h a l f b a k e r yThe embarrassing drunkard uncle of invention.
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I've had two gerbils for a couple of years, and they're best of friends. They're brothers, they've had happy lives, and snuggle up to one another in the world's fluffiest nest most of the time.
However, they're a couple of years old now, and they're showing signs of slowing down. Ratsalad (for that
be one of their names) is becoming whiter of fur, and Mousefeet (for that be the name of t'other) appears to spend just a little more time sleeping than ever he did before.
Maybe I'm just humanising my pets. Maybe I'm being overly sentimental. The truth is though, I imagine that if you've spent your whole life with a friend, and you lose that friend, life would be very lonely.
So - although this might be slightly morbid - I've been wracking my brain for a way to offer some comfort to Ratty or Mouse when the other finally goes to gnaw on the wooden corner of his particular heaven.
The best I've come up with is a furry gerbil-sized waterbottle with a small element inside it, keeping it gerbilish temperature. This could be installed in the corner of their cage so that the surviving gerbil had something to build a nest around and snuggle upto.
It would have to be made of something nibble-proof, and the power lead would need to be protected too.
Yahoo! Answers thread on lonely gerbils
http://sg.answers.y...070517172055AAo5gjF
[jutta, May 22 2007]
[link]
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I guess, but again the outer skin of the hot water bottle would need to be nibble proof, as chewing on a battery would probably be as disasterous as chewing on a live element. |
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That is so thoughful of you, but it might be better to just get another gerbil. |
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//it might be better to just get another gerbil// |
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Without wanting to turn this thread into a pet forum, apparently new gerbils tend not to get on with old gerbils. I'm looking for a solution which is unlikely to eat my gerbil. LtFrank might be onto something though. |
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We used to have two gerbils (Dougal and Jack, if you must know) but one died on Boxing Day. Since then, the survivor has perked up noticeably - he now has unrestricted access to the "top floor", the water bottle, and the gnawing space in the corner. We thought he'd be inconsolable, but it turns out the deceased must have been a right b*stard. But enough of my ramblings... |
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//I'm looking for a solution which is unlikely to eat my gerbil.// ha! [marked-for-another-tagline] |
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I think it's a lovely idea - it might be even more lifelike if you could get it to gently vibrate. |
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//the survivor has perked up noticeably// |
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The same thing happened with my
grandmother! |
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Sometimes I wonder how you know these things. |
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[21] --dress it in a gerbil suit. |
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R.I.P. Mousefeet.
Sad day. |
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Condolences, [Fishrat]. I hope Ratsalad handles the loss of his erstwhile companion well, whether or not he has a Hot Hamster Bottle to console him. |
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// Sneak in an evil penguin - it'll never notice the difference// I don't do cages, inless there is something kinky happening. |
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I do like gerbals and hamsters and such. I made a 'gerbal ant farm' last month. It was 2 peices of plexiglass, spaced 2 inches apart from each other. The void space between was filled with bedding (recycled shredded cardboard). My gerbals make tunnels and dens in the material. Its awesome to watch, and you can always find them amoung the bedding. This was connected via a plastic interlocking tunnel peice that merged the main cage with the 'ant farm' |
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That's really cool. I always like it when folk here bother to build their silly ideas. It's much better than when other people build their sensible ideas. |
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