Fw: good gerbil/bad gerbil thing

[Heather Kowbel]

----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 11:50 AM Subject: Re: good gerbil/bad gerbil thing If you were feeling charitable, you might suppose that some gerbils bite because they think they're cornered. (Poor mites) But what about those aggressive little monsters that run up and sink their teeth in because they think they've got you cornered in their territory. Or that minority of serial biters, who bite because they know it always gets a reaction?        Type one: The kind of warning bite you get when some poor guy's getting his scent gland bathed with salt water. (Two with abcessed glands in a month. The vet said that they had overactive glands, some of the most active she'd seen and they'd literally clogged up! Anyone else hear of such a thing, I mean, they are huge males and they do pile around sweating all day...but overactive? Is it because they're a trio? (I've had a female trio before, but not male))       Type two: The unspeakable evil that is Sacha. Sacha bites when you put your hand in the tank, sure, but he also runs up and bites my feet when he's out playing. Worst, he'll climb all over me, sit on my hand then bite my knuckles. Nice huh?       Type three: oh dear. These are mostly the females. They just treat you as part of the furniture, to be nibbled on at will: noses, eyebrows, fingers, and toes, always the toes. I particularly detest those little darlings who just run up to you while you're sitting reading or watching TV, then run away while you hop around the room cursing, and they sit back on their haunches and stare!       I love 'em to bits, but boy, do they bite. Why? They know it gets you dancing to their tune. They're small but they're far from stupid...even had a pair once that used to climb into bed and keep biting my leg until I got up, then they'd move into the warm spot, curl up and go to sleep...nasty, but very efficient. Cal and the crew.