I've been treating Tiny with the antibiotic from the vet *and* I've just begun applying some Neosporin to her nose. Her nose is starting to look better, I'm happy to say. Shannon and i stopped off at the pet store today to pick up some more gerbil supplies and we were told we should be changing the gerbil's water daily. Is that right? Could having stale water have made them sick? I was changing their water every few days. We saw the cutest little baby guinea pigs at the pet store, too. Of course, I couldn't get one until our gebils are gone - and that'll be at least 4-5 years away - but I've heard that guinea pigs make nice pets, too. However, they might be more trouble for people with allergies, correct? I picked up some metal clips for the top of the aquariums, too, since the gerbils (especially the girls) have been jumping up and trying to get out. The clips I was given, though, say they're for 10 gallon tanks. Will they work for 20 gallon tanks??? I picked up some vitamins, too. I haven't been giving my gerbils vitamins, so I wonder if that could have prevented them from getting sick, too. We bought a few mineral blocks, too. I've never seen our gerbils use mineral blocks or salt licks, but we were told they use them, but we just might not see them use them. We were told the nipping they do is sometimes just their effort to suck the salt off of our fingers. Hmmm.... I think our gerbils deliberately nip us sometimes, though, when they want to be put back down.
Shannon and Michael have decided to offer Tiny and Persian (our 10-wk.-old female pups) to Michael's buddy and his brother. This won't make the boys that happy since they want the youngest pups, but Shannon and Michael have become too attached to the youngest ones now. They're not willing to give them up. Should our 5-wk.-old pups be alright without their older sisters and just Mom to look after them? I'm sure Tiny and Persian could leave Mom at 10 weeks old without a problem, right? Lightening up the number in the aquarium might even make it easier on Tiny and her nose problem, I suspect. She'd be in a different aquarium (probably a 10-gallon one I have that I'll sell them), with Persian. The pet store said they change the bedding in their aquariums as soon as the aquarium starts to smell - about one time per week. At this point, the aquarium for the girls has Nippy (the mom), Persian & Tiny (the 10 wk. old pups) and Tiger & Speedy (the 5-wk.-old pups) in it. It seems to need cleaning about once a week. Does that sound about right? Since I'm wondering if part of Tiny's nose problem might be due to her chewing on the plastic accessories in her cage, I removed the plastic igloo tonight. I plan to furnish her aquarium with only wood stuff from now on. -Jean
