Smirnoff (Noffy)
Noffy is my first gerbil. She was at the adoption centre at Pets at Home under the name 'Boris' despite the fact she was a girl.The notice by her cage read "As I have been overlooked instore I am looking for a loving home. I must be kept alone". I asked to have a look at her, and when the assistant handed her to me she started to run up and down my arms, sniffing and exploring. I was totally smitten and decided to take her home. She had to come home on the bus in a hamster cage covered with my coat as it was February and freezing.I later got her a Rotastak cage which she loves.Oringinally she was going to be called Vodka but my mum said that Smirnoff sounded better as it could be shortened to Noffy. Noffy is about a year old now, she has been alone most of her life as her litter mates were sold and she was left alone as the shop didn't put her with any other gerbils therefore she grew to old to be paired.
Badger & Malibu
Badger (top) is a girl and Malibu (bottom) is a boy. These two gerbils are a happily paired and breeding couple. I never planned to breed gerbils, when we bought these gerbils we were told they were both girls. We were idly brousing in Pets at Home when we saw these gerbils. Phil (hubby) has always had a thing about badgers from his childhood, and when he saw that there was a gerbil that looked like a badger ( in his mind anyway) he said to me " I don't mind if we get some more gerbils" which was his way of saying that he wanted the badger gerbil. I chose Malibu to go with Badger as the other gerbil in the cage was the same colour as Noffy and I wanted somthing different. We first noticed that Malibu had a 'black bottom' after a few weeks, which turned out to be testicles. They had their first litter on 18th May, I remember going to get the bus home from work when I got a text saying 'the gerbils have had babies'. Their second litter was born on 28th August and their third litter on 3rd October. i am currently saving to have Malibu neutered, as I don't want to overbreed and I have tried separation and both gerbils became depressed, refusing to eat and just sitting listlessly all day, hence why they are back together again.
The Deserts (top to bottom Kalahari, Sahara and Gobi)
These three beautiful boys are the results of the first litter from Badger and Malibu. I had trouble trying to come up with names for them, then Mum suggested naming them after deserts in a homage to the gerbils she had when she was younger. Hence the names. Kalahari is the only gerbil I have bred so far that is Siamese/Burmese. I'm not sure which he technically is, but his is an unusal colour and has very silky soft fur compared to his brothers. These boys are very very active, they are my only gerbils to enjoy running in a wheel ! they hav fought in the past, but since they have had the wheel they have stopped, for which I am very grateful.
Kaylee
Kaylee is the runt of the second litter of gerbils from Badger and Malibu. She is tiny, even now she is about half the size of her litter-mates. She seems to have a slight deformity- she cannot squeak, she can only make clicking sounds. She was behind with her development all the way through, but she lives alone now is is very happy. I chose to keep Kaylee alone because she kept being attcked by her brothers and sisters and I was afriad she would be badly hurt, especially as she is so small. She is very fast and she is always scampering around her cage at the speed of lightening. Kaylee is named after a chractor in Firefly, a sci-fi series by Joss Whedon.
River & Simon
River is a girl and Simon is a boy. They are also from Badger and Malibu's second litter. I am saving to have Simon neutered as I don't really want to inbreed them. the main problem I had with the second litter was that I sold two males from the litter and was left with Kaylee, Simon and River. I felt Kaylee needed to be alone, and as gerbils are social animals generally I chose to pair Simon and River together. They are a lively pair, Simon can jump very high, about 6 inches is his best which is impressive for a young gerbil. They are also named after chractors from Firefly.
