Post by achildress on Feb 2, 2007 21:06:42 GMT -8
Well, so I started out with my 3 males in fall of 2005, then last year I decided to all to my clan, so....
I searched in vain for gerbils close to me; checked all the stores (no breeders within a few hours of me) and NO ONE had any gerbs! I was looking for unusual colorations, not the typical agoutis or blacks. I went to 4 stores within an hour's drive of my house and no one carries gerbils! I mean, not at all! So I'm thinking, well, that is actually a good thing for me since I want to breed...no competition and all that, but NOT a good thing for someone wanting to buy a gerbil, lol.
FINALLY one day after a fruitless search, I discovered a tiny, scary looking pet store an hour's drive away. We just happened to be in the area and we stopped in. SCARY. It was a very tiny, long and narrow building about 10 feet wide, I swear. You walk in and BAM...stinky pet store smell, right? Even my 3 year old declared very loudly, "Mommy, it's stinky in here!" Lol. Oh well. Cages are stacked in 3 rows down the length of the building. Huge snakes in most of them, and we just made it in time for "feeding hour". So, all the snakes have rat tails hanging out of their mouths (how unprofessional is that? feeding snakes during open hours?
) Anyway, I ask this silly little employee if they have any gerbils and she says, "Yup, just one." Um, ok.
So ON TOP OF A PYTHON'S CAGE sits a tiny hamster cage, with this poor, young gorgeous gerbil hiding in the plastic house. Don't forget now, this poor creature is surrounded by actively feeding snakes! So, the girl reaches in there and is GRABBING for her
and I tell her it's no big deal, I'm sure she's just fine, I just want to look at her. Then she grabs her and is restraining her and I am silently screaming at this girl in my head to put her down...she'll rip it's tail right off! So what happened? Well, it bit her, of course! She says, "Well, I just don't know what's wrong with her today, she's usually really calm." 
Duh! She is witnessing her rodent kin being devoured directly below her! Wouldn't you be a little nervous, too? Jeez. Anyway, I decided to spring her from this horrible place; she was actually very healthy-looking...must've been a fluke, lol. She has come along beautifully and I am going to use her in my breeding program. She's a real doll.
BTW, her pic is under the colors board under the question "Color?"
amanda
I searched in vain for gerbils close to me; checked all the stores (no breeders within a few hours of me) and NO ONE had any gerbs! I was looking for unusual colorations, not the typical agoutis or blacks. I went to 4 stores within an hour's drive of my house and no one carries gerbils! I mean, not at all! So I'm thinking, well, that is actually a good thing for me since I want to breed...no competition and all that, but NOT a good thing for someone wanting to buy a gerbil, lol.
FINALLY one day after a fruitless search, I discovered a tiny, scary looking pet store an hour's drive away. We just happened to be in the area and we stopped in. SCARY. It was a very tiny, long and narrow building about 10 feet wide, I swear. You walk in and BAM...stinky pet store smell, right? Even my 3 year old declared very loudly, "Mommy, it's stinky in here!" Lol. Oh well. Cages are stacked in 3 rows down the length of the building. Huge snakes in most of them, and we just made it in time for "feeding hour". So, all the snakes have rat tails hanging out of their mouths (how unprofessional is that? feeding snakes during open hours?
) Anyway, I ask this silly little employee if they have any gerbils and she says, "Yup, just one." Um, ok.So ON TOP OF A PYTHON'S CAGE sits a tiny hamster cage, with this poor, young gorgeous gerbil hiding in the plastic house. Don't forget now, this poor creature is surrounded by actively feeding snakes! So, the girl reaches in there and is GRABBING for her
and I tell her it's no big deal, I'm sure she's just fine, I just want to look at her. Then she grabs her and is restraining her and I am silently screaming at this girl in my head to put her down...she'll rip it's tail right off! So what happened? Well, it bit her, of course! She says, "Well, I just don't know what's wrong with her today, she's usually really calm." 
Duh! She is witnessing her rodent kin being devoured directly below her! Wouldn't you be a little nervous, too? Jeez. Anyway, I decided to spring her from this horrible place; she was actually very healthy-looking...must've been a fluke, lol. She has come along beautifully and I am going to use her in my breeding program. She's a real doll.
BTW, her pic is under the colors board under the question "Color?"
amanda
