My gerbil clan is named Desert Clan and I own 3 gerbils at this point:
Lady Black Bear - a lovely black gerbil with white faults and a nippy, yet charming disposition. I bought her from a nearby petshop because she appeared to be pregnant and one of the shop keepers said that the shop would feed the newborn pups to carnivorous fish.
Pence Vaughn - a gerbil born in my kennels (2nd litter, August 2002), agouti in coloration with a band of sandy coloring between the white under markings and the agouti coloring above. He has a nice temperment - unless I disturb his meal time. - Update Pence has since crossed the Jordan River to be with my other animals that went to "sleep". He died in his sleep from a rapid cancer. I opted for no surgery, since he would have suffered terribly from the invasive procedure. I spoiled him badly till the day he died. His last meal was broccoli, meal worms, and Kaytee Gerbil Food Mix, which he happily ate. RIP - 8/26/2002 - 8/28/2005
David Paul - a gerbil born in the one of the last litters I bred (2nd to last litter, May 2003). He was born disabled with upturned and locked forepaws, but he sure doesn't act like it. His perseverence has inspired me to write a children's story on kindness, perseverence, and what it means to be a person of good character. His coloring is a lovely shade of golden sand - classic Yellow Fox. I used to think he was Argente, but upon closer inspection and better research I found out the correct coloring.
I used to breed them and sold the pups off to a good petshop named Animal Jungle - www.animaljungle.com - and gave a litter and their mother to a friend's co-worker, a mistake I will never make again. I stopped this as the popularity of the darlings waned and I could no longer support the hobby. I recommend to all who wish to consider this as a hobby to get well informed about gerbils first. It is not a hobby to be taken light of as it is a great deal of work - eating away at as much as 25% of your time and a good chunk of money. At first, it was a self sustaining hobby, but as I said popularity waned and I just no longer got joy out of it.
Aside from my gerbils, I own 4 cats and one kitten. I am currently looking for a good home for Tigger as he doesn't socialize well with other animals.
Codi - the oldest. Black and White cat. His picture is in my personal gallery. He was brought to us by his feral mother just before a hurricane in NC. Wonderful personality. Thinks he's a human. Looks like a gurnzie cow.
Rasquel - (Rascal) the second oldest. Black cat. She, too, came from NC. She was found on the road literally when we discovered this poor little kitten that had been hit by a car. She was catatonic at first so we thought we were moving her to prevent her corpse from being abused by cars. When we moved her she stirred and from there on she has belonged to us.
Ginger Snap - (Ginger) the second youngest. She is the color of a cinnamon bun or a ginger snap cookie. She is testy but sweet. It all depends on her mood.
Tigger - the grey tiger. Black Tabby. He was born last fall after hurricane Isabel. He was named after the Pooh character because of his youthful exuberence and playfulness. He acts like he will be a tiger when he grows up. We must keep him separate from the others until he learns better behavior and stops attacking his big brother.
Angel - the baby kitten. Blonde and red striped tabby baby. So cute! So naughty. All kitten.
All 5 are domestic short hairs and all 4 were gotten through the "alley discount" - a.k.a. free and off the streets.
I can hardly remember a point in time when I didn't have cats and am hard pressed for a time when we didn't have pets. In the past I have had a horse, many fish, some dogs, many cats, many many gerbils, and a few frogs. I now only own the cats and gerbils.
