Lemmiwinks and Pinky

Lemmiwinks (left) and Pinky (right) were my first two gerbils. I bought Lemmiwinks in 2004, a few months after my pet hamster died. However, after some research online I realized that gerbils prefer to live in pairs, so I went back to the same pet store and picked out Pinky. I didn't know at the time that introducing two gerbils to each other can be very dangerous! Luckily, Lemmiwinks must have been the most non-territorial male gerbil ever, because he accepted Pinky right away. They were a very tightly bonded pair until Pinky passed away in the summer of 2006. Lemmiwinks accepted his next cagemate as readily as he had accepted Pinky, and lived happily with him until his own death in the summer of 2007.

Oreo

Oreo is a different story. My husband and I bought him so that Lemmiwinks could have another friend after Pinky passed away. He came from a disgusting pet store that kept its gerbils in a back room with no windows, reeked of urine, had droppings on the floor, and flies buzzing around everywhere. I was so upset that I couldn't wait to get him out of there as soon as possible! He was skinny, jumpy and very rumpled looking. Luckily, he bonded very well with Lemmiwinks, whose enthusiastic grooming soon had Oreo's fur looking sleek and shiny. Oreo also plumped up quite nicely in just a couple of weeks. The addition of a very frisky (and persistent!) cat to our home in early 2007 led to our decision not to get another gerbil after Lemmiwinks's passing later that same year. My brother adopted Oreo and thoroughly spoiled him until his death in the spring of 2009.