Gerbil Needs A Home In Kansas

It looks like someone's posted a classified ad in Kansas with a gerbil for sale. They're asking $1 for the gerbil, and it appears this is in the Wichita area. I don't know any details about the gerbil or the person who made the listing, but I thought I'd post it here in case any of you are in the Wichita area and want to look into it.

A Special Note From Pippi

Hi everyone! This is Pippi the Gerbil. I know Kylee (the human) usually posts on the blog, but I wanted to make a special announcement for all of the kids who visit the Ask Pippi & Nellie section of Gerbil Kids @TwinSqueaks.

I posted a letter on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page this morning, so you can also read it there, but I thought I'd post my letter here, too. I have big news. I've decided to retire and let Herman help Nellie answer all of the kids' great gerbil questions. A copy of my letter to the kids who visit our site is below.

---

Dear Kids & Gerbils,

This is Pippi the Gerbil. I've had so much fun reading all of your letters and answering your gerbil questions.

It's with a tear in my eye that I've decided to retire. I'm an old gerbil, and I have so many things I want to do. I want to spend more time running in my wheel! I want to eat even more Cheerios. And I want to play outside of the tank more.

Nellie's done a great job helping me answer your letters, and she's going to keep answering your questions. And I've asked Herman, a very cute little gerbil, to help her answer letters! You'll all like Herman a lot. He's a really fun little gerbil. :)

I'll still be here at Twin Squeaks. Even though I'm not answering gerbil questions anymore, you can still email just to say hi. I still love getting email. :)

Also, I have a guest book that you can sign and wish me a happy retirement. You'll find links to the guest book on the new Ask Nellie & Herman page.

If you're a kid, and you have a gerbil question, you can email Nellie and Herman, and they'll write back with an answer. :)

I'm going to miss answering all of your questions, but I'm also going to enjoy retirement. I hope you all like getting to know Herman. He's a great little gerbil!

Your very good friend always,
- Pippi the Gerbil

Gerbil-Friendly Hurricane Shelters In Jacksonville

If you're in the Jacksonville area and are concerned about Ernesto or any future hurricanes that might affect you and your pets, you should take a minute to read this article about pet-friendly shelters in Jacksonville. The article specifically notes that the shelters will accept gerbils, so you have somewhere to wait out a storm with your gerbils.

Pippi & Nellie Answer A Pair Of Gerbil Questions

Pippi and Nellie have been hard at work, answering kids' gerbil questions! Tonight, Nellie's answered a question about whether gerbils can jump out of a tank (like the one pictured to the left), and Pippi's answered a question about a gerbil who won't run in his exercise ball.

Current Gerbil Activities

What's happening at Twin Squeaks tonight? Well, here's what all of the little furballs are up to.

• Pippi - Sleeping peacefully in her nest.


• Samantha - Up running in her exercise wheel as if she were a gerbil half her age.


• Hope - Chewing on her metal spiral toy.


• Maeby - Rearraning the nest.


• Nellie - Sitting in the middle of the tank, just looking around.


• Buster - Digging in the corner of the tank.


• Herman - Having a quick snack before hopping back on the exercise wheel.

Samantha's gerbil Syrup

This week's Gerbil Picture Of The Week is a very cute photo of Samantha's nutmeg gerbil named Syrup. Samantha says, Syrup's very cheeky and loves his treats and running around my house, getting up to all sorts of things.

If you have a gerbil who would like to be a star on our site, please email it to us, and you might see your gerbil on our site next weekend!

Results Of Gerbil Photography Poll

About 15% of you have had your picture taken with your gerbils, according to the results of our latest Weekly Gerbil Poll. A lot more of you haven't had your photo taken with your gerbils but would really like to! You can see the results on the Weekly Gerbil Poll page.

While you're there, take a moment to vote in the new poll. This week, we want to know the most common reason why your gerbils thump their hind legs.

Pippi Answers Two Questions About Taming

Pippi wrote two letters tonight, one to K.B. and one to G.B. Both of them had questions about taming their gerbils. K.B. tried using the bathtub-taming tip, but K.B.'s gerbil isn't completely trusting yet. G.B. wanted to know how to help a timid gerbil in a new home be more tame. You can read Pippi's letters about using the tub for taming and about helping a frightened, new gerbil.

Nellie Answers A Question From S. About A Gerbil's Bloody Nose

S. wrote to Pippi and Nellie and wanted to know what to do about her gerbil's bloody nose. Nellie's written an answer to this question, and you can read her letter on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

Current Gerbil Activities

Here's what all of the Twin Squeaks Gerbils are up to this morning.

• Pippi - Chewing on her wooden bird ladder.


• Samantha - Shredding a rolled-up paper plate.


• Hope - Fast asleep in her nest.


• Maeby - Thumping her hind legs, because a shadow on the wall spooked her. ;)


• Nellie - Sitting calmly in the nest.


• Buster & Herman - Curled up together, fast asleep, recovering from their split-cage introduction yesterday.

Herman & Buster Are Together

I'm going to keep this short for now, because it's been a very long day, but I wanted to let everyone know that Buster and Herman are living together now! We pulled the divider out of their split tank today, and they seem to really like each other. Things haven't completely calmed down yet, because Herman doesn't quite understand that he's too little to be the dominant one. But overall, things are going very well. Herman lets Buster groom every inch of him, and they've taken a few naps together now. They've been together for almost 12 hours now. I'm still keeping a close eye on things, but I think they're going to work things out and be friends. We just need to get Herman to settle down a little bit.

You can see some photos of Buster and Herman in their photo album.

Gerbil Poll Results & A New Poll Question

We have the results of last week's Weekly Gerbil Poll. The most popular way to show your gerbils that you care is to let them have playtime outside of the tank. Read the poll results to get more ideas of ways to show your gerbils that you love them.

Also, you'll find a new poll question. This week, we want to know if you've ever had your photo taken with your gerbils. We'll post the results on Thursday night, August 24th.

Ellen's Gerbil Spice

This week's Gerbil Picture Of The Week is Ellen's new gerbil, Spice, an adorable agouti gerbil! Please stop by and see Spice sitting in his sandbowl. :)

If you have a gerbil photo you'd like to see on our site, please email us and include a copy of your gerbil photo!

We're Back Online!

Sorry that there haven't been any posts or site updates for a couple of days. Our cable Internet connection went out in the middle of the week, and the cable company couldn't get out right away to look at it. We're back online now and will work to get caught up on everything. (For instance, I know that we need to post the results of last week's gerbil poll question, and we also have a new Picture Of The Week to post. These things should be up sometime today.)

Thanks for your patience and sorry for the delays this week!

Current Gerbil Activities

Here's what's going on at Twin Squeaks this morning:

• Pippi - Sleeping peacefully.


• Samantha - Also fast asleep.


• Hope - Chewing on a wooden bird ladder.


• Maeby - Sitting in the nest and appears to be watching the morning news on TV.


• Nellie - Sleeping.


• Buster - Chewing apart a brown paper bag.


• Herman - Putting the finishing touches on the very first nest he built by himself! He's very talented for being less than six weeks old!

Pippi & Nellie's Thoughts About Cedar Bedding

Stop by Pippi & Nellie's page and read their thoughts about cedar bedding. It's important to know which types of bedding are safe for gerbils and which aren't. Pippi and Nellie were really glad that S. loves her gerbils so much and wanted to find out if their bedding is safe for them! Thanks for asking, S.!

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

Yesterday was Samantha's birthday! She turned 3 years, 8 months old! It seems like just yesterday that she was a small little gerbil who needed rescued. It doesn't seem like that long ago that she spent her first night at Twin Squeaks or had her first sandbath.

Sam celebrated her birthday by sleeping a lot, which she's entitled to do at her age. ;)

She also was thrilled to get some extra raisins, Puffed Kashi cereal, and Cheerios. Not that we don't spoil her every day, of course, but these were extra-special birthday treats. ;)

Please join us in congratulating Samantha on reaching 3 years and 8 months!

Herman's Big Day!

Today was the big day that Herman came home with us! We got to meet all of Herman's siblings, too, and his mother Sundae (who is Nellie's younger sister). All of the pups were really wound up, racing laps around the tank, many of them hopping up onto my hand each time around the tank. :)

Herman's very friendly and has had no problem at all hopping right into my hand, and he even tolerated a few photos with me without getting too stressed.

We tried to do a cold intro, but Buster seemed quite irritated to have this tiny little runt invading his territory. He didn't try to hurt Herman, but he made it known immediately that Herman wasn't welcome just yet. So we set up a split tank, and are giving Buster and Herman some time to get used to each other. Buster started sleeping right next to the divider right away. Herman, on the other hand, spent hours on end running the wheel rather than sleeping. Or maybe I should say that he spent the time running in the wheel so fast that when he stopped, he'd flip around with the wheel a couple of times. Very cute!

When Herman finally did decide to get some sleep, he did it away from the divider. He seems very interested in Buster, but after Buster's earlier outburst when he first met Herman, it seems that Herman is happy to keep some distance for now.

We have noticed a couple of positive signs, though. First, Buster doesn't seem at all irritable about Herman's presence on the other side of the divider. Second, we often see Buster and Herman meet at the divider, touch mouths, and then go about their business. It looks like they're saying hello, and then going on their merry ways. We haven't seen any fluffing up, arching of backs, squeaking, or other signs that they're angry or unhappy to meet at the divider. Hopefully they'll be ready for a full introduction this weekend.

If you'd like to see a few of the photos we took of Herman today, check out the second page of Herman's photo album. :)

Thanks again to Michele of Double Star Kennels! Herman's already very friendly and is happy to interact with us, and we've already fallen head-over-heels in love with the little guy! :)

Small Angels Animal Rescue in Maryland

The Frederick News-Post in Maryland has an article about the Small Angels Animal Rescue, which helps a variety of rodents, including gerbils, find new homes. This article does a great job of describing some of the benefits of having rodents as pets.

Pippi Answers A Question About Gerbils Stomping Their Feet

S.T. wrote a letter to Pippi about a gerbil who likes to thump his feet at night. Pippi wrote a reply explaining why gerbils thump their feet.

Care Guide Updated: Caring For Older Gerbils

We've added another chapter to the Gerbil Care Guide. This latest chapter tells you what special things you should do to care for older gerbils.

Nellie Writes About How To Tell If A Gerbil Is Healthy

N.W.Z. wrote to Nellie all the way from Italy! He wanted to know how he can tell if a gerbil is healthy or sick, because he's going to adopt a pair of male gerbils soon. Nellie wrote back and gave him some ways to tell if a gerbil is healthy.

Less Than A Week Till We Meet Herman!

Herman is coming home with us sometime this next week! We're so anxious to meet the little guy, and we're sure that Buster's looking forward to having a friend, too. :) We've posted a few photos of Herman, all provided by Michele of Double Star Kennels. Herman is one of the two gerbils in each of the photos. (They're both the same color, so we can't say for sure which one is Herman.)

I hope to have a full update on Herman's adoption sometime this next week! :)

Buster's Biography Is On The Meet the Gerbils Page Now

We've just added Buster's bio to the Meet The Gerbils page. We're still getting to know Buster, who just came to Twin Squeaks 2 1/2 weeks ago, but we've included what we know about this charming little guy so far!

Teach A Gerbil A Trick!

M. and A. wrote to Pippi and wanted to know if they can teach their gerbils Sandy and Emma any tricks. Read what Pippi wrote about teaching tricks.

LSU's Pets & Vets Program

There's a little bit in this article about LSU's Pets & Vets program in Louisiana. The program lets kids meet vets, veterinary students, and pets of all types. The article specifically mentions that gerbils are included in the educational program. LSU has the Pets & Vets program every summer, so if you're in the area and missed it this year, you might want to go next summer!

Hans' Gerbils Jussi & Emilio

Hans' gerbils Jussi and Emilio are adorable together, and a photo of them is this week's Gerbil Picture of the Week!

If you'd like to see your gerbils on our Web site, please choose your favorite gerbil photo and send it to us. :)

Pippi & Nellie Suggest Ways To Stop A Gerbil From Nibbling Or Biting

D. wrote to Pippi and Nellie for help getting her gerbil Jumper to stop nibbling and biting her. Pippi and Nellie had some great ideas for D., which you can read in their letter to D..

Pippi Answers Z.'s Letter About His Gerbils Beethoven & Mozart

Z. wrote to Pippi with a few questions about his new gerbils, Beethoven and Mozart. He wanted to know why Mozart's more timid than Beethoven. He also wondered if it's OK that Mozart and Beethoven move their bedding around and bury their food dish. Pippi put Z.'s mind to ease with her reply to Z..

Concord Monitor Wants To Hear About Your Pets

If you live in the Concord, NH area, you should consider sending a letter and photo to the Concord Monitor that explains why your gerbils is one of a kind.

New Link To Gerbil Photo Albums

A lot of you have told us through our Twin Squeaks Survey that you like looking at the gerbil photos on our site. It's always been easy to find the Photo Of the Week by clicking the link on the menu on the left side of TwinSqueaks.com, but now we've made it easy for you to find our own gerbils' photo albums as well. In the menu on the left side of the page at TwinSqueaks.com, you'll now find a link to Our Gerbils' Photo Albums.

When you're looking at any of the photo albums, just click the Twin Squeaks logo at the top of the page to return to the main section of TwinSqueaks.com.

We hope you enjoy checking out the photos of Pippi, Samantha, Hope, Maeby, Nellie, and Buster!

Poll Results: Find Out How Gerbils Get Attention!

The results are in! Nearly half of your gerbils get your attention by standing up on their hind legs and waving their front paws. Please visit the Weekly Gerbil Poll page to see the full results of that poll and to answer the new question. This week, we want to know what's your favorite way to show your gerbils that you care. We'll post the answers to the new question next Thursday night.

Radical Rodents & Gerbils In 4-H Competition

There's an article in today's Manville News in New Jersey that includes some information about 13-year-old Garrett Stewart who is showing his gerbils Salt and Pepper at the fair. The article also talks about the Radical Rodents club that Garrett belongs to. The members of this club not only talk about their rodents, but they also plan fundraisers and do various community service projects.

Please take a moment to read the article. It's great to hear about a group like Radical Rodents doing great things for its community!

Bring Your New Gerbils Home (part of the Gerbil Care Guide)

We just posted a fifth chapter in the Gerbil Care Guide. The new chapter explains what to do the day that you bring your new pet gerbils home. You'll learn how to make sure your pets feel safe and comfortable in new, strange surroundings.

Nellie Answers N.'s Question About How Long Gerbils Live

N. wrote to Pippi and Nellie and wanted to know how long gerbils live. Nellie was happy to answer N.'s question, and you can learn how long gerbils live on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

Nellie Writes To B. About Whether Gerbils Travel Well

B. wanted to know if gerbils can safely travel. Nellie wrote a response, which you can read on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

Pippi Writes About A Female Gerbil Meeting A New Friend

W. wrote letter to Pippi about a gerbil named Minnie who might want to meet a new friend. You can read what Pippi wrote about whether this is possible on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

Pippi Writes About Good Gerbil Snacks

S.B. wrote a letter to Pippi and Nellie and wanted to know what type of extra foods gerbils like. Pippi wrote back and gave S.B. a few ideas for good gerbil snacks.

Happy Birthday To Pippi!

Happy Birthday, Pippi! Today, Pippi turned 3 years, 8 months old! We're so happy that Pippi's been with us for so long, and we know we're very fortunate that she's had such excellent health for as many years as she has.

Pippi's already done a little bit to celebrate her birthday. First, she got a new wooden bird ladder to play with. You can see her poking her head through it in the photo to the left.

Pippi also enjoyed a few Cheerios to celebrate her big day. The photo to the right was taken earlier tonight as Pippi enjoyed a birthday Cheerio. She doesn't know it yet, but later tonight, she'll get a small piece of fresh carrot as a special birthday treat. :)

Once again, Happy Birthday, Pippi!

Current Gerbil Activities

Here's a quick run-down of what the gerbils here at Twin Squeaks are up to at this very moment. :)

• Pippi is clawing at the inside of a thick cardboard tube. She's trying to pull off a loose piece of paper.


• Samantha is taking an after-dinner nap. A short time ago, she had dinner, which consisted of a couple of food pellets, a piece of corn, and a raisin.


• Hope is taking a nap. She's worn out after some frantic exercise-wheel-running earlier this evening.


• Maeby and Nellie are curled up together in their nest. They look very content and happy together.


• Buster is chewing on the new wooden bird ladder that I gave him yesterday. He loves his new toy!

Pippi & Nellie Write About A Gerbil With A Sore Eye

B.H. wrote to Pippi and Nellie about her gerbil who has an irritated, bloody eye. Pippi and Nellie offer some advice and explain why the eye might just be teary and watery but not actually bloody. You can read Pippi and Nellie's letter on their Web page.

Happy Birthday To Georgie!

I wanted to take a moment to wish a very, very happy birthday to Georgie. She's a dove gerbil who lives with my friends Marty and Amy, and what's really impressive about Georgie is that she turns four years old this month!

The average lifespan of a gerbil is about 3 years, so you can see what a very special gerbil Georgie is to see her fourth birthday!

If you have any birthday wishes for Georgie, feel free to post them here as a comment, and I'll make sure Marty and Amy see them. :)

Updated Gerbil-Safe Exercise Wheels Tip

As promised, we've updated the Gerbil-Safe Exercise Wheels tip to include information about the wheels with the mesh surface that weren't available when we wrote the original tip in 2003. Hopefully the new tip will clear up any confusion about the two types of metal wheels, one which is safe (the mesh wheels) and one which is not (the rung-style wheels).

New Chapter In Gerbil Care Guide

We've just added another chapter to the Guide To Gerbils. The new page gives you tips for choosing the right gerbils. This section of the Gerbil Care Guide covers three main areas: where to adopt your gerbils, how to tell if a gerbil is healthy, and how to tell the difference between a male and a female gerbil.

Buster's Photo Album Is Online

We uploaded a few photos of Buster last night and created his photo album. There are only a few photos in Buster's Photo Album right now, because he's only been living here at Twin Squeaks for a week and a half. I'm sure we'll add a lot more photos of him in the near future. :)

Nellie Writes About Male Gerbils

W. wrote a letter to Nellie and wanted to know if a male gerbil can live with another male gerbil. Read what Nellie said on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

Nellie Writes About Why V.'s Gerbil Won't Run In His Wheel

Sometimes a gerbil just won't run in the exercise wheel, and it can really confuse the gerbil's owner. Why won't the gerbil run in the wheel? Most gerbils love to run in an exercise wheel, but every so often there's a gerbil who either doesn't like the wheel or who doesn't understand how it works yet.

V.D. wrote a letter to Pippi and Nellie about his gerbil who won't get on the wheel. Nellie wrote a reply, which you can read on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

A Few New Photos of Hope and Samantha

There are a couple of new photos in Hope's photo album. The new photos are on pages 2 and 3.

There is also a new photo of Samantha on the last page of her photo album.

See Lilly & Daisey's Photo

Make sure you check out the new Gerbil Picture Of The Week. This week's photo is of Julia's gerbils, Lilly and Daisey. They look so cute taking a nap together!

If you have a gerbil photo that you'd like to see on the Gerbil Picture Of The Week page, please email it to me, and your gerbil might be our next star!

Pippi Writes A Letter About Gerbils Who Shed Fur

S. wrote a letter to Pippi about how her gerbil sheds a lot of fur. Pippi's written a letter back, and you can read what she says about gerbils shedding fur on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page.

A Few New Photos Of Pippi

We added a few recent photos of Pippi to her photo album. The new photos are on pages 4 and 5.

Speaking of Pippi, she plans to retire from her job as an advice columnist on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page in the near future. Why? Well, Pippi's hit retirement age, and she wants to spend more time running in her wheel and eating Cheerios. And she wants to give everyone a chance to get to know Herman, who will be coming to Twin Squeaks sometime this month. (He's the little pup who will be Buster's tankmate.)

Pippi still has several letters to answer before she retires, but I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time. I'm sure that when the time comes, Pippi will make an announcement on the Ask Pippi & Nellie page, too.

And of course, once Herman arrives at Twin Squeaks, Pippi and Nellie will introduce him to everyone, too. :)

Poll Results: Where Would You Adopt Your Gerbils?

We have the results of the closest Weekly Gerbil Poll yet. People were pretty evenly split as to whether they would prefer to adopt gerbils from a pet shop, a breeder, or a shelter. The most popular choice (just barely) was from a pet shop, so I'd like to give you a few of the reasons you might consider adopting from a breeder or a shelter.

We'll start with shelters. A lot of people think that gerbils in shelters will be mean or unhealthy. We haven't found that to be true, though. We adopted Faith, Hope, and Buster from the Humane Society, and all three have been wonderful. Buster's only been here at Twin Squeaks for a week, and he's already one of our friendliest gerbils. And our vet said that Buster is completely healthy. So if you're considering adopting from a shelter, keep those things in mind. Also, remember that gerbils in shelters are really in need of a good, loving home.

If you adopt a dog from a breeder, it often costs more than if you adopt from a pet shop, but with gerbils, it's almost always cheaper to adopt from a breeder than a pet shop. Also, a good breeder will spend time handling the gerbil pups from the time that they're very young, so they're usually tame before you even bring them home.

We've adopted gerbils from pet shops, shelters, and breeders. We hope that if you have all three options in your town that you will weigh your options and choose the best place to adopt your gerbils.

If you don't know if there are any shelters or breeders in your area, please see our links to Gerbil Shelters & Breeders.

We've also posted the new gerbil poll question. Please stop by the Weekly Gerbil Poll page and let us know how your gerbils get your attention. We'll post the results next Thursday night.

Also, if you have an idea for a future Gerbil Poll question, please email me.

Buster Gets A Clean Bill Of Health

Yesterday, Buster had his first check-up with my vet, Dr. Falloon. He gave Buster a thorough exam, checking for any signs of cancer, infections, mites, or heart failure. Dr. Falloon didn't find anything wrong with Buster at all and said that he is in excellent condition. Great news!

I was very impressed with how well Buster behaved at the vet's office, too. He even let me hold him while Dr. Falloon checked the insides of his ears for infection or ear mites. Buster didn't squirm or protest at all and just remained patiently in my hand until his examination was over.

Buster celebrated his good health by coming home and going for a nice, long jog in his exercise wheel.

Nellie's Newest Nieces & Nephews

Nellie has more nieces and nephews at Double Star Kennels. This litter was born July 9th, and their mother is Nellie's younger sister Sundae.

Even more exciting is that, if all goes as planned, one of Nellie's nephews will join us here at Twin Squeaks. Double Star Kennels is reserving one of the dark-eyed honey pups, and after he's weaned, we'll adopt him and split-cage him with Buster. Buster's really looking forward to having a roommate and friend. I'll post here again when the time comes to bring the little pup home. :)

August Tip Of The Month

The August Tip Of The Month is online now. This months' tip summarizes the difficulty level of various split-cage introductions.