Post by nibblesanddigger on Aug 21, 2006 22:22:20 GMT -8
lol Sorry for the title, it's early XD
If anyone here has fed their gerbils grasshoppers/locusts (and I know some of you have) perhaps this little story will sound familiar.
Simba, our DEH, was named after a cute cuddly orange lion cub, but he has more recently proven that he deserves the name. We bought grasshoppers! (expensive little things too)
Most of the gerbils had a sniff at the new intruders, ran away, returned to sniff, jumped in fright when the thing popped up in their face, and eventually took to hopping around the tank with the grasshopper until finally grabing it by the legs and using it for a chew toy.
Not Simba. Simba was snoozing when I approached his tank. He lazily looked up at me, as always, and ambled over to see what I was bringing him. Simba is our most easy-going, relaxed, and I think, pretty gerbil. He has verylarge rounded eyes that sparkle, and he always looks like he's smiling. He loves to be picked up and shown the room, and when he and his tank mates are let loose around the bathroom, he calmly stands on my legs and oversees the action.
This morning however, he caught a whiff of something else in my hand, and froze immediately. The smile seemed to vanish, the sparkle replaced by something more...feral. I had barely opened my hand to release the treat when he lunged at my palm, sending the panicked grasshopper into the other corner of the tank. Simba then lowered to the substrate and stayed absolutely still. The grasshopper, thinking the danger passed, started to crawl around the tank. Simba stayed crouched and crept ever so slowly after him, like a little panther XD, until all of a sudden in a blur of orange fluff the grasshopper had it's head bitten off and was being promptly digested by my little hunter.
What a transition! He finished his meal and went back to lazing about in the sand bowl, leaving me sitting on the floor staring in wonder, wishing I had it on film.
lol Hope you enjoyed
If anyone here has fed their gerbils grasshoppers/locusts (and I know some of you have) perhaps this little story will sound familiar.
Simba, our DEH, was named after a cute cuddly orange lion cub, but he has more recently proven that he deserves the name. We bought grasshoppers! (expensive little things too)
Most of the gerbils had a sniff at the new intruders, ran away, returned to sniff, jumped in fright when the thing popped up in their face, and eventually took to hopping around the tank with the grasshopper until finally grabing it by the legs and using it for a chew toy.
Not Simba. Simba was snoozing when I approached his tank. He lazily looked up at me, as always, and ambled over to see what I was bringing him. Simba is our most easy-going, relaxed, and I think, pretty gerbil. He has verylarge rounded eyes that sparkle, and he always looks like he's smiling. He loves to be picked up and shown the room, and when he and his tank mates are let loose around the bathroom, he calmly stands on my legs and oversees the action.
This morning however, he caught a whiff of something else in my hand, and froze immediately. The smile seemed to vanish, the sparkle replaced by something more...feral. I had barely opened my hand to release the treat when he lunged at my palm, sending the panicked grasshopper into the other corner of the tank. Simba then lowered to the substrate and stayed absolutely still. The grasshopper, thinking the danger passed, started to crawl around the tank. Simba stayed crouched and crept ever so slowly after him, like a little panther XD, until all of a sudden in a blur of orange fluff the grasshopper had it's head bitten off and was being promptly digested by my little hunter.
What a transition! He finished his meal and went back to lazing about in the sand bowl, leaving me sitting on the floor staring in wonder, wishing I had it on film.
lol Hope you enjoyed