Last Sunday one of my gerbils died. His name was Potter. The surviving gerbil (Harry) seemed lonely so I decided to get him a couple of pals.
I got them today. Harry’s new pals are two male gerbils named Frik and Frak.
They are male because there will be no breeding allowed. Yeah, I know. No fun for them.
Frik is brown and white while Frak is grey. Harry, in case you’re wondering, is a golden brown.
For the next week Frik and Frak will be living in a small cage right next to Harry. Harry’s a bit aggitated but he is watching the new boys. Frik and Frak just want to see what their temporary home looks like.
Things are going well so far. Harry’s not overly aggitated, the boys aren’t upset, and Stormi (the grey cat) has checked them out. I figure that if the new ones don’t give a fig about a cat sitting next to their cage, they should get along fine with Harry. He’s never cared if Stormi sits and looks at him, either. He’s even chased after her in his exercise ball.
suzanne says:
I love gerbils! I wish I could see their picture…
10/15/2005, 6:56 pmGreat names. I used to have a gerbil named Gilligen.
Sorry about Potter
suzanne says:
P.S. How do I rss feed your blog?
10/15/2005, 7:02 pmAmal says:
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL, in highschool, my best friend and I were Frik and Frak. She was frik, I was frak. LOOOOL.
Thanks for such a great memory.
10/16/2005, 4:45 amMandy says:
Gerbils are pretty adaptable creatures, though I had a bad experience with them when I was just 3 years old (but that’s another story) heh. I’m sure they’ll all get on just fine, good luck!
10/16/2005, 4:19 pmDawn says:
I used to breed Gerbils when I was a lil younger and always found that Males in the same cage did not get along. Make sure you watch them carefully for the first few days for fighting and if there is, seperate them immediately or you could have a blood bath on your hands.
Nice blog btw.
)
10/16/2005, 10:32 pmChristie says:
Love the names!
10/17/2005, 11:04 amKimberly says:
Is it just me or are your columns overlapping? i.e: left column overlapping into the post, post is under the left column partially?
10/17/2005, 5:27 pmdanielle says:
I’m sorry for your loss.
10/17/2005, 10:56 pmhterry says:
I miss having gerbils…mebbe when my fish finally keel over I’ll take there nice big tank and convert it into a gerbil haven.
10/18/2005, 8:34 ammoonbatty says:
Sorry about the loss of Potter. =\ But congrats on the newbies.
Definitely be careful with introducing them. Male gerbils that aren’t of the same litter will often fight to the death.
10/19/2005, 8:52 amThe Bastard says:
I was gonna warn you about what commentor 5 warned you about. Except my warning didn’t have such a happy ending. Needless to say Snowball lost! Poor guy!
Anyway be careful and have fun with them!
10/20/2005, 5:23 amBen says:
I’ve raised gerbils for almost 30 years. Now, my children handle them much more than I do.
Let me echo what someone else has said: males living together is bad news. They will fight. There will be blood.
The ideal condition is to have a male and female raising young. If you don’t have an outlet to deal with though offspring and you can’t stomach flushing them down the toilet, you could always “release them into the wild” at your nearby park and pretend that they won’t turn into snake or hawk food.
Either way, the best condition for gerbils is 1 male and up to 3 females or 3-4 females. But keep the boys apart. They won’t play nice. (It may take them a few months to a year before they start to exhibit that behavior.)
10/22/2005, 11:04 pm