Indys Rascals

Unfortunately two of my rehomes (Moon and Sunny) have ended up on Freecycle.  I am very upset about this as we always say to people if they cant look after the gerbils any more we would ALWAYS take them back.

The person has advertised them and wants a home for them “as soon as possible”.  They refuse to give them back to us and instead have disregarded all the welfare advice we had given them to ensure the gerbils best possible care.

The individual had stated “gerbils are great pets for kids”.  It always makes me cringe when people advertise animals as pets for kids.  Yes they are good childrens pets – but only if the adult will take responsibility for them when the child loses interest.  Very young children must be closely watched to ensure they do not hurt them.

The next piece of nonsense was that “they do not require handling like other pets”.  CRAP!!  Scuse my language but ive never heard such utter rot in all my life.  Of COURSE they need handling.  They need gentle regular handling to ensure they stay tame and are comfortable with being touched etc.  Otherwise can you imagine if you have to take them to the vet to be examined?  Very stressful for everyone concerned!!I can only assume with this that the person did not handle these gerbils – which would explain why possibly one of them developed a biting habit.

Last but by no means least – they enjoy running in their cage with a “little sawdust”.  Firstly i cannot stress enough that sawdust is very detrimental to a gerbils health.  This can cause respiratory problems as well as runny eyes, nose amongst other thing.  Dust extracted woodshavings can be used NEVER sawdust.  A “little” bedding for gerbils is no use whatsoever.   They need a good 8-10 inches at least – the more the better in which to build their tunnel systems.  They are burrowing animals not climbers so cages with bars are not good  homes for them.  The more depth and area they have for building their own tunnels the happier they will be.  A gerbil without tunnels is like a duck without water.

Please if you are getting gerbils visit www.egerbil.com and dispel any more of this wrong information being passed on from person to person.

Late last night or early this morning someone came into our garden and STOLE a 3 foot glass tank.  This was given to us kindly and was to be used for Star and her 5 babies when they are a bit bigger to give them more room to play.  This theft must have taken some effort as the tank is big and heavy and was half full of water as it was due to be properly cleaned.  The lid was on top as was a filter and heater that came with the tank which we were going to offer on freecycle.  Unfortunately as someone helped themselves to our things this wont happen now.  I think we are going to struggle to get another one of these and im really peed off.  I wish these people no harm other than for the tank to miraculously raise up and come crashing down onto their thieving heads.