Post by solitairedaxel on Oct 22, 2006 18:09:23 GMT -8
Introducing my new(ish) gerbils:
Enter Turbo Gerbil (aka Kaole, also The Innocent):
Me?
Hi. Can I come out?
Pleeease?
Did you hear that?
lalalala...eventually she'll get tired of this...
Enter Kamikaze Gerbil (aka Mesieth, also Fearless and Crazy Boy):
Banzai!
*cough* meeting the hamster...
Enter Fat Boy (aka Rheane):
Hello? Hello? Anyone up there?
I heard something and in a minute I'll...
Hm...long way down...
I think he's getting fatter.
*munch munch* wood food...
Kaole came from Kathryn Roles; he was one of three boys and I wanted a colourpoint. I think he was six weeks when I got him.
Mesieth and Rheane are litter brothers and came from Geoff somebody...they were eight weeks, I think...
They weren't too sure about the ride home and they HATED the Underground.
Mesieth and Rheane bundled up together in the deepest bedding and darkest corner they could find and Kaole was going "waaaah! waaaah!" all round the container.
When I got them home, Kaole tried to jump out but couldn't jump high enough. Rheane was trying to climb out rather than jump out but the sides were too slippery. Mesieth was asleep in the corner and rather startled to be picked up. So I ended up putting Mesieth in the viv first, then Rheane and then Kaole, who was haring all around the container.
The gerbil hierarchy seemed to be Mesieth, Kaole, Rheane.
Rheane decided to come out later while I had the door open and run up my arm. The other two weren't so sure.
One of the gerbils was squeaking so I tried to go online and found I had no internet access. That was bad, as I'd forgotten to find out how often to feed them. I fed them once in two days, then left it three days as they still had a little food in their bowl. They nearly went crazy trying to eat everyone's hands and I eventually guessed they couldn't find the food and they were hungry. When I put them in the container with the few remaining food bits, they ate them straight away, so I topped up the food.
The viv needed cleaning out about ten days later, so I moved it down to the chair to make it easier to reach. I put all three gerbies in the container (which they weren't happy about) until I was putting fresh aspen in. Then I figured I'd let them go in so I could use the container to move the aspen. They thought it was great! A hand to climb on...waaaah; it moved! Wow, look - I've fallen in aspen! Let's dig! All three were in and out of the viv the whole time. Rheane even fell off my leg onto the floor; silly gerbil. Good job it was only about a foot to the ground.
The hierarchy seems to have readjusted to Kaole, Mesieth, Rheane but I could be wrong. He just seems to be the one chasing the other two.
Kaole is the friendly one. He doesn't mind being picked up and sometimes he purrs. Usually he'll hold still for a while after you've picked him up. Sometimes he goes hyper and shoots all over the place.
Mesieth is the fearless one and also the sentry - he's the one who stamps for danger. He can jump the highest and he's the first one to try any new routes (or create his own footpaths through any supposedly gerbil-proof barrier). He's not so keen on being handled, but he doesn't mind if he gets space to explore.
Rheane is the quiet one. He hardly ever comes out of the viv - usually he will come out, wander around a minute or so, maybe go in the dust bath, then go back in. He seems to be sleeping most of the time and he's the fattest. After the first day, he decided he didn't really want to come out. He doesn't like being caught but once he's caught, he'll climb around and explore quite happily. Usually he likes to explore as long as it's near a familiar area.
I rearranged the viv including the contents when I cleaned it. The gerbils have rearranged it at least twice since.
I guess they thought it was too cold in my room this morning. They moved all the tissue from their wooden house down to under the lower shelf and piled aspen round all sides.
They get to have at least one short run a day. I've rigged up a bookend partly under the viv. I leave the door open enough for them to get out and they climb out onto the bookend and run onto the shelf. Then they have free run of that half of the shelf, complete with dust bath and the hamster wheel (which they generally ignore aside from sniffing). Mesieth figured he could climb down the back of the shelf onto some tall books of my sister's and give himself free run of the chests-of-drawers and part of another shelf as well. The next day, the other two were following him. After he got on my computer desk twice running, I gerbil-proofed my end of the shelf. Occasionally Faith has a run on the shelves as well (NOT at the same time!) which gives both hamster and gerbils a new smell to investigate.
Once they had a run in the bath with me, and twice they've been out on a bathroom floor (I'm on bathroom duty so I know when they've been cleaned). A few times they've been out on the bedroom floor but Mesieth and Kaole like going in the wardrobe (which isn't gerbil-proof) and Rheane hides behind the printer and refuses to come out.
The hamster and the gerbils appear to have a "if it's not right in front of me, I ignore it" policy. My sister (who owns the hamster) thought it was a brilliant idea to introduce them. She dumped Faith on my shoulder while I was trying to persuade the gerbils out. Mesieth took one look and stamped and three gerbils went flying in different directions in the viv. It took Mesieth a good few minutes to stop stamping even after the hamster had been put back in her cage. Needless to say, sister got a chewing-out.
When brought nose-to-nose, with either gerbil or hamster held (and without my approval), their instant reaction was sniff and then try to go a different way.
I used the tapes as a gerbil barrier (please see pic of Mesieth and Faith) but it worked for all of ten minutes. Rheane was sniffing Faith through the bars and she tried to eat his nose. I don't think she meant to hurt him; I reckon she genuinely thought he was food because sometimes people stick food through the bars. It wasn't an attack, more of a nibble. I was standing right by them and made a sudden move. Rheane jumped back and Faith missed him. I then figured that was enough gerbil-hamster bonding.
I read on a gerbil guide website that you should feed your gerbils treats, then they learn that your hand gives treats and think you're a treat dispenser. I tried that and Mesieth and Kaole both bit me. Both have only bitten me when I've been handling food, so obviously they think there's more food than there is and my hand must be the rest. So I tried sticking my hand in their cage without food on it. They promptly decided I was a climbing frame and have stuck with that idea since.
Most of their falls seem to happen when I'm standing right there. I've caught all three when they've fallen off the shelf. Usually either another gerbil pushed them or they were trying to climb on me and I didn't realise and moved.
When I got them, Rheane acted as though he didn't know what a water-bottle was for, which is ridiculous because Mesieth plainly did, so they wound up both drinking at the same time:
Rheane and Mesieth both went crazy digging. Rheane wanted to dig his way to Mongolia through the glass but Mesieth just wanted to rearrange the bedding. I keep seeing him running around with a mouthful of aspen. Kaole didn't dig at all for a few days and then got the message and piled aspen up against both doors...bright gerbie...
I let them out for a run with the dust bath and a toy in a cardboard box. That worked for three days, then Mesieth found out how to jump out. Rheane copied him and Kaole tried but couldn't quite make it. A day or so later, Kaole worked out that by climbing on the dust bath he could jump far enough. The next day, he jumped right to the top of the box. As all three could jump out with impunity, I gave up on the box. But I did manage to get some good pics while they were in there:
Any of the individual pics with cardboard in the background are taken in the box too.
One day, I left an empty bowl on the chest-of-drawers, thinking the gerbies would ignore it. Did they? Nope. They were all in it licking the sides. lol. I guess they like coconut or something...
*signs novel* ;D
Enter Turbo Gerbil (aka Kaole, also The Innocent):
Me?
Hi. Can I come out?
Pleeease?
Did you hear that?
lalalala...eventually she'll get tired of this...
Enter Kamikaze Gerbil (aka Mesieth, also Fearless and Crazy Boy):
Banzai!
*cough* meeting the hamster...
Enter Fat Boy (aka Rheane):
Hello? Hello? Anyone up there?
I heard something and in a minute I'll...
Hm...long way down...
I think he's getting fatter.
*munch munch* wood food...
Kaole came from Kathryn Roles; he was one of three boys and I wanted a colourpoint. I think he was six weeks when I got him.
Mesieth and Rheane are litter brothers and came from Geoff somebody...they were eight weeks, I think...
They weren't too sure about the ride home and they HATED the Underground.
Mesieth and Rheane bundled up together in the deepest bedding and darkest corner they could find and Kaole was going "waaaah! waaaah!" all round the container.When I got them home, Kaole tried to jump out but couldn't jump high enough. Rheane was trying to climb out rather than jump out but the sides were too slippery. Mesieth was asleep in the corner and rather startled to be picked up. So I ended up putting Mesieth in the viv first, then Rheane and then Kaole, who was haring all around the container.
The gerbil hierarchy seemed to be Mesieth, Kaole, Rheane.
Rheane decided to come out later while I had the door open and run up my arm. The other two weren't so sure.
One of the gerbils was squeaking so I tried to go online and found I had no internet access. That was bad, as I'd forgotten to find out how often to feed them. I fed them once in two days, then left it three days as they still had a little food in their bowl. They nearly went crazy trying to eat everyone's hands and I eventually guessed they couldn't find the food and they were hungry. When I put them in the container with the few remaining food bits, they ate them straight away, so I topped up the food.
The viv needed cleaning out about ten days later, so I moved it down to the chair to make it easier to reach. I put all three gerbies in the container (which they weren't happy about) until I was putting fresh aspen in. Then I figured I'd let them go in so I could use the container to move the aspen. They thought it was great! A hand to climb on...waaaah; it moved! Wow, look - I've fallen in aspen! Let's dig! All three were in and out of the viv the whole time. Rheane even fell off my leg onto the floor; silly gerbil. Good job it was only about a foot to the ground.
The hierarchy seems to have readjusted to Kaole, Mesieth, Rheane but I could be wrong. He just seems to be the one chasing the other two.
Kaole is the friendly one. He doesn't mind being picked up and sometimes he purrs. Usually he'll hold still for a while after you've picked him up. Sometimes he goes hyper and shoots all over the place.
Mesieth is the fearless one and also the sentry - he's the one who stamps for danger. He can jump the highest and he's the first one to try any new routes (or create his own footpaths through any supposedly gerbil-proof barrier). He's not so keen on being handled, but he doesn't mind if he gets space to explore.
Rheane is the quiet one. He hardly ever comes out of the viv - usually he will come out, wander around a minute or so, maybe go in the dust bath, then go back in. He seems to be sleeping most of the time and he's the fattest. After the first day, he decided he didn't really want to come out. He doesn't like being caught but once he's caught, he'll climb around and explore quite happily. Usually he likes to explore as long as it's near a familiar area.
I rearranged the viv including the contents when I cleaned it. The gerbils have rearranged it at least twice since.
I guess they thought it was too cold in my room this morning. They moved all the tissue from their wooden house down to under the lower shelf and piled aspen round all sides.
They get to have at least one short run a day. I've rigged up a bookend partly under the viv. I leave the door open enough for them to get out and they climb out onto the bookend and run onto the shelf. Then they have free run of that half of the shelf, complete with dust bath and the hamster wheel (which they generally ignore aside from sniffing). Mesieth figured he could climb down the back of the shelf onto some tall books of my sister's and give himself free run of the chests-of-drawers and part of another shelf as well. The next day, the other two were following him. After he got on my computer desk twice running, I gerbil-proofed my end of the shelf. Occasionally Faith has a run on the shelves as well (NOT at the same time!) which gives both hamster and gerbils a new smell to investigate.
Once they had a run in the bath with me, and twice they've been out on a bathroom floor (I'm on bathroom duty so I know when they've been cleaned). A few times they've been out on the bedroom floor but Mesieth and Kaole like going in the wardrobe (which isn't gerbil-proof) and Rheane hides behind the printer and refuses to come out.
The hamster and the gerbils appear to have a "if it's not right in front of me, I ignore it" policy. My sister (who owns the hamster) thought it was a brilliant idea to introduce them. She dumped Faith on my shoulder while I was trying to persuade the gerbils out. Mesieth took one look and stamped and three gerbils went flying in different directions in the viv. It took Mesieth a good few minutes to stop stamping even after the hamster had been put back in her cage. Needless to say, sister got a chewing-out.
When brought nose-to-nose, with either gerbil or hamster held (and without my approval), their instant reaction was sniff and then try to go a different way.
I used the tapes as a gerbil barrier (please see pic of Mesieth and Faith) but it worked for all of ten minutes. Rheane was sniffing Faith through the bars and she tried to eat his nose. I don't think she meant to hurt him; I reckon she genuinely thought he was food because sometimes people stick food through the bars. It wasn't an attack, more of a nibble. I was standing right by them and made a sudden move. Rheane jumped back and Faith missed him. I then figured that was enough gerbil-hamster bonding.
I read on a gerbil guide website that you should feed your gerbils treats, then they learn that your hand gives treats and think you're a treat dispenser. I tried that and Mesieth and Kaole both bit me. Both have only bitten me when I've been handling food, so obviously they think there's more food than there is and my hand must be the rest. So I tried sticking my hand in their cage without food on it. They promptly decided I was a climbing frame and have stuck with that idea since.
Most of their falls seem to happen when I'm standing right there. I've caught all three when they've fallen off the shelf. Usually either another gerbil pushed them or they were trying to climb on me and I didn't realise and moved.
When I got them, Rheane acted as though he didn't know what a water-bottle was for, which is ridiculous because Mesieth plainly did, so they wound up both drinking at the same time:
Rheane and Mesieth both went crazy digging. Rheane wanted to dig his way to Mongolia through the glass but Mesieth just wanted to rearrange the bedding. I keep seeing him running around with a mouthful of aspen. Kaole didn't dig at all for a few days and then got the message and piled aspen up against both doors...bright gerbie...
I let them out for a run with the dust bath and a toy in a cardboard box. That worked for three days, then Mesieth found out how to jump out. Rheane copied him and Kaole tried but couldn't quite make it. A day or so later, Kaole worked out that by climbing on the dust bath he could jump far enough. The next day, he jumped right to the top of the box. As all three could jump out with impunity, I gave up on the box. But I did manage to get some good pics while they were in there:
Any of the individual pics with cardboard in the background are taken in the box too.
One day, I left an empty bowl on the chest-of-drawers, thinking the gerbies would ignore it. Did they? Nope. They were all in it licking the sides. lol. I guess they like coconut or something...
*signs novel* ;D
