We had a sad accident here again. My son Michael was playing the piano for Tiger (our 5-wk.-old gerbil). Tiger loves listening to the music and will often preen herself while sitting on the piano. Well, Michael set her on the cover to the keys this once and she quickly ran through the crack and disappeared into the piano. I opened the top lid & found she'd fallen into the wood pieces (hammers?). I tried to push on her head gently to get her out. I managed to get her pushed backward some so the rest of her body stuck out more. Then I pulled her out gently by the tail. She was still alive, but limp. She opened her eye once, but then closed it again. We rushed her to the vet. She opened her eye again when we were right outside of the vet's office, but she died before we could get her into the vet's hands. It was so sad. The vet said they tried everything, but she was gone. I had been convinced she'd make it.
Tiger was my son's favorite gerbil. She was a beautiful blondish brown and very gentle and loving. I told Michael we'd buy another gerbil, but he has decided he'd rather have a hamster. We'll still, of course, love and cherish our gerbils, but I guess we'll now expand our family to include one or two hamsters. At Petco, I ran into a woman who has 3-wk.-old baby hamsters at home who would otherwise go to the pet store if we don't take one or two. She lives in the next development over and we're going to go over at 5 p.m. to pick one (or two?) up. I have a question. I understand a 10-gal. aquarium would be fine for one or two hamsters. Can two hamsters - of the same sex - from the same litter get along alright together? Which sex is best - boys or girls? Please answer soon. -Jean
