A long overdue introduction...

We have some new members of our furry brood. Allow me to introduce Tizzy and Bizzy. They are gerbils and they are awesome pets for the little guy.

This is Tizzy. He was the first gerbil to join us.

Tizzy is in the back and Bizzy is up front.

E was set on a Siberian Hamster, but they are pricey and do not live very long. H and I actually did some small animal recon and in speaking with the woman at the pet store, we learned that gerbils sleep at night and are basically fairly happy to live with little fellows and all their quirks.

We got Tizzy first. E had wanted to name his hamster Lizzie but the gerbil was a boy, so we had to get creative. We brought Tizzy home on a Thursday evening. On the way home Tizzy nearly ate his way out of the transport box. I felt him nibbling at my lap as we pulled in the driveway.

After we got him settled, I began to feel really guilty leaving his brother behind. Gerbils prefer to live with a partner or a buddy.

We set up a gerbil habitat in our aquarium. Some fluff and the tunnel E picked out, a water bottle and a food bowl. The old hamster wheel rounded out the package.

While Tizzy seemed happy enough, on Saturday morning, because we might have finally lost our minds, we took a trip back to the pet store to pick up Tizzy's bro. We took along a plastic carrying case, so that there would be no lap nibbling on the return trip.

After some sniffing and some strange dancing, the gerbil brothers were cozy and happy to be cohabiting again. They spend most of their days destroying paper and chewing on boxes. They like fluffy fluff and spend alot of time redecorating their home, daily.

One afternoon I went into E's room, where the gerbils reside, and they had wedged enough fluff and a partially destroyed box, to keep the wheel from moving and were climbing on top of the wheel and taking turns jumping or diving into a pile of fluffed fluff.

Neither gerbil is too excited to be held for too long. They aren't cuddlers, but they will let E handle them long enough to put them in the ball or to visit. We have had a few nips, but it isn't horrible.

They really are fun to visit and keep E company. He is thrilled.