Merry Christmas From Everyone At Twin Squeaks!

Don’t Forget Your Gerbil Calendar

Just a reminder that it’s not too late to buy a Gerbils 2009 Calendar for yourself, a friend, or a new gerbil caretaker!

The calendar features lots of fun gerbil scenes, including Hallie as the Great Pumpkin, Polo as a surfer, and Sebastian as a football player.

Hallie & Liza’s Chew Block Stash

Just had to share this photo with all of you.

A couple of weeks ago, Hallie and Liza started storing their chew blocks inside their wooden cradle. If I put a chew block anywhere in their tank, they carry it to the cradle and place it inside.

You can see three chew blocks in the cradle in the photo to the right. There are also two more chew blocks that you can’t see buried under the bedding in the cradle.

I just think it’s cute that they’re using their cradle as a giant toybox for their chew toys. :)

Farewell To Our Beloved Nellie

I didn’t post anything about this right away, because we needed time to work through our own grief, but last month, we lost our beloved Nellie to an abdominal cyst. The photo to the left was taken by 40 Nights Photography when Nellie was younger. It’s my favorite picture of me and Nellie together.

Last month, Nellie was really not doing well, and I didn’t want her to suffer anymore, so I had to make the difficult decision to have her put to sleep. Nellie fell asleep at the vet’s office, and she passed away peacefully in her sleep just moments before the vet was going to put her to sleep.

Nellie came to Twin Squeaks when I contacted Michele, a breeder in Omaha, after Maeby’s tankmate Lindsay passed away. Nellie came to Twin Squeaks, and after two weeks in a split cage, she and Maeby were new friends. Nellie and Maeby were best buddies, and when Maeby passed away in her sleep in August, Nellie was still in the nest with her, keeping her warm, and gently grooming her.

In her final months, Nellie spent time playing on the couch, running in her wheel, coming out of the tank for hand-fed Cheerios and sunflower seeds, and destroying every piece of cardboard that I gave her.

It’s been a rough few months, because three of our gerbils (Maeby, Buster, and Nellie) were all quite old and all passed away within months of each other.

Nellie was laid to rest next to Maeby (Nellie’s marker is still being engraved). The girls are together again, and that makes it all a little bit easier.

Nellie is survived by several relatives at Twin Squeaks, including her nephew Herman and her great-great nieces Hallie and Liza.

Featured Shelter Gerbils: The Three Stooges

UPDATE: 1/6/09 - The Three Stooges have found a home!

Today’s featured shelter gerbils are The Three Stooges; Moe, Larry, and Curley; who are at the Animal Rescue League in Marshalltown, Iowa.

It’s hard to tell exact colors from the photo of the boys, but it looks like they are either siamese or burmese and black. They are lovely little boys! If you are interested in adopting the Three Stooges, please visit their Petfinder page to get adoption information.

Gerbil Snowflakes Activity

We posted this tip last December, too, but it’s too much fun not to post again.

Have you ever let your gerbils make paper snowflakes?

You can fold the paper any way you like. Then let your gerbils chew on the paper for a bit. Be sure to remove the paper before your gerbils chew it to tiny shreds. Unfold the paper, and see what type of masterpiece your gerbils have created!

Below, you can see videos of Herman and Sebastian making a snowflake and of Grace and Tori making a snowflake. :)