Well, I figure it's time for another solitary pup update, for any of
those that read all these things. :)
If I had a good digital camera or a scanner I'd get some pics up! I
had to go away this past weekend for my brother's graduation. I was
gone for about 5 days. Hubby was still around though, so I made sure
he knew more or less what to do for them. I had started medication,
through the water bottle and an eye dropper, but I didn't see how to
show my man how to manage the pup, dubbed Eclipse, and so hoped for
the best for the next few days of my absence.
I was rather surprised to find a rather larger and furrier ball of
fur in the tank upon my return! Though I'm still unsure whether he
classifies as a true Black or a Slate, the only spots of white he has
is just under his chin, and on the very tips of his front paws. I
assume this means he is classified as spotted, (which he got from his
father). :)
Wondering if he would still recognize me, I stuck my hand down in the
tank. Trinity seemed much less inclined to visit with me than Eclipse
was. He climbed right up on my hand! He's a very calm fellow, as long
as you're not trying to give him his medicine, and seems to love
riding on my shoulder and looking about.
The big plus is his clicking noises seem to come less and less now.
I've never noticed any discharge from eyes or nose, but after having
him make it through the first few weeks as an only pup, I could
hardly lose him to something as mundane as a respitory problem.
I've also finally gotten up the nerve to change their bedding - which
hasn't been done since I got Einstein and Trinity, I'm ashamed to
say. But since it was such a big tank, and nicely aerated, there's
never been much of a smell at all, nor terribly dirty.
I've switched over to aspen bedding, after having found out how
horrible pine can be for gerbils, all thanks to this list! :)
Just wondering if there's anything I need to know about aspen? Sure
it's safe for them, but are there any downers? Such as having to
change the tank litter more often... etc. They seem to be enjoying it
a lot more than the pine.
Eclipse has reached his 4 week birthday, which means sometime after
next Monday I'll be splitting him from his mom :( and split caging
Trinity and Einstein back together. Every few days I've tried to
introduce the two on neutral ground (ie. the bathtub with plenty of
toys and places to hide and no scent of other gerbils) Einstein is
all about Trinity, but she seems to care less. Just tonight though,
instead of ignoring him, she got tired of him following her around
and before I knew it I had a gerbil ball. They were quickly separated
and I've made my shopping list for the weekend of things to get. :)
I was just wondering, is there ANY other way to introduce gerbils to
each other besides the split cage approach? I'm just curious if
anyone has tried it a different way.
When I first got Trinity, I had no idea this was what one should do
when putting two stranger gerbils together. I'm lucky I didn't have a
dead gerbil the next morning. Einstein was nipped a bit on the nose
and paws, but the next day they were getting along great. Took awhile
before they slept together though. And the next night they were doing
it like.. well... gerbils. ;)
It crossed my mind that perhaps if there was enough open space, then
one would have the option of escaping the other. But then I've read
posts which say the bigger the cage, the more territory disputes are
bound to arise. This makes me wonder what the natural size of a
gerbil's territory is? In the wild they have the option of running
away, but how far away do they have to run? Again, just a curious
question.
Well, I guess that's enough news. I'm just so happy that Eclipse has
managed to come this far, after all I've read about the problems with
solitary pups and mama's milk. It makes me wonder, is it just his
tenacity, Trinity's milk-ability, or something else entirely? Is a
pup less likely to survive if he had no siblings to begin with? I
know Trinity had more than one pup, even though only one was rescued
from getting eaten by step-dad. Maybe just the process of giving
birth to that many babies produced enough milk to keep things going?
Or do gerbils not work like humans? :) Guess I'll never know.
As I think of them, I'm sure I'll be posting more questions once I
get the split cage set up and things progress, or not, as the case
may be.
Again, thanks for everyone's help! Don't know what I would have done
without all your support and suggestions!
-Jackie & The Copper Dragon Clan
