Those are my gerbils, that you will hear about if you're following this blog. As said in my last entry... The blog will feature stories about my gerbs, as well as some articles I've written about gerbil care. The first of many will be posted following this entry.
But before we get to anything, I'd like to introduce my gerbs...
Mocha:
Mocha Arthur Thompson is a fun, loving one year old gerbil. I bought him on Aug 15 2008, which is also what I consider to be his birthday. We bought him, along with his brother, Sweet Pea. Mocha is known as the Escape Artist - when he is outside his aquarium (home), he will find the randomest escape routes and disapear before you can blink. Usually we sit on the white couch (pictured). Although he has never mastered not being seen, because after escaping, he immediately bolts accross the room towards the other couch. When he is inside the cage, he is a jumper - trying to get out (it never works!). When Mocha was a baby, he was known as the pig, the gerbil who ate like crazy. Now that he's stopped growing, he eats like a regular gerbil. In May 2009, Mocha and I went through something that we didn't ever expect. Mocha's brother, our little Sweet Pea was diagnosed with cancer (more about Sweet Pea below). Sweet Pea lived about 3 weeks after his diagnoses, until the sad day that he died. Prior to his death, I beleive Mocha knew he was dying, because he seemed to be crying. After Sweet Pea's death and on the night of his death, the cry became more intense and more common. Sweet Pea also had another effect on Mocha, who was once a run-around and never stop running gerb. After the death, Mocha was calm and snuggly. Now, that Mocha has been introduced to Petri, things are back to normal and he is what I consider a happy gerbil who loves Sunflower seeds, being held, chewing and spinning in his wheel. Sweet Pea: 
Sweet Pea, Mocha's brother was a BEAUTIFUL cream and white coloured gerbil. His name came from the white mark on his head that was in the shape of a 'P'. He was an absolutely well-mannered gerbil. He loved the attention of everyone who gave it to him, but also enjoyed time to explore. He and Mocha undoubtably loved eachother, and were constantly cuddling together, playing together, drinking from the waterbottle together, you name it, they stayed together. He was known for purring constantly... just holding him made him happy.
One day, I turned Sweet Pea over to rub his belly and noticed that his balls had literally turned blue. He seemed fine and we felt that it may be normal, or maybe he wasn't getting enough circulation. By the end of that weekend, he was fine, so we dismissed the idea that anything was wrong. At the same point, he seemed to be getting fatter and fatter. I always assumed it was just because HE was the big, and no Mocha. He was never incredably fat, he could always walk, run and stand... he was just different body build than Mocha. I still felt there was no problem.
Then came the day that I brought him out of his cage and into my bedroom, where I put him down and he immediately started spinning in circles. It looked as though he was chasing his tail, and that's what I thought at first. That was until I picked him back up and put him back down and he continued. I brought him upstairs to show the rest of my family and we all immediately realized that something was wrong. That's when I realized that Sweet Pea was not fat - there was something in his stomache. It was a different size on each side.
We cried.
I wasn't convinced - It had to be something else. It couldn't happen to a 6-month old just beginning his life! I brought him to the vet, and they confirmed, he was dying, there was nothing they could do to help him. He had the tumor the size of a golf ball inside him and eventually it would cut off his life. The vet told us we had the weekend to say "good bye", then we should bring him back and have him put down. He wasn't in pain, so I disagreed, deciding that he would go when he was ready.
Three weeks passed, in those weeks, Sweet Pea stopped walking, lost all control of his back legs. He could no longer eat or drink because of his lack of mobility, so I opened his sunflower seeds for him (his favorite treat!) and fed them to him, one at a time. I bottle fed him or let him lick the water off my hands. I washed his belly when he was covered in urine because he couldn't move, and put kleenex underneath him to keep him confortable. In those three weeks, I said good bye. Mocha helped to take care of him, often cuddling him. I don't think Mocha understood why his playmate no longer wanted to play, instead all he wanted to do was sleep. Mocha didn't understand why Sweet Pea refused to sleep in the house, instead wanted to sleep outside... because he couldn't get in the house. Mocha didn't understand why when he tried to lay on top of Sweet Pea, or tried to groom him, Sweet Pea would squeak because it hurt. Mocha began to cry.
On May 30th, after being out of the house all day, I rushed to Sweet Pea's side. I knew I had to feed and water him for the night. As he laid on my lap and refused to eat or drink, I became increasingly alarmed. He accepted on sun flower seed before he started gasping for air. I knew what was happening, the tumor that was in his stomache was cutting off all air. I handed him to my mother because I didn't want to witness his death. I couldn't do that, it hurt too bad. My mom put him in his cage to be with Mocha as I sat in her bedroom in tears. Then it hit me: I couldn't leave someone I loved to die without me by my side. I ran out of the room and towards his cage. I held onto his hand and pet his head as he took his last breath. I knew it, he waited for me before he left. We all loved him. Mocha was now what I considered the most depressed gerbil ever, but Sweet Pea was in a better place.
We buried Sweet Pea in the back yard with a personalized grave stone with his full name: Sweet Pea Petri Thompson.
Petri: 
Petri is a gorgeous little black gerb, who fits in right with the family. He was bought 2 weeks following Sweet Pea's death to give Mocha a friend, or as I like to call him, an adopted son. It was Petri that helped Mocha mourn and get over the death of Sweet Pea. Petri was named after his "uncle", Sweet Pea whose middle name was Petri. We thought this was the best way to carry on the memory of Sweet Pea. Petri fit in with everything from day one. With Mocha and Sweet Pea, we kept handling to a minimum for the first weeks. But on Petri's first day with us, he was already comfortable with being handled and enjoyed sitting on the couch with us! Petri's nickname was "Bug". This is because the day we bought him, he was SO tiny, I actually wondered if he was supposed to be a bug. Not only this, Petri seemed to be a grass hopper. If he was startled, or if you touched his back end, he would hop. We used the split cage method to introduce Mocha and Petri for a week, but somehow they seemed used to eachother after day 2. Day one, they could just smell eachother, but Mocha wanted to touch his little baby so bad. He dug furiously and the screen for hours at a time. Day two - we allowed them to meet on the couch where there would be no territorial issues. Immediately, Mocha snuggled up to his little baby and they laid there together for a while. We still gave them 6 days in the split tank, just to be sure, but allowed them to visit on the couch daily. Now, months after mixing them in the cage, they love eachother! When they're outside of their cage, they seem to stick together. They still have their "Squeak" arguments over sunflower seeds, but they get along extremely well.
Petri LOVES the spinner more than most other gerbil accessories and could spin for hours.
Petri is also considered a boxer to us. He has 2 white front paws and a white line down his neck, but other than that he's black. The white paws look just like gloves!
That's my boys! While I would do anything to have more gerbils, the two I have are amazing little creatures.
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