latest stuff
So the gerbils arrived in two cages and seperated according to sex. Two adults and two babies according to Ian- a little black female gerbil in the same cage as her albino mother and a little agouti male in the same cage as his all black father. Except that when I look I the baby gerbil (with the adult male) that peaked out of the bedding looked black to me. Ian was adament that it was agouti, so I double checked and realised he was right- it must be the lighting in the front room that had made it look black. Suddenly the baby gerbil grew another head and this one was black, and it definately wasn't the daddy gerbil. It seemed there were two babies in with daddy. At this point I figured it would be a good idea to have a good rummage in both cages to make sure there wasn't any more babies lurking in the fluff. Definately only one baby in with the female, but much rooting around in the male cage eventually uncovered a third baby- another agouti. Why Ian didn't think to ask his girls how many gerbils we would be sitting for is beyond me.
The cats of course took great interest in these new additions to their food larder so the gerbils were quickly transfered to the one room that is fairly cat proof- the bathroom. Later that same night I went to check on the new tenants to make sure they had settled in okay, only to find that Snaggle the rat and Emo the Syrian hamster had complaints. Apparently the new neighbours were very noisy, and the children were out of control. When I asked Stumpy Jack how he felt about his new neighbours he just ignored me and carried on exploring his food bowl. Snaggle reminded me that Stumpy was as deaf as a post and she didn't think that Stumpy had even notest he had new neighbours, she was just glad that Stumpy Jack and Emo were between "that unruly family" and her, but she would still like to put in for a transfer. The bathroom estate has (according to Snaggle) gone down hill since the gerbils moved in. Emo was a little more laid back about the whole affair. Although he was concerned about anti-social behaviour, he was also aware that the gerbils had just moved in and the children were probably just over excited about their new home- he was happy to give them a little time. Stumpy Jack, in his own silent world is completly oblivious to the new neighbours though Emo tells me that the children do occassionally poke fun at poor Stumpy because of his disability. Children can be so cruel.
Yesterday we arranged for Snaggle to move onto a different estate. Although she had over-come her initial prejudices towards the new family, there were still some issues with over crowding in the bathroom to deal with and since Snaggle lives in a big glass tank, her home is far more cat proof than the light-weight cages of the gerbils and hamsters. We moved her into my bedroom for the time being. Cheddar, Cobble and Venus occassionally come to visit her to discuss methods of cooking rat which she finds upsetting, but other than that she is quite happy, but she would like to move back onto the bathroom estate as soon as possible.
The cats of course took great interest in these new additions to their food larder so the gerbils were quickly transfered to the one room that is fairly cat proof- the bathroom. Later that same night I went to check on the new tenants to make sure they had settled in okay, only to find that Snaggle the rat and Emo the Syrian hamster had complaints. Apparently the new neighbours were very noisy, and the children were out of control. When I asked Stumpy Jack how he felt about his new neighbours he just ignored me and carried on exploring his food bowl. Snaggle reminded me that Stumpy was as deaf as a post and she didn't think that Stumpy had even notest he had new neighbours, she was just glad that Stumpy Jack and Emo were between "that unruly family" and her, but she would still like to put in for a transfer. The bathroom estate has (according to Snaggle) gone down hill since the gerbils moved in. Emo was a little more laid back about the whole affair. Although he was concerned about anti-social behaviour, he was also aware that the gerbils had just moved in and the children were probably just over excited about their new home- he was happy to give them a little time. Stumpy Jack, in his own silent world is completly oblivious to the new neighbours though Emo tells me that the children do occassionally poke fun at poor Stumpy because of his disability. Children can be so cruel.
Yesterday we arranged for Snaggle to move onto a different estate. Although she had over-come her initial prejudices towards the new family, there were still some issues with over crowding in the bathroom to deal with and since Snaggle lives in a big glass tank, her home is far more cat proof than the light-weight cages of the gerbils and hamsters. We moved her into my bedroom for the time being. Cheddar, Cobble and Venus occassionally come to visit her to discuss methods of cooking rat which she finds upsetting, but other than that she is quite happy, but she would like to move back onto the bathroom estate as soon as possible.