Gerbil Updates

It's been awhile since I posted. A bunch has happened over the month. A couple of days after this last post, Trixie passed on. She developed pneumonia.

We didn't want Bud to be left alone. So we got three wonderful 8 week old pups on July 24th.. We thought we might make a foursome. It wasn't to be. The pups were all too old to be put together. So we left two pups together. The other pup we are split caging with Bud. The pups names are Dexter (after the tv show), Toby, and Sam.

Bud and Sam have been in a split cage for almost 4 weeks. I swap sides regularly. I tried an intro last week. They ended up in a gerbil ball. No blood drawn. Alot of back arching and shoving and
tense nose to nose sniffing. Lucky I was wearing gloves. These two want to be dominate gerbil. Sam is over 12 weeks old now and Bud about 2 years old.

I know they want to be together but someone has to be the boss. Bud needs the company of another gerbil. Bud started purring in my hand when I take him out now. He really wants company. Even little Sam sometimes purrs when I take him out to hold.

I try using "hand" intros but they seem to don't want to really interact in my hand. There is plenty of butt sniffing though. They are both sleeping near the wire almost everyday now.

Any suggestions to help? By now, they have to smell alike. I want to try again this weekend. Would doing brief intros at night for a few minutes help? I have never had a split cage go this long.

Loss of Zoey

I lost my beloved Zoey yesterday morning. It was very sudden. She was fine the night before and Wednesday morning my BF found her breathing hard, clicking and cold to the touch. I got her and warmed her up which I think helped. I got to my vet ASAP. The took an X-ray and could not see any fluid in her lungs. Not a respirary infection. I wish it was. Zoey had a mass in her abdomen which was pushing on her diaphram. The vet perscribed some medcine but I think he new she wasn't long for this world. Her breathing kept getting worse and worse. She died an hour later after bring her home from the vet. I has Zoey since she was 6 weeks old. Just a little baby! She was still my baby. She liked me holding her. She was my cuddle gerbil when Buddy died. A beautfil slate little girl. Hardly any white on her. I never got the chance to show her. Her companion Trixie is now alone. Zoey was going to be 2 years December 28th. She was named after a character in "Serenity". Above isthe last picture I took of Zoey on Halloween.

I made a photo tribute to Zoey. View it here.

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.