scent gland that got infected. The vet though at first it was tumor but it was a nasty abcess. He had to have stitches. The doctor prescribed Metacam antibiotic for his recovery. He came through great. healing nicely. Play with his boys. He is an older schimmel. His orange faded into white as he got older. The only indication of orange is at the base of his tail. He is "our" boy.

Gerbils, Hamsters and Knitting

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. The gerbil show was fantasic! My knitted gerbils and rats were a big hit. We came home with a new baby hammie named Fred. This is what Fed looked like when we got him home in May. My thumb has healed from all the knitting before the show. I am knitting again but not with as much fury. Now I am getting ready for the local fair and the fall craft shows. Here is a link to the crafts I have been working on this year. I recently finished up 2 knitted guinea pigs and a fun fur rat. I welcone you opinions on them.

No Way! Knitting Injuries

I just can't believe this. I have knitted so much lately that I have a knitting injury.

Have you ever gotten a knitting injury? My left thumb hurts. I must have poked it one to many times. I use wooden knitting needles. The skin is peeling off on the cushy part and there is a sore at the joint. I have neosporin on it now with a band-aid on it. I still want to knit so I either would have to take a break or I wrap up my thumb so I can knit. Any suggestions/opinions?

Come To The 2008 New England Gerbil Show!

The American Gerbil Society's 2008 New England Gerbil Show is rapidly approaching! This year's show will be in Nashua, New Hampshire and takes place on May 17th.

Gerbil breeders and owners from around the country will be at the show to show off their gerbils, sell gerbil merchandise, and even adopt out gerbil pups! It's a great opportunity to learn more about gerbils.

AGS members can also enter their gerbils in a gerbil show (just like a dog show, except with gerbils). Although judging occurs behind closed doors, at the end of the show, winners are announced.

There is a wonderful pet class where kids can bring their pete gerbils and compete for fun. Prizes awarded for best chewer, shoulder sitter and lots more.

Click the banner below to learn more about the New England Gerbil Show. Hope to see you there!

I will be there showing off my two little girls Simone and Mona. I will also be selling my knitted rodent merchandise (rats, gerbils, mice) in honor of the Chinese Year of the Rat.

Mona and Simone

Knitted Gerbil Stuffies Finally

I finally found a pattern on crafster.org for knitted gerbil toy stuffies. It is a variation on a bunny pattern. The orange/rust colored one is the first with worsted weight yarn and the second one is made from white cotton yarn. Still works in progress. Still need to work in it. What do you think of them?

Year of the Rat (2008)

Happy Chinese New Year. It is the year of the rat. Yippee! I love all rodents. Mice, hamsters, gerbils, rats. I have a hamster and seven gerbils. I used to have a mouse.

I also knit. I have been into making knitted toys lately. Especially mice and rats. Check out my 2007 projects link to see some pictures of my work. I found this picture while surfing. A hamster knitting! Too cute. Fits right into my blog.

Rat Knitting Pattern I have changed the ear pattern a little bit. I like it better. I use fishing line for the whiskers. They look so cool now.

Henry won 3rd Place

I am so proud of my hamster Henry. On Sunday January 27, 2008, he won third place in our local APL's 2nd annual pet photo contest fundraiser. He has such the cutest face. This is photo that he won with. His prize is a pet photo shoot with a professional photographer.

Happy New Year and Gerbil Family Expanded

My gerbil family has now expanded to seven gerbils and a hamster. I did want to mention that I also had a little baby gerbil Stewie. He was a very small little gerbil. I think he may have been the runt of the litter. He was a beautiful gerbil. A rare color also. i got him on December 14th and he passed on December 18th. Mostly likes from respiratory infection. He never made it back from the vet. This is baby Stewie. I will always remember you.

This is my new baby gerbils. Meet Little Bear, Spot, Simone and Mona. All their birthdays are in October. Spot and Simone are Halloween gerbils. Little Bear and Spot are with Buddy.

Loss of a Good Friend

With a very sad heart that Honeybear passed on yesterday morning about 9:53am. She was getting worse. We both made that hard decision. She was over 3 1/2 years old. A very long lifespan for a petstore gerbil. She was such a sweet gerbil. She loved her bestfriend Buddy. A 3 year old schimmel male. Her fur actually lightened with age. Her fur used to be darker in her younger days.

Honeybear - Possible Sick little gerbil

My little gerbil Honeybear might be sick. He has been having labored breathing for the past couple of days. She still does all her normal gerbil stuff but when she is sleeping or eating the hard breathing is very noticeable. She is over 3 1/2 years old. Her BF Buddy is 3 years old also. I am taking her in to the vet this afternoon to have her checked out. If it is respiratory infection then we can treat her. Otherwise we would just have to enjoy her and make her comfortable.

---------------

Back from the vet and $70.00 later. The vet first listened to her heart to see if he heard anything. He did not hear anything. The vet took X-rays. Used the dental x-ray machine. He did find something and showed me the x-rays. Honeybear has a slight collasped lung on her left side and is retaining some fluid. Which is the cause of
hard breathing. The lump that HB had a few months back was on her left side.

He weighed her (91 grams). He prescribed Lixotinic (Lasix) with furosemide. They are a vitamin supplement and a diuretic to help with the water problem. .2ml twice a day oraly. He said give the medicine to her for a long as she needs. Probably the rest of her life to help ease her breathing. He gave her the first dose in the
office. The medicine is slightly sweet so she took the medicine ok. She was such a good girl at the vet's. So calm and tame towards the doctor. Didn't bite once. Buddy came with her for support.

When she went for X-rays, the vet carried her in the towel I brought and she looked so adorable with her little head sticking out.

Money doesn't matter. It was worth it to know what the problem was.

Hamsters in Hats

Aren't these hamsters so cute with their hats! I founf this while browsing around for knitted stuff that I can knit for my hamster. Isn't this adorable!

http://www.stargazy.org/hamstersinhats/

Can anyone knit or crochet them? They would look so cute on my Henry.

Happy Halloween from my Critter Family!

My little critter family wanted to say Happy Halloween to everyone!

Dad in Hospital

Dad has been in the hospital (Cleveland Clinic) since July 24th. He has severe colitis. No medicine helpe. The last resort is surgery. They performed the surgery Tuesday the 31st. His entire colon was removed. he came through the surgery ok. Now the recovery begins. He has good hours and bad hours. Today and last night was bad. He could not keep anything down. His stomach wasn't working right yet. So everything stayed in the stomach. They had to put that tube up his nose and down his throat to get his stomach pumped. Mom was there. She told me what happened. I think they gave dad a milk sedative so he can sleep since he couldn't last night.

I hope tomorrow is better.

AGS Virtual Show 2007

We will be holding a 2007 American Gerbil Society Virtual show! A virtual show is held on-line, for fun, glory and bragging rights. Gerbils are judged on a front and side picture by certified judges and judges in training.

You can get full details at: http://www.agsgerbils.org/virtual2007

AGS members may enter up to six (6) gerbils in this year's virtual show. Non-members can join the fun and enter up to two (2) gerbils. So, please pass the word to other gerbil lists and gerbil lovers.

Critter Knitting

I have been knitting up a storm lately. I have been into making knitted toys. Click on the link to see pictures. I have so far made aa couple of bears, a baby rat and a mouse. The mouse's face didn't turn out right. I have to work on it. I have also made hats and slippers. I am working on projects for the craft shows in the fall. What do you think of the mouse on the left? I think the face needs work. I think I put the face on wrong. This is a fuzzymitten Pocket Mouse Pattern. I bought a squirrel pattern that I am going to try also.

Meet Henry the Hamster

This is Henry is a longhaired sable syrian hamster. Many petstores would call him a teddy bear hamster. When he sits up, he does look like a mini bear. I adopted Henry from our local APL on Sunday May 13, 2007. I have no clue on his age. He is a sweety and doesn't bite. My BF fell in loves with him also at the APL. At first he didn't want a hamster as we already have 4 gerbils, he saw Henry and melted. No clue on his age but no taming was required. He absolutely loves to come out at night. His hamster ball is his absolute favorite toy. He can run in it all night. He even makes turns! His previous owner must have had in a hamster ball before. I have to get a picture of him in his ball. He also loves shoulders.

Buddy and Honeybear

They are together. You couldn't see a happier gerbil than Honeybear. She just loves her new boyfriend. We put the wheel in the tank. HoneyBear missed her wheel. Buddy really didn't know what to make of it. He is two years old and never been on a wheel. Honeybear supervised and give tips on how to run. Honeybear is 3 years old. They are both past having babies. It is not 100% but the risk of babies is low.

New Gerbil Friend

I have a new friend for my gerbil Honeybear. We got him on April 25th. He is a 2 year old male schimmel. We nammed him Buddy. Honeybear is 3 yearsold. They far past breeding age. I thought it would be nice for Honeybear to have a boyfriend. They are currently being split caged. they are very friendly now. I can hold them in my hands as if they are old friends. I think this is becuase my hands are "neutral" territory. For the intro, I would have to clean out the entrie tank and put fresh bedding and then put them in the tank. He starting to come around. He is friendly but scared of hands.

Sick Little Gerbil Digger

Since Tuesday, little Digger (one on the right) has been sick. Eyes closed. Little or no appetite. Not thirsty. Ruffled fur. Cool to the touch. I took her to the vet that Tuesday. The vet could not find what is wrong. Her eyes, lungs and heart are fine. Hesaid to keep her warm and jsut do your best. I temporary kept her in a separate cage with 2 small water bottles to keep her warm. After a few hours she was warm enough so i could put her back with HoneyBear. I have them isloated in one Crittertrail 2 cage. They usually have a #3 attached also. Digger immediately climbs to the top of the cage and stayed there. Warmest place. We hand fed her and offered the water bottle. She did eat and drink. She seemed so weak and tired. Her buddy took careof her by grooming and keeping her warm. She has made improvements slowly over the past few days. This morning I found them both in the lower part of the cage under tp where their nest is usually. Digger is feeding herself from the food bowl and hopefully that she is drinking from the water bottle. I lowered it for her. I give her a pea everyday for its vitamins, softness and water. She loves the pea. I have high hopes for her. Her coat is even looking lots better.

Added note 04/30/2007: We lost little Digger April 20th. We think it was dental and jaw problems. Even getting her teeth clipped didn't help.

New Friend for Trixie

Trixie got a new friend. Her name is Zoey. She is a cute little black/slate pup. She was about 6 weeks old when we got her. She is such a cutie.

Trixie and Zoey are now the best of buds. I have them featured in my gerbil store. After split caging for 2 weeks, there was no squeaking. Trixie did tell Zoey that she was boss but that was it. No squabbling at all. The easiest intro I ever did.