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Original poster

Ds has jsy accidently squashed his gerbil!! What to do with the other one???

73 replies

kittythescarygoblin · 20/10/2006 17:55

Any ideas pleas. Poor ds1 has accidently squashed one of his gergils and it is sadly no more. That leaves us with one gerbil. I know they are not supposed to live on their own but I can't simply buy another gerbil as they'll kill each other. What would you do????

OP posts:
mumatuks · 20/10/2006 20:21

no kidding here, but we had a male rabbit who was erm well very horny. (we took him to the vets about the ball chopping off thing, but it turned out he only had one ball, and that was undescended) So anyway, we gave him one of those hopping about mechanical rabbits. He humped away happily for hours and never seemed to mind that poor fluffy bunny would just lay knocked over!

So could you get a toy that resembles a gerbil? How big are they? I might have a little toy that would be suitable actually...

p.s I wasn't implying your gerbil was randy or anything

suedonim · 20/10/2006 20:22

Thought this thread was going to be about Freddie Starr! RIP to your gerbil, Kitty. Gerbils seem to be v accident-prone. A friend's two gerbils got a bit neglected when one of the (human) family was ill. By the time someone checked up on them the cage contained one very large gerbil and the tail stump and a foot of the other one.

handlemecarefully · 20/10/2006 20:24

ewwwwwwww!

Frizombie · 20/10/2006 20:29

sorry but PMSL, we are never having any gerbils now I've read this thread.

mysonsmummy · 20/10/2006 20:32

we bought the rabbit home from ds nursery. my neighbour bought hers in to say hello but it jumped out of her hand into cage for about 100th of a second. (didint even see if get up 'that' end.

i was mortfied when the nursery starting saying 'flower' was acting strange - only to go on to produce 2 babies. they were really pissed off with me especially as both babies died - they said flower was too young. ffs she was over a year. oops... only i could get the nurery rabbt preggers!!

Original poster
kittythescarygoblin · 20/10/2006 21:19

Perhaps we should just get a hamster next time, not quite as speedy, especially if we find a nice fat one Ohh sounds like I am planning to eat it

OP posts:
Original poster
kittythescarygoblin · 20/10/2006 21:22

Actually to cheer ds1 up I have been reading him your stories. He's been rolling on the floor with laughter, fortunately for the other gerbil it is safely in its cage !!!!

OP posts:
pooka · 20/10/2006 21:28

Hamsters bad news imo. Seem to remember a constant stream of sickly hamsters being put in the airing cupboard (in their cages) by my mum as a last ditch attempt to perk them up.
We had lots of gerbils and then suddenly had lots of local cats prowling round our house. It was summer and they were hungry.......

Original poster
kittythescarygoblin · 20/10/2006 21:31

What to get next time then?

OP posts:
Mirage · 20/10/2006 22:53

My first reaction was to laugh out loud,I'm very sorry!

I told my friend,who is a nurse & she told me a horrible story.

Some colleauges of hers were caring for a very,very,overweight lady.She was so obese that she needed help to get up,washed,dressed ect.Well,her cat disappeared & the nurses & carers searched for it,couldn't find it& so assumed it had run away.When a dreadful smell emanated from the house,they had another look,but no cat.Then they realised that there was one place that they hadn't looked.They lifted her up & took all the cushions out of her chair.

Yep,she had sat on it & squashed it.

pooka · 21/10/2006 11:32

YUK Mirage! Poor cat
Next time get a.......
the only pets we've had fairly successfully are cats. What about a house rabbit. I had a friend who had 2. Quite big so unlikely to get squished. We're trained to use litter tray. Lived long and happy lives.

MwaHAHAMhamai · 21/10/2006 13:42

We seem to be fish/dragon/bat why even cow friendly on MN but as for the poor gerbils!

ruty · 21/10/2006 14:08

really sorry but i find this thread a bit distasteful. I can understand children having accidents with small animals and not really wanting to hurt them, but maybe really small children should not have small animals [eg 4 year olds]as they don't understand they can be hurt easily, and if they do i think a lot of input from parents about how they should be cared for is needed. And as for forgetting to feed animals i think that is a bit p*ss poor, sorry.

Blossomhowl · 21/10/2006 14:15

ruty ~ I agree. This is not funny at all.

Parents should be responsible for pets and I would be totally and utterly mortified if this happened in my house.

MwaHAHAMhamai · 21/10/2006 14:16

Oh lighten up ladies it was an ACCIDENT!

divastrop · 21/10/2006 14:20

suedonim-that was almost how i found my gerbils.i'd only been out 6 hrs though

IME hamsters are pretty quick also,and can go flat and easily escape.

rabbits and guniea pigs are more suitable for young children i think,although i had 36 guinea pigs at one point as they breed faster than bunnies!

divastrop · 21/10/2006 14:22

i wasnt aware anybody was talking about deliberatly harming animals.accidents happen.

ruty · 21/10/2006 14:26

So if i said, 'oh goodness, my 4 year old just accidentally drowned the cat' that would be funny? Yes, i know accidents happen and i know we don't sympathize with gerbils in the same way we do cats [can't stand them myself] but we have to teach our children to empathize with animals and treat them sensitively, from frogs/gerbils to cats and dogs.

ruty · 21/10/2006 14:26

i didn't say anyone was doing it deliberately. I just don't find animals dying funny. Sorry.

HumphreyComfrey · 21/10/2006 14:28

BH and Ruty, I have read this thread in a different light to you entirely.

I don't think anyone is advocating irresponsible pet ownership, (I quickly re-read the thread, but couldn't find any mention of forgetting to feed an animal, so can't comment on that) but unfortunately accidents do happen sometimes.

The OP was genuinely asking for advice re the situation, and others were telling of their experiences.

In my case I was recounting something that happened to my pet hamster. I'm sad it died, but looking back I do find black humour in the situation.

I'm sure no-one meant to cause offence.

Kitty, we've got two guinea pigs who are gorgeous. They are very friendly, love being handled, and are larger than gerbils, so easier for little ones to care for IMO.

They are so sweet, and love to play on the 'assault course' the children have made for them in their run.

Perhaps they would be a good idea as a next pet?

MwaHAHAMhamai · 21/10/2006 14:29

Yes but we are NOT 4 on here hence the pi** take! Have you not read the legendry cat/football thread? gerbil thread? some of us remember them and see the humour in that context and fwiw I can't see any mention of an animal not being fed on this thread. Bloody gerbils

Blossomhowl · 21/10/2006 14:32

I hate gerbils. They are awful things.

We had them when I was younger and they eat their babies

ruty · 21/10/2006 14:32

see suedonim's post Fri 20th 8.22.03 pm. Not her, a friend, but still piss poor.

MwaHAHAMhamai · 21/10/2006 14:34

Maybe someone should do an ode to the gerbil or we could have an annual gerbil rememberence day?

ruty · 21/10/2006 14:35

ah well only stating my opinion. I'm off.