Happy Thanksgiving from Twin Squeaks!

Herman would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Tips for Giving Oral Medications to a Gerbil

Giving a gerbil medicine can be tricky until you have a little bit of experience doing so. The first time I had to give a gerbil oral medication, I didn't know how to get her to sit still and take her medicine. I tried to grasp her in my left hand while holding the needleless syringe with the medicine in my right hand. This didn't work very well, however. Suzie didn't like her medicine, and she wanted no part of being held while I tried to get a syringe in her mouth. I was also afraid that the medicine would hit the back of her throat and that she might choke on it.

Luckily, those days are over, and today, I have very little trouble giving a gerbil medicine if he or she needs it. I'll try to explain the method I use, and hopefully you can find some techniques here that you can use if you ever need to help a sick gerbil.

One way to give a gerbil oral medication


After giving a gerbil medication, give him a couple of minutes to crawl on you as a reward for taking his medicine.

First, if at all possible, avoid grasping your gerbil tightly in one hand while giving medicine. Why? This grip resembles the grip of a bird of prey who has captured a gerbil. No wonder a gerbil being held like this is scared of taking medicine!

Instead, try a method similar to the one pictured to the right. I like to sit on a chair and place my gerbil on my left leg. I gently roll the gerbil onto his side on my leg and — again, gently — hold him against my leg, using only the palm of my left hand. The idea is to hold the gerbil firmly yet gently. This is much less frightening for your gerbil than being grasped in your fist and held in the air. Holding your gerbil against your leg comes closer to the way that gerbils “pin"” each other when grooming them.

Once the gerbil is held firmly but gently against my leg, I give him the medicine, directing it toward my gerbil's cheek rather than the back of the throat. This also helps to prevent choking or drowning on medication.

Here's one of the most important parts: Unless your gerbil is very ill, give him or her some playtime afterwards. You can see in the photo to the right that I let Polo run around on my legs for a couple of minutes as a reward for taking his medicine. :)

By the way, my vet also taught me to mix a little bit of organic apple juice in with the medicine to make it taste a little bit better. If you do this, make sure you discuss it with your vet first so that you know that the medicine you have will work well with the juice you plan to use and so that your vet can show you how to ensure that you still measure and use the right amount of medicine.

If you have a good tip for helping your gerbils take medicine safely and with minimal stress, please do share.

I hope you don't ever need to give any of your gerbils medicine, but if you do, I hope the tips above can make the process a little bit easier for both you and your gerbil.

Hallie and Liza Take a Sandbath

People always seem to enjoy seeing how much fun gerbils have taking a sandbath.

Below is a video I shot recently of our gerbils Hallie and Liza taking a sandbath. :)

Featured Shelter Gerbils: Zadon & Zoey

UPDATE: Zadon & Zoey have found a home!

I would really like to help these two gerbils find a good, loving home. Their names are Zadon and Zoey, and they are at the same shelter where I have adopted three of my gerbils (Faith and Hope and Buster). The Capital Humane Society took great care of Faith, Hope, and Buster after their previous owners surrendered them and before I adopted them.

2009 Gerbil Calendar Available!

Great news for gerbil lovers! We’ve just finished the first-ever Twin Squeaks Gerbils Calendar!

I’ve been noticing for years that you can find calendars for almost every pet except gerbils. There are dog calendars, cat calendars, guinea pig calendars, and ferret calendars. But it’s hard to find a gerbil calendar!

One of my favorite hobbies is photographing my gerbils, so this year, I spent some time taking themed photos of the Twin Squeaks gerbils for inclusion in a 2009 Gerbils Calendar, which you can now buy online.

The calendar features fun pages, such as Sebastian playing football, Liza having a picnic, and Toby ready for romance with a rose and a heart-shaped box full of chew-block treats!

I know I won’t make enough off the calendar’s sales to even make up the cost of the props used in the calendar photos. But I had a lot of fun making this calendar and hope that it will bring joy to at least a few people who choose to hang it on their wall this coming year!

(Parents: If your kids have gerbils but have trouble following through with chores like cleaning their gerbils’ tank, consider getting a calendar to hang next to the gerbil tank. You can mark the dates that tank cleanings are due.)

I hope you enjoy checking out the 2009 Gerbils Calendar!

It was so much fun to make, and I hope it makes at least a few people smile to see the photos in it. :)

Why You Need To Use A Lid On Your Gerbils’ Tank

I found this video on YouTube, and it’s a great illustration of how high gerbils can jump and why you must put a secure screen lid on your gerbil’s tank.