> Hi everyone,
>
> I am fairly new to the list and have never posted a message before so
please bear with me!
>
> I just wanted to suggest an inexpensive toy you can make for your gerbils.
I buy coconuts from the store, saw the end off of them and hollow them out
with a knife. Then I give it to my gerbils, and watch the fun begin.
They're always quite excited about the whole thing. An advantage to the
coconut is that the shell is hard enough that it stands up to their teeth
for quite a while. If you do decide to start on this project, wait till you
have some free time, b/c it takes an hour or two to hollow out the nut. Let
me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!
You might want to use an X-Acto carving blade to empty out the nut, it'll
cut through the meat a lot quicker. You'll need to be careful, of course,
but if it's taking you that long to hollow out the nut then you're already
in a pretty good way towards cutting yourself already (remember kids, a dull
knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife!) If you really want to, there's
a kind of bladed spoon/spade made for that sort of thing; you can get them
at a kitchen store.
Chris Keil, Worked in a lot of kitchens in my undergrad years.
