Barley, Syrup, Millie & Rogue
August 1999 - April 2003
Four gerbils who keep us very busy
We have had pairs of gerbils in the past and thought four would be fun. We were very lucky at the pet shop, they only had four and they were all girls just what we wanted. They were also all different colours.
Having four gerbils is an incredible experience, they are all such characters. Barley has the biggest personality, always learning new tricks to get her into trouble. Barley can climb out of the cage when the door is open, somehow managing to pull herself up with those little hands. With two cats in the house we have to be very careful she doesn’t end up as a cat toy
Rogue is Barley’s trusty sidekick, getting into trouble together is what they do best. Rogue earned her name because she was such a little madam when she was younger. Her naughtiest habit came about from being offered treats as a baby. The quickest way to a gerbils heart is through their tummy, so in bonding with our four girls sunflowers and other yummy things were used. Rogue took this to mean that our hands were food dispensing devices and that nipping them would release more food, little devil. She then went through a phase of stealing treats from her sisters, They soon broke her of that habit.
Syrup is the shy one, though that doesn’t mean she isn’t just as naughty as her sisters. She has a very strange habit of nipping our socks, while we are wearing them. This is not a good idea as the reflex action to a nip on the ankle is to twitch sending Syrup jumping across the floor, she won’t stop though.
Millie is a funny girl that is the only way to describe her. We are convinced she watches television! On many occasions we find her sitting on the boxes in the gerbil home gazing at the TV, once the TV goes black she disappears and goes back to doing gerbily things. She has sat through the full length of Titanic, quite the movie buff!
Our girls share a large home that is full of wooden toys and tunnels for them to chew and play with. We also fill the tank with a fresh supply of cardboard everyday and they always get through it. We also make sure our little burbles (what we affectionately call a group of gerbils) come out and play regularly, no home could ever be big enough for them charging around they like to do on the floor. Great care has to be taken that we don’t sit on one of them, gerbils do like to run at you when you move.