 | News in the Family--1997 |
12/31/97 All gerbies appear fine and are ready for the new year! Phoebe is growing ever-rounder . . hmm I wonder . . . Adia is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Riven in about 4 weeks, and Grace can't wait for Lucy to arrive in about 3. I updated the Adopt-A-Dani and breeding statistic pages, and added a little to the care page.
12/28/97 Took a trip to Mindy's today! I got more pics of her gerbils, but she's using them for her site = ) I also got a shot of what *might* be Riven; he'll probably be a slate because all the grey agoutis in the litter are girls, and I'm not sure what the slates are. I added a new page, A Gerbil Owner's Guide to Genetics. Angel and Surfacing made it to their new home! More info is on the pups' page. Also, Mystery is doing fine at Mindy's house.
12/26/97 Fox is doing okay . . . he's moved all the bedding out of the jar and into a small nest in the main part of the tank. I feel so bad for him. Oh, and we've decided that my sister will be keeping Grace, and that she'll be getting a dark eyed honey as a friend (tentatively named "Lucy"). The DEH will come along with the other burmese (Dana #2, let's just call her Dana). I'm going to Mindy's soon, so I'll get to see whether Eve will be a schimmel and Reilly a champ, or vice versa = ) I'll also check out Riven. Riven was born 12/14 and Eve and Reilly were born 12/16. Today I also shipped off Angel and Surfacing to Oklahoma. I hope they arrive on time like they're *supposed* to. I hope you all have a happy holiday and happy new year. For those of you who missed it since it was only up for 3 days, here is the picture of Pookie as Santa.
12/23/97 This is probably the saddest news since I lost Alpha back in August. I was treating Dana's wound on her tail, when she just . . . died. She had a swelling on her tail and on the advice of several people that work with gerbils all the time I had my mother poke the swelling. However, she apparently was scared by this and died or else it was just some complication from her injuries. I dunno. Well, I made her a memorial on her and Fox's old page. Luckily I've got great friends and Kelly has already offered me one of Dana's sisters, who I'll name Dana II (hey nothing else goes with Fox . . .) I hope you all have a happy holiday. Myself, I am trying to think happy thoughts and trying not to blame myself for Dana's death.
12/20/97 Today I added more pictures to Dana and Fox's page, added a new pic to the color spectrum, and fixed my genetics page. Ben seems to be doing better; I'm beginning to think maybe he had a stroke, and not an ear infection. At any rate, he's got tetracycline in his water and is still eating, so it's not so bad. Also I moved the pups out today = (
12/19/97 More tweaking. I've changed a few details on the gerbils pages. The only really major changes are I updated the spectrum, and added some more honorary clan members. It seems Ben has an ear infection!! I have to try and find some tetracycline to treat his water before it gets any worse = ( I can send my mother out for it but today I'm stuck at home because of an ugly gerbil-related accident. I left a pointy part of a cage on the floor while tending to Ben, and then BAM stepped on it in my bare foot. *nice* puncture woud, I love tetanus shots. But I got out of school = ) I may also add more pictures today I haven't decided.
12/16/97 Yeah yeah I know I've let it go almost FOREVER but I've finally updated it! Sooooo much happened these past ten days it's not even funny. I figured I may as well wait till there's a whole pile of stuff to add rather then be uploading tiny changes every day = ) Well ::deep breath:: on Sunday it was Phoebe's and the boys' 1.5 year birthday. She decided to celebrate it by giving birth--to a singal pup whom I named Enola Sadly, the pup died sometime the next day, or Monday. Also, today, after spending 3 DAYS! in transit on an "overnight delivery" in a cooler, Dana and Fox have finally arrived!! Okay, not so much newswise, but I've had to make a dozen little changes on all of my pages. You'll have to look around because it'd take forever to list them all. You may not even want to bother, it's nothing major = ) Just repetition of what I've just said, basically. The only thing of interest are probably Enola's erected memorial/page, and the new pics of Dana & Fox. Oh BTW I'd also like to offer my sincerest congratulations to Victoria and two of her gerbils who will be expecting their first litter in January (same time Phoebe might be do, also). You can find her page on my links page. Also, congrats to Kelly (who sent me Dana and Fox) 'cause a whole bunch of her females are giving birth tonight LOL = )
12/6/97 Today I've updated the color spectrum page, the genetics page, and the links page. I added a new pic to the pups' page too. BTW they're weaned but still living with Phoebe and Ciaran. Soon I'll be moving Adia out when Riven, and Dana and Fox arrive maybe at the end of this week.
12/3/97 Wish I could say that I had more pics of the pups, but alas it isn't true. My stupid brother has apparently "misplaced" the video camera--no one knows where it is. At any rate, I've been busy behind the scenes here. I've just now added a page on gerbil care, with sub-pages dealing with my own breeding statistics and a gerbil growth chart (which is mostly complete but still missing a little). Also, I might be getting 3 new gerbils next week, depends how things work out. If they work out *right* I should be getting 2 burmese and a white (PEW or DTW).
11/29/97 I cleaned a few cages today and let the Lautreras out in the playbox. Also, yesterday, I put together my new shelves! They look great! Here's a picture.
11/23/97 I updated a lotta stuff today--nearly gave myself a headache = ) I finally fixed the info on Dana and Fox's page, and on the genetics page, as well as adding new pics to the pups' page. Okay, so that's not a whole lot, but if you knew what sort of tinkering goes on behind this stuff . . . = )
11/16/97 I was able to determine that the argente pups are both female, the lilacs are 2 boys and 1 girl. I think I'll be keeping Adia. The Lautreras were allowed out in the playbox, and I have pics of that. I also added new pics to the pups pages. According to Kelly my champagne may have been born yesterday! Well, I realize you guys don't know what I'm talking about but it will all be clear soon when I'm done updating Dana and Fox's page and my genetics page. Yes, I'm going to make you wait = )
11/15/97 This morning this page became the Most Visited Gerbil Page on the 'net as, for some inexplicable reason, the counter on the page rolled up to 4,983,497. GEOCITIES!!! Thanks LOL = ) New pics of the pups, of course, and I added some new pics to Phoebe and Ciaran's page as well.
11/13/97 To hear the latest news on the pups, I urge you check out the updates section of the pups' page. I added some new ones today, and the reason I even mentioned it here was because I also put pics of the individual babies on the Adopt-A-Dani page.
11/10/97 Ever since Geocities moved to a new provider yesterday this page has been giving me trouble, so I imagine it's been a pain for you, too. If pictures come up as "broken" images you just have to try and load them again (they're all there; I don't have *any* broken pictures on my page), and any document-not-founds you should just reload, because they're there. Reloading always loads them. BTW, new pics of the pups, of course.
11/9/97 I added more pics to Pookie's page, Skittish's page, and updated the babies' page, which I will do about every day or so but won't mention it here (too much trouble!). I also reorganized the picture page and added a collage.
11/8/97 I added a new page of pictures as well as more pics of the pups, and some pics of the guys in their cage. Today was cage cleaning day, except for Phoebe and Ciaran and pups.
11/4/97 The pups were born today while I was at school! Isn't that so typical = ) We have five pups and I've got pics!
11/3/97 As of 3:09 p.m. still no babies from Phoebe. Maybe tonight. I originally stated November 5th as her due date, but is indeed the 3rd. You see, my count was off by one, and also my calendar didn't have an October 31st (!) That's what you get when you make your own calendars . . . = ) Also, I added more "buttons" on the main page, to my guestbook and to my gerbil fact or fiction page, which I created with the help of a bunch of folks in the gerbil chat room and the list.
10/29/97 Due to an ugly incident this afternoon all text and images on this site are copyrighted by me unless otherwise credited, and you can only use them with my permission. This doesn't mean you can't use them at all, it just means I want you to ask me before you do. This includes you borrowing pictures for collages and such. If you email me I will probably be quite glad to give you permission if you just note that I took the pictures, wrote the text, or whatever. Now, onto the gerbil updates = ) The boys have been moved into a new tank, with lots of little towers and stuff. I will be opening a gerbil "fact or fiction" page soon, probably mid-next week when I come out with first pics of Phoebe's babies, which are due on Monday or Tuesday! Speaking of which, Phoebe and Ciaran have built a humongous nest and I don't know if I'll be able to get a camera anywhere near the babies for a few days after they're born. Oh well. She's pretty big now! Pookie and Skittish are fine still = )
10/23/97 I have opened a memorial page for Splotch. 11 days until Phoebe is due.
10/18/97 Splotch passed away last night = ( She has been buried in the Dani family plot just outside of our house along with several sunflower seeds and some rice crispies, right next to her friend Alpha. On a lighter note, two weeks left til Phoebe is due.
10/17/97 Today I added a new page, the Dani Color Spectrum, as well as a page of links. As for the gerbs themselves, well, Pookie and Skittish (who are living together) have been moved into what used to be Splotch's cage. I switched them, since Splotch obviously doesn't need that much space. Splotch is still feeling poorly, she is very limp and only drinks when I hold her next to the bottle. She nibles a bit on her rice crispies, though. Right now she is curled up in the little nest that was left over from Pookie and Skittish. Since it's now been 8 days since Phoebe and Ciaran's mating, it is safe for me to assume that she is well on her way to the birth of her first litter! I'll be checking for her to develope a bit of a "tummy" between now and November 5th = ) Approximately 8 days til Dana and Fox arrive! Plus, if you check the main page, you have a chance to suggest a name for a Dani.
10/16/97 I added a whole bunch of calculations to the genetics page as well as added a rather lovely gerbil breeding chart. As saw, I reformatted the main page just a bit. I've also added little comments to Phoebe and Ciaran's page, but nothing too noteworthy. Also, please sign our guestbook. My guestbooks are notorious for going unsigned. It seems no matter how many hundreds of people see my site, only 4 or 5 ever sign my book = (
10/11/97 Today I've updated my "mad scientist" Dana & Fox breeding plan. Yesterday Splotch was looking very sickly. I'm afraid she may have had a stroke. Luckily, she seems to be recovering. She doesn't move too much, but she's nibbling food and drinks when I hold her in front of the water bottle. I hope she gets better. Also, I've opened a section of my site dedicated to adopting any pups the Dani Clan may produce--I call it Adopt-A-Dani. Please take a look, and consider adopting a fuzzy, if you can = )
10/9/97 It's official (I think)! Phoebe is due on the 5th of November. Let's wish the happy couple good luck, and hope everything turns out well. In addition, I've added another pic of a siamese to Dana and Fox's page and detailed my plans for them on the Dani Genetics page
10/5/97 I've reformatted the family tree and opened a page dedicated to the Dani genetics. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger . . . = )
10/3/97: Skittish is in the process of being introduced to Pookie using a split tank. So far they've been sniffing each other through the bars a lot, I hope they'll be okay together. Also, some VERY VERY EXCITING NEWS! (at least for me). I will in the next few weeks be obtaining a pair of Siamese gerbils, a brother and sister, for breeding. Right now they're 2 weeks old so it will be a while yet. I've already pretty much firmly decided what their names will be: Dana and Fox Mulder. When their first litter is born I will, of course, be taking requests from people in the US who want their babies. That is, if I can figure out how to ship them. Here is a picture of what they might look like right now at two weeks old. (from the Gerbil Color Palette, taken by Vera Bruckman). They're coming from Will Cronk of Michigan.
BTW ::sigh this update is getting long:: Those of you who know her can thank Margaret for encouraging me to name them Fox and Dana, and Chris Carter for coming up with them in the first place = )
10/2/97: There's a new member in the Dani Clan! His name is Skittish Sprite Dani! We're still unclear as to who he's going to live with, but it'll be either Splotch or Pookie. We'll also be getting another gerbil pretty soon for whoever's left alone. Also I've added some new pictures, specifically to Pookie's page and Splotch's page, and a little bit to Phoebe and Ciaran's page.
9/21/97: A belated happy birthday to Pookie who turned 2 years old recently. Also, I've added a new page, a tribute to Alpha. I also dug up some pictures of Missy for her memorial page. Oh, and I fixed some of the birthdates on the Dani statistic page after finding more information.
9/6/97: Today is cage cleaning day! (oh fun!) Now it is once again safe to walk through my room. Here's a pic of my room, filled with cages. (as you'll see, it is just a mess, generally). Phoebe's getting rather insulted that I continue to watch her intently all day. She hasn't gotten any bigger, and I haven't seen her eating an unusually large amount, but it's still possible that her first litter *is* on the way. I'd guess that, if she is, she'd be due around the 17th of this month. I guess we'll see.
8/19/97: This morning I awoke to find that Alpha (the picture at the top of the page), my one and a half year old lilac female, eldest daughter of Missy and Pookie, had died. We still aren't sure what happened. Our theory is that the ladder in the cage fell on top of her during the night. She was buried in the family plot along with her sisters, Rachel and Chandler, and mother, Missy.
Also, Phoebe and Ciaran are now sharing a ten gallon tank together and seem quite happy. However, they make an odd couple, since Ciaran is so much smaller than Phoebe. She is, actually, old enough to be his great-grandmother.
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