We had agreed that if he improved his behavior at school and proved himself to be responsible, he could have a mouse/hamster/some kind of rodent to be his pet in HIS room.
So I picked him up from school and we went to P*tSm*rt to see what form of rodentia there was available for purchase.
ZBoy fell in love with a little black gerbil. Gerbils are fine with me. I was not crazy about the idea of a mouse (they pee constantly so they really stink), but a hamster or gerbil would be okay with me. Gerbil won out because they actually sleep at night. Hamsters are nocturnal.
A suitable enclosure was chosen, as much for its ability to keep cats out as to keep gerbils in and I set about putting the darned thing together. There were many bad words. As it turns out, the instructions left out one vital step, which I tumbled to when I tried to install the exercise wheel apparatus. Finally, a gerbil cage fit for rodential royalty!
Meet "Storm Cloud" (so named for today's weather), who will also be known as "Stormy".
He's a rather charming little fellow. Once he got over being freaked out by new people and new places, he became downright friendly. I love his little hands.
To ensure that Stormy stayed in Z's bedroom should he get free, we stuffed towels under the door and the closet doors. I will be making draft blocks so we can get the towels back.
He's quite the cutie!
We now have two dogs, four cats, one fish, and one gerbil. The humans are definitely outnumbered!
8 comments:
many years ago, my young son had a gerbil. he (the gerbil) escaped from his cage and took up residence in the cupboard where the canned goods were stored. of course, we put food and water in there for him, but for entertainment, he chewed all the labels off the cans. meals were a mystery for quite a while. marge
I LOVE him! Z made such a good choice!
Very cute. We had hamsters (and the cages and the tubes and the hamster ball) around here for many years. When my ex moved out he took all that with him. No furry creatures since then.
But I WOULD like to get another cat.
Tell Z-boy I like his gerbil. Great name, too.
J.
What a handsome fellow! And I really dig his "digs". Very cool!
Rodentia in Excelsis. I had mice, white, black, chocolate. They do pee and they do smell, but they are entertaining. dad
too stinking cute!
He's so cute and his name fits him perfectly! It's funny how little rodents can be so cute - as long as they aren't mice in the pantry LOL
Congrats to ZBoy for doing so well!
Awwwww, so cute!! I often say that the only 2 species that I haven't had as pets are 1. dogs and 2. rodents. I would like to add one of each to the zoo at some point...probably not anytime soon, but a gal can live vicariously through others' pets, right?
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