In spite of myself, I have grown fond of having George the Gerbil in my classroom. I have been reading a lot about gerbil care, and keep seeing that gerbils are happier when they’re not alone. I decided to look for a friend for George. But if I wanted to add a new gerbil to the tank, it would have to be a male (so I wouldn’t be overrun with babies), and for the sake of telling them apart, I would have to get a gerbil that wasn’t black like George.
Yesterday I found him. I found a tan male gerbil. I will call him Gino the Gerbil. It’s a name that starts with a soft G sound, and it is a good Baltimore name, since there was a famous football player here named Gino Marchetti.
I had previously constructed a barrier to put in the middle of the tank so I could do the Split Cage Method of introduction. It was relatively quick work to get the tank set up and to get the two gerbils set up.
Minimum furnishings on each side.
Their first inspection of one another.
Aw. Happy for George and Gino. Life’s best with friends! 🙂
Wow – now you don’t just have classroom pets, you have a behavior experiment! Keep us posted, but could you make it like a Captain’s Log?
Sing with me, locals: “Everybody loves their Gino, ’cause Gino is a guy’s best friend” [variation on the hamburger place’s theme song]
How wonderful! You’ve gone from no rodents to two – on purpose, no less. Are your students appreciating your transformation yet? If you have to bring these guys home over a long break or something, have you already had The Conversation with Gus? You know – “Just watch the television show – don’t eat the main characters please”?