Keebler will NEVER have a friend!

[RitzieAnn]

HOLY GERBILS!! Ever since he got sick, nobody has wanted to live with Keebler, except for Bandit, who unfortunately died a few days later. I got his son Sparky to deal with dad, and I though I had gotten the rest of the boys to accept him too. They'd been split caged for like a week, and they were doing great when I took the divider out, so I left them all together. When I got home Keebler was running in the wheel, then there was some gerbil popcorn going on, and so I picked one up. Well.... Keebler's leg is all bloody now! It doesn't look like it JUST happened, maybe an hour ago, but the poor guy has been having just a heck of a time! Gizmo bit his tail a few weeks ago, and so he's been healing. It got badly infected, and was girl thingy and everything. It's much better now, though he's missing all the hair at the base of his tail right now (I seriously thought he was going to loose it!) But Sparky accepted him, but now he's sorta mad at his dad. They're split caged again, and I'm hoping that in a few more days I can try again, but I'm wondering just how much should I bother putting him through. Obviously the fights aren't really bad, seeing as he's still alive, and has all of his apendages, but come on! It wasn't this hard to get Little B (His once ill tempered daughter) to clan up with a bunch of other girls....) Any advice?

[doomgerbiluk]

I would put Keebler on his own for now
He's obviously shaken and possibly not fully recovered. For all yoru good intentions you are stressing him out with the failed intros. He may never live with another gerbil, it does happen sometimes.

[RW]

I agree with Doom. Poor Keebler's been through a lot--barely over being sick himself, being paired with Bandit who was sick and died, and being injured twice by other gerbils. I'd wait a while before I'd try pairing him again to give him some time to recover.

RW

[RitzieAnn]

It was strange too, because they were all getting along, and then all of a sudden it was gerbil popcorn, and then they were fine, and it didn't happen again. However, poor little Keebs!


(They didn't rip out that hair, I blew on it so you could see the skin.)


I've decided that when Ritzie's pups are old enough, then I'll pair a son with Keebler, and if that doesn't work, then maybe I'll breed Keebler again, and he can stay with his won son. But the potential friend for him still has his eyes closed, so it'll be a while. I feel so bad for him because he's always so sweet, and he never starts the fights.

[lizzy]

awwww poor Keebler

I have a female on her own that I tried to introduce about three or four times to another female. I eventually gave up because nothing was working and it was obviously stressing her out. I don't like her being on her own but I don't have much of a choice

Hopefully it'll be a happier story for Keebler though!

[RitzieAnn]

YAY! His name is Sprite.... and he's like half the size of Keebler, but they get along really well, and they play games and tag! I'm so happy for the both of them! It took an intro with water, but now they sleep in the little gerbil pile!

[whitmoregirl]

Aww thank goodness! He finally got a lil' friend! I felt so sorry for him as well!

[tirilliel]

Happy endings are always great maybe its better this way since the younger smaller one will be more submissive to keebler, post pictures sometime if you can

[malabui]

I was wondering it if would be a good idea to have a 3rd gerbil in the group with Keebler and Sprite, since Sprite is alot younger than Keebler and so Keebler is much more likely to die before Sprite and that would leave Sprite on his own...

[RitzieAnn]

There is a 3rd one now ;D

[malabui]

aww. Does it have a name?

[RitzieAnn]

No, but it does look kinda like Sparky! He's a mottled black, and is also Ritzie's son just as Sparky was. But this pup is the son of Blitz (lilac) and not Sparky. So currently Keebler's buddies are that pup, and Sprite. HOWEVER, Keebler is split caged with them because I had to put him on an antibiotic because in my mist of trying to pair him and sprite up with 2 other males, one got out and bit his leg. Poor Keebe has a foot that's like 5 times the size it should be. I thought he was going to lose it! This morning I noticed a little blood on it, and so I gently squeezed, and some puss came out, and clear liquid, and now tonight it's only like 2 times the size it should be. I let him play with his buddies, but they don't need to have the medicine, and so that's why he's split caged. I feel SOOO bad for him! He's had SUCH a rough life! First my jack-butt roomate feeds him bleach water, and who knows what else, and he nearly DIES! Then NOBODY wants to live with him once he's better, except Bandit, then he dies! (probably because of that roomate!) Then again, nobody wants to live with him, and they beat the crap outta him, then he finds Sprite, and one of the other boys gets out, and hurts his leg really bad.... my poor baby!

[malabui]

Aww! That is what kinda happened to my darling Kinks. In the end he had to live on his own, but he didn't mind that, but there still seemed to be some kind of psychic link between him and his full brother. When the full brother died suddently, Kinks had a stroke at the same time. Odd, but true (he survied the minor stroke, but not the major one that happened a week afterwards)