Gerbil Blog for Twin Squeaks

My Nephew Giggles At Maeby & Nellie

2008-04-26T21:23:00.001-05:00

I had to share this video of my nephew watching my gerbils. Watch how when Nellie stops running in her wheel, he makes a running motion with his hands. :-D

My Nephew Meets Maeby & Nellie

2008-04-20T22:42:00.001-05:00

This weekend, my nephew was in town.

He is almost 10 months old, and this was the first time that he's been old enough to notice the gerbils.

He was completely enthralled by Maeby and Nellie. When Nellie would run in her wheel, he would shriek and giggle. :)

So the bad news for my brother is that it looks like his son takes after his aunt just a little bit. I think he likes gerbils as much as I do. ;)

Can You Help Princess Find A Home?

2008-04-11T23:40:00.007-05:00

Today I saw this photo of Princess on Petfinder.com. From her photo, she looks like a pied lilac gerbil. She’s still very young and sounds wonderful. Princess is very active and playful and is looking for a new home. Her previous owners received her as a gift but did not want to keep her. (It’s very sad.)

If you live in Howard County, Maryland, please visit Princess’ Petfinder page or her page on the Animal Advocates of Howard County Web site to find out how to adopt Princess.

April 19th: Princess is still looking for a home. If you are interested in adopting her, it's not too late to contact the Animal Advocates of Howard County.

Sonjas Gerbils Kökö & Binki

2008-04-05T08:22:00.004-05:00

We have a new Gerbil Picture Of The Week! This week’s photo comes all the way from Sonja in Germany! These are her gerbils Kökö and Binki.

Kökö is a lovely agouti gerbil, and Binki is a very handsome burmese gerbil. Thank you, Sonja for sending this great photo of your gerbils!

If you would like to see your gerbils on our Gerbil Picture Of The Week page, please send your gerbil photo, and we will consider putting it on our site. :)

Dahlia: Today's Featured Shelter Gerbil

2008-04-03T06:39:00.002-05:00

Oh, what a cutie this girl is! Dahlia is an adorable little pied black gerbil who is in Evergreen, Colorado, waiting for her first real home!

Dahlia was rescued from a pet store where she was getting bullied and picked on. She currently lives alone but enjoys running on her wheel and chewing cardboard and paper.

The Evergreen Animal Protective League, the shelter that is looking after Dahlia, says that she is overwhelmed by small children. Therefore, the shelter will only adopt her to a home where all of the children are over 10 years old. Dahlia would make a great pet, though, for an adult, a teen, or a tween.

You can find more information about adopting Dahlia on her Petfinder page.

April 19th: Dahlia is still looking for a forever home. If all of the members of your household are over 10 years old and you have room in your heart for this adorable little girl, you still have time to contact the Evergreen Animal Protective League.

What It Means When Your Gerbil Stomps His Or Her Feet

2008-04-02T06:38:00.004-05:00

The video to the right shows my gerbil Tori thumping her feet. This is a sound you will probably hear your gerbils make at some time in their lives.

This is something that gerbils do to warn other gerbils of danger. It's similar to when prairie dogs bark to warn other prairie dogs of danger.

You might hear your gerbils thump their feet if you make a sudden movement that scares them, if they see a shadow move across the wall (they might think it's a bird), or if they hear a scary sound.

Male gerbils may also thump their feet before mating with a female. Although both types of foot-thumping may sound the same to us, gerbils can distinguish between a warning foot thump and a mating foot thump.

Sometimes very young gerbils will even thump their feet for no reason at all. They are just practicing and learning how to be adult gerbils. :)

In this video, Tori is thumping her feet because I stood up from the couch quickly and startled her. You can clearly see and hear how she warns her sister (and any other gerbils who might be within earshot) of potential danger.

Chocolate & Swirl: Today's Featured Shelter Gerbils

2008-04-02T06:06:00.003-05:00

This is the third day of our new project to find homes for gerbils in shelters across the U.S.! Today's featured shelter gerbils are Chocolate and Swirl, two female gerbils who are best buddies. (Because Chocolate and Swirl are such good friends, they should be adopted together to the same home so that they can stay together.)

It looks from the photos on Petfinder like Chocolate is probably a lilac gerbil (a lovely grey color) and like Swirl is probably a spotted lilac gerbil. In Swirl's photo, you can see the cute little white strip on her nose, the white spot on the top of her head, and part of the white spot on her neck.

Both of these lovely gerbil girls are waiting at 3R Rescue (Raleigh Rodent Rescue) in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is a shelter that is devoted to finding homes for rescued or abandoned rodents. You can learn more on Chocolate's Petfinder page, on Swirl's Petfinder page, or on the Raleigh Rodent Rescue Web site.

If you are near Raleigh, North Carolina and have the time, space, and love to give to Chocolate and Swirl, please contact Raleigh Rodent Rescue for more information about a possible adoption.

April 19th: Chocolate and Swirl are still looking for a home! If you are interested in adopting them, there is still time to contact 3R Rescue.

Cute Photo Of Herman & Sebastian

2008-04-01T06:39:00.004-05:00

I just had to share this adorable photo of Herman and Sebastian. Here they were, all worn out after having some playtime outside of the tank one night last week. :)

Libby: Today's Featured Shelter Gerbil

2008-04-01T06:22:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: Great news! I have heard from the Brookings Regional Humane Society, and Libby has found a home! Congratulations, Libby!

Today's featured shelter gerbil is Libby, a beautiful red fox gerbil who is at the Brookings Regional Humane Society in Brookings, South Dakota.

Libby is about 3 1/2 months old. She came to the shelter with her brother Digger and is currently living alone.

UPDATE: April 19th: Libby has been adopted! Congratulations, Libby, on finding a new home!

Featured Shelter Gerbils For March 31st, 2008

2008-03-31T17:55:00.003-05:00

I'm going to start something new on the Twin Squeaks Blog: displaying gerbils who are in shelters across the U.S. and need to find loving homes! This is a cause that is very close to my heart, because my gerbils Faith and Hope both came from our local Humane Society, and so did Buster.

UPDATE: Thank you to Linette for your efforts to find homes for the gerbils in St. Paul, and thank you, too, for letting me know that they've all been adopted! Great news!

Today's featured gerbils are a huge group of gerbils in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Animal Humane Society there recently took in 37 gerbils who were rescued from becoming snake food!

Update: April 19th: All of the gerbils in St. Paul have been adopted. Thank you so much to everyone who helped these gerbils find homes!

Gerbils Help Scientists Learn More About How We Hear

2008-03-31T17:29:00.002-05:00

I ran across an interesting article today about how scientists used gerbils to learn about our sense of hearing.

Specifically, scientists studied the brain activity of gerbils as they distinguished between sounds of different pitches and frequencies. Scientists believe that this research can help them understand how we can pick out a single voice in a crowded, noisy room. They also believe that this research with gerbils may one day lead to the development of better hearing aids that can distinguish the sources of different sounds.

Come To The 2008 New England Gerbil Show!

2008-03-29T09:13:00.005-05:00

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. You can see what a prize-winning gerbil looks like!

I will be a judge at the New England Gerbil Show. Several of our gerbils; including Herman, Sebastian, Mike, Toby, Grace, and Tori; will be at the show as well!

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

Sid & Scrat Are This Week's Featured Gerbils

2008-03-29T07:19:00.002-05:00

Kirsty sent us an adorable photo of her gerbils Sid and Scrat. They are this week's featured gerbils on our Gerbil Picture Of The Week page.

Sid and Scrat also made an appearance on the Twin Squeaks site a little over a year ago. You can see their earlier photo from the December 23rd, 2006 edition of the Gerbil Picture Of The Week. They've grown up a lot since then!

If you would like to see your gerbils on our Picture Of The Week page, please send your gerbil photo to us, and we will consider using it! (We get a lot of gerbil photos, so it sometimes takes a while for us to put them on the Web site. Please be patient. We try to use as many photos as we possibly can!)

Happy Easter From Grace & Tori!

2008-03-23T08:18:00.004-05:00

Grace and Tori would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter!

After they kicked all of the Easter eggs out of their Easter basket, they discovered that the Easter Gerbil left some Cheerios and Kashi in the bottom of the basket. :)

Grace and Tori hope that your Easter is as wonderful as theirs!

Sonja's Amazing Agility Gerbil!

2008-03-22T08:06:00.002-05:00

Sonja in Germany has an amazingly talented Burmese gerbil who is trained to do show jumping and run agility courses. I could watch her gerbil Burma run these agility courses all day! This is amazing. Bravo, Sonja and Burma! Job well done!!!

One Of The Reasons Hope Was So Special

2008-03-11T17:53:00.002-05:00

As I posted recently, our beloved gerbil Hope passed away at the end of January. She was over four years old.

Last night, I ran across this video that I took of Hope last fall. You can see that she walked a little bit awkward because of the arthritis in her hips, but she still really enjoyed coming out of the tank for playtime.

What I really like about this video, though, is that it shows Hope hopping off the couch onto my leg, where she perched on my knee and watched TV with me. Hope loved to do this, and she'd spend a lot of time hanging out with me on the couch.

I really love older gerbils, because they get very mellow and friendly as they age. Hope, though, was very special and was the friendliest gerbil I've ever known.

A Video Of Grace Taking A Sand Bath

2008-03-11T17:48:00.002-05:00

I thought many of you who are new to gerbils would like to see what it looks like when a gerbil takes a sand bath. This is a video that I shot in the fall of my gerbil Grace taking a sand bath. You can see her rolling in the sand and having a great time. When she rolls in the sand, it cleans her fur and makes her coat soft and healthy. Because gerbils are desert animals, they use the sand for bathing rather than water.

Sebastian Is Growing Up So Fast!

2008-03-01T22:18:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe how little Sebastian was when he first came home to Twin Squeaks with his dad Herman at the end of December. He's grown up a lot and will be as big as his dad one of these days!

Sebastian also looks a lot different now than he did a couple of months ago. Sebastian is a nutmeg gerbil. This is a color that changes as a gerbil grows up. When a nutmeg gerbil is a pup, his fur is a light golden color. When he's about 6-7 weeks old, his fur starts to get a little bit dusty looking, and then he starts to get dark ticking that gradually spreads until he gets his adult coloring.

Starting on Page 7 of Herman & Sebastian's Photo Album, you can watch Sebastian's transformation from his pup coloring to how he looks today. What a transformation!

Hope, 12/25/2003 - 1/31/2008

2008-03-01T21:35:00.001-06:00

On January 31st, our beloved gerbil Hope passed away at the age of 4 years, 1 month, and 6 days. Hope was a very special gerbil, not only because of how long she lived but also because of the way she lived. I've never met a gerbil gentler or friendlier than Hope, and I'm not sure I've ever met a gerbil who had such a passion for life either.

Even when Hope was very old and the arthritis in her hips made her clumsy, she never stopped running in her exercise wheel or begging to come out of the tank for playtime. She loved to run back and forth on the couch, and she also liked to sit right at the edge of the couch and watch TV, too. :)

Hope and her late sister Faith came to Twin Squeaks from the Capital Humane Society, where they were surrendered by their previous owners due to a pet allergy. It was obvious that they took great care of Faith and Hope, and I feel bad that they weren't able to keep Faith and Hope. They were wonderful, wonderful gerbils, and after I adopted her, Hope provided nearly 4 years of happiness in our home. Hope's previous owners and the shelter both took great care of her and her sister, and I just want to say thank you to both of them.

Hope was active right up until the last few hours of her life, which she spent resting in my hand and occasionally drinking organic apple juice and eating pieces of Puffed Kashi. When it was time for her to go, she simply fell asleep in my hand and crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. It was a very peaceful and gentle end for an equally gentle and kind gerbil. It's hard to believe that Hope has already been gone for a month, because her presence is still felt here at Twin Squeaks everyday. Rest In Peace, Hope. We miss you...

Herman & Sebastian Come Home!

2008-01-06T14:49:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry that I didn't have a chance to post this sooner, but a week ago today, I met Jo from Black Wolf Clan Gerbils halfway between here and Springfield, MO; and Herman and his new son Sebastian came back home to Twin Squeaks! :)

It had been almost three months since I'd seen Herman! Jo took great care of him while he was at Black Wolf Clan raising a family with Jo's female gerbil Kaden. Herman seemed very happy, and Sebastian is a wonderful little pup. He likes to hop in my hand, and he's really very friendly. Just like his daddy. :)

Since coming home, the boys have been spending a lot of time running the wheel, grooming each other, and moving their nest as they search for just the right place to sleep. :)

There is also some more good news. The night before Herman came home, Kaden gave birth to their second litter! We have another six healthy little gerbil pups. I don't plan to adopt any of these, and they're all still in Missouri with Kaden. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of Herman's second litter of pups, though. They are eight days old today. :)

Decorate Your Gerbils' Tank With Leftover Wrapping Paper

2007-12-23T09:22:00.000-06:00

One of the gerbil Christmas tips I posted yesterday is a pretty big project, so this morning, I thought I'd share something simpler that you can do for your gerbils this holiday weekend.

Almost everyone has leftover scraps of wrapping paper lying around at this time of year. Hang onto some of the small pieces of wrapping paper that are left, because you can tape them to the back side of your gerbils' tank as a decoration and help your gerbils celebrate the holidays!

In this photo, you can see Nellie and Maeby enjoying their festive snowman tank background. :)

If you have a great tip for holiday decorations or gifts for your gerbils, please send them to me, and I might use them on the blog this week!

Herman With Sebastian :)

2007-12-22T22:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted any updates about Herman or his son Sebastian in a while. The pups have been growing up so fast! In fact, the photo to the right is already out of date. Sebastian is much larger now! If the weather cooperates, Herman and Sebastian will be coming home next weekend! I can't wait to see Herman again, and I'm so anxious to meet Sebastian!

A Holiday Craft Project For Your Gerbils!

2007-12-22T21:46:00.000-06:00

Why not let your gerbils help you decorate this Christmas? You've probably made paper snowflakes before, but did you know that your gerbils can make paper snowflakes, too?

Just check out our page on Gerbil Snowflakes for instructions!

The photo to the left is a paper snowflake that Grace and Tori made this weekend, and the video clip below is of Grace and Tori, hard at work making their paper snowflake. :)

A Christmas Idea For Your Gerbils!

2007-12-22T13:29:00.001-06:00

We'll be posting lots of ideas for helping your gerbils celebrate the holidays this weekend. We'll start with a craft project that we posted last winter. You can use empty rolls of wrapping paper tubes, paper towel tubes, and toilet paper tubes to make a great Christmas tree for your gerbils. Don't expect it to last long, though. Your gerbils will have a great time chewing through their new Christmas gift!

Thank You, Carol!

2007-12-22T09:16:00.000-06:00

Carol sent this great Christmas photo of her gerbils for the Gerbil Picture Of The Week. Thanks, Carol, for sending this photo and for wishing everyone who visits Twin Squeaks a Merry Christmas!

By the way, we had problems with our email address for gerbil photos for a while, but it is working again now! We'd love to see your gerbil photos and possibly use them on our Web site! :)