The Razor

784 Comments

1. Laurie H.:

   Oops, I meant shred!

   20 July 2010, 9:13 am

2. Scott Kirwin:

   I’m not sure about the cotton balls. S/he could swallow them and they could get stuck in his or her intestines. I would stick to wood shavings.

   20 July 2010, 9:56 am

3. Elizabeth Reyes:

   that is soo cute i hav gerbils my self and they had babies and that cake is soo cute haha

   24 July 2010, 11:28 am

4. Harper:

   Heyyyy, no ones posting here for a while! Anyway, Jingle and Bell are coming to stay for a few months tomorrow and I was watching some how-to videos online to get some more info and I found a girl who’s like 11 years old and was doing these great gerbil vids! However, she had three MALE gerbils in one cage, and they were getting along fine, even though there was some fighting the first few days when she brought in the last one. I was wondering if doing that would be too risky or perfectly fine because my cousins have one male gerbil who is getting lonely but they’re worried that they could be problems with a second male. Is this true?
   P.S. I forgot to say that she brought in each gerbil at a different time
   Thanx

   7 November 2010, 7:14 am

5. Scott Kirwin:

   Harper
   Speaking from my experience the girl got lucky. You could try what she did, but be prepared to pull them away from each other and put them into separate cages. You’ll have to watch them for any signs of aggression and separate them them immediately when you see it.

   Good luck,

   8 November 2010, 3:53 pm

6. Harper:

   Thank you!

   8 November 2010, 6:05 pm

7. Harper:

   Please help me I need help FAST I got home from school today and found one of my gerbils dead and the other is dying she can’t open her eyes and is walking weird with jerking jump-type things and she won’t sit still she keeps pulling herself around the cage now she’s asleep. I’ve checked her breathing every once in a while and it seems normal but she’s VERY thin and is very unresponsive, like she won’t lift her head when I stroke her (though she usually runs away). They were fine this morning but lately they’ve been acting weird they would both bite me really hard and climb up my arm to jump out of the cage which is not normal for them. I’m really worried its dehydration but she’s ignoring the water on my fingers and she’s trying to eat but shes too weak even with a shelless seed. I really need help and quickly I don’t want to loose both of them and even if it’s too late please tell me what’s wrong with them!
   HELP PLEASE

   22 December 2010, 4:31 pm

8. Scott Kirwin:

   Harper
   I don’t know what’s wrong with them, and there isn’t much you can do. All you have to remember is that whatever happens IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Everything dies, and I hate it. Most everybody does. But this is the way life is.

   First off, remove the body of your dead gerbil. Next change the litter (if it hasn’t been changed in a while). See if your mom or dad has an eye dropper. Use that to try to get water into your gerb.

   22 December 2010, 5:56 pm

9. Harper:

   Thank you. Bell is still breathing a bit but I don’t think she’ll last the night. I’ll let nature take its course. She’s old…Thank you anyway though

   22 December 2010, 6:19 pm

10. Scott Kirwin:

    Harper
    Hang in there. Taking care of pets can make you very happy. But sometimes it can make you sad when they get old and die. All you can do is treasure each one throughout its life.

    All my gerbils eventually died, and I didn’t get any more. Instead I bought a farm and now I rescue dogs and cats. Each dog and cat is unique with its own special personality. I love each and every one of them – just like I did Bandit, Silver and the other gerbils. I hope that when you grow up you remember the good times you had with your gerbils and have even more animals. There will be many that need good homes by then, and the lessons Bell and the other gerbils taught you will be useful.

    Good luck!

    22 December 2010, 7:09 pm

11. Laurie H.:

    OK gerbil emergency!! My gerbil Pippin’s leg is messed up, and he has sores around his neck. Him and Merry are both two and have Never fought as far as I can tell. He cant move his leg and the sore around his neck looks raw…(bacterial infection ??) What should I do? All that is in his tank is a wheel, tp tube, and cedar chips, and a bottled water and food.

    Please respond 🙁 🙁

    27 January 2011, 4:56 pm

12. Scott Kirwin:

    Laurie
    First remove the wheel. It is possible that he injured his leg using it. Next try cleaning the wound on his neck with hydrogen peroxide or some other type of antiseptic that doesn’t leave a greasy or oily residue that Merry could lick and get sick on.
    Make sure the cage is clean and that he has lots of fresh litter.

    Finally, watch them for any signs of fighting. Those sores are probably bite marks from Merry. It is very possible that they are fighting, that Merry senses weakness in Pippin and is trying to be the boss. If you see them fight, you will have to separate them.

    27 January 2011, 5:22 pm

13. Laurie H.:

    Okay!!
    will do. Thank you so much for the quick reply.

    Sincerely, Laurie Howard

    27 January 2011, 9:07 pm

14. Laurie H.:

    However, Im still having problems with Pip’s leg/foot. Its all swollen around the ankle. COuld it be an infection? is there anything I could do about it? Pip is about 2 1/2.

    Thanks, L.H.

    29 January 2011, 6:27 pm

15. Scott Kirwin:

    Laurie
    It would be best for you to take him to the vet, but I know that costs money. Rodents have remarkable healing powers, so he probably will get better on his own. Just watch it and see if it gets worse. If it does you may want to call a vet.

    29 January 2011, 7:50 pm

16. sasha:

    I have to gerbils (girls), I have had them for like two years so far… they are so cute! What is the cake made of?

    27 February 2011, 6:45 am

17. Scott Kirwin:

    Sasha
    It was a regular store-bought cake. We didn’t give any to the gerbil though because cake is not good food for gerbils. Gerbils like seeds – especially pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

    27 February 2011, 8:26 pm

18. Laurie H.:

    Dear Mr. Scott Kirwin,

    12 August 2011, 3:09 pm

19. Laurie H.:

    sorry… as you might recall, I asked a question about my gerbils earlier. Now they are 2 1/2 and 3 years old! One of them, Pippin, the eldest, seems to really be aging. He wobbles a bit and his scent spot is rash-y looking. However, the big things are that his nails are growing drastically and I dont know if I should trim them. He has also lost a tooth! He cant “shell” anything and he weighs much less than he used to. What do I do?

    12 August 2011, 3:14 pm

20. Scott Kirwin:

    Laurie
    As long as his nails aren’t keeping him from moving around I would let them alone. The stress of trimming them might make Pippin feel worse.
    As for the food, feed him nuts that don’t have shells like unshelled sunflowers or other soft nuts.
    3 years old is a very long time for a gerbil; he’s an old man! So treat him like one. Give him lots of love and treasure the time you have together.

    12 August 2011, 3:45 pm

21. Laurie H.:

    Thank You, and i will make sure to do that. I appreciate the quick reply.

    12 August 2011, 5:36 pm

22. Laurie H.:

    Dear Mr. Scott Kirwin,

    Pippin died today around six. He died warm and safe and I want to cry but I am not going to because I know he had a pretty good life. With all the turmoil in the world now, I think someone else needs to be pitied more than he does.

    Thanks for the advice, he enjoyed several pumkin seeds before he died. : )

    Laurie H.

    The only problem is that Merry is really acting wierd, but I dont think I should adopt another gerb because Merry is 2 1/2, and I dont want to leave a younger gerbil alone either, if you know what I mean. Do you think he will calm down himself and I should leave him alone? Or should i do something?

    15 August 2011, 8:31 pm

23. Scott Kirwin:

    Laurie
    You took wonderful care of him, and the lessons you learned from Pippin will carry on through your life as you grow up. When I was 5 I received a small, sickly kitten who I had to feed milk to with a doll bottle because she was so small. She was sick and her mother wouldn’t feed her so I did. She grew strong and became my best friend, and lived for 17 long years. I have had many pets, and each is special in his or her own way, but that cat… I still think of her even though she’s been gone for a very, very long time.

    There are many things in this world that you can’t do anything about. But you could do something about Pippin: You took care of Pippin and he lived a long happy life because of your love. You should be very proud of yourself.

    As for Merry… I don’t recommend adding a new gerbil. Let him settle down and give him lots of love. Somewhere up in the hundreds of responses we’ve talked about adding new gerbils, and I don’t think it works although some people disagree.

    And it’s okay to cry. 🙂

    15 August 2011, 9:00 pm

24. Harper:

    Hi! So my cousins are over with their gerbil, a three year old male. Today, he’s been acting kind of strange. All day, he’s been super limp, and suddenly froze and started drooling. After that he perked up a little but we’re still kind of nervous. He went back in his cage and started shaking for a minute or so and then stopped. We gave him a lot of toilet paper tubes yesterday, but could that have anything to do with it? My cousins love their gerbil more than anything, so we really need him to get better. Please respond ASAP. Should we call our vet?

    4 September 2011, 6:02 pm

25. Scott Kirwin:

    Harper
    Is it possible that he got too hot in his cage? Has he been drinking water? Since he went back in his cage, have you seen him move?
    If you’ve taken gerbils to your vet before, you might be able to reach him/her on an emergency number – but most vets do not see small animals like gerbils.

    4 September 2011, 8:12 pm

26. Harper:

    YAYYY! Cloudy is 100% better today. it’s like it never happened! It turned out to be a seizure. If it happens again, we will for sure take him to the vet.

    5 September 2011, 8:30 am

27. Scott Kirwin:

    Glad to hear he’s better.

    5 September 2011, 1:13 pm

28. The Razor » Blog Archive » The Razor Celebrates 10 Years Online:

    [...] Popular Posts For all of my ranting and raving about politics and economics, I am the King of Gerbils. As of this writing there are 777 comments in that thread mostly from kids worried about their pet [...]

    4 October 2011, 1:27 am

29. gabbyg:

    i have two gerbils and i just made a HUGE MISTAKE i used pine bedding!! aaaahhhh i am soo worried all the websites say its so bad for them i have to be more careful

    18 December 2011, 10:33 pm

30. gabbyg:

    by the way i am ten

    18 December 2011, 10:34 pm

31. Maddy:

    I currently have 1 gerbil, two died just recently, on January 7th, 2012. Another in September, 2011. Piper, Fudgie,and Caramel. I miss them SOOO much! 🙁 My last gerbil, Peach (Peaches) is happy in her cage, in my room, and I take her out to run around in her pen, which i fill with books to let them explore. Since everyones writing their age, I guess I will too. Im 11.

    9 January 2012, 7:59 pm

32. David:

    waiter, there’s a cake on my gerbil.

    18 April 2012, 10:36 am

33. Laurie H.:

    My last gerbil, Merry, died yesterday. He was 3 1/2. I think that will be the end of my 8 total gerbil streak started when I was five. I’m gonna miss you, buddy.
    Is it just me or has this post slowed in its activity? I remember when I was in 5th grade it was constantly being commented on.

    22 April 2012, 3:58 pm

34. Scott Kirwin:

    Laurie
    The thread has slowed down considerably. I’m still amazed at its length. It is by far the most popular post in the 10 1/2 years of this website. The Internet is a strange place.

    I don’t keep gerbils anymore myself. I live on a farm now and continue rescuing animals, mostly dogs and cats but even chickens too. The great thing about gerbils is that the love you have for them will stay with you and be given to other animals that come into your life. It will never be wasted.

    22 April 2012, 7:45 pm

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