Our Fury Family Members

I get A LOT of questions about the gerbils.
So here is a little update on the gerbils, aka Guinea and Snowball.

Q. Are they fun?
A. Yea, they are. We like to put them in the ball (one at a time) and let them run through our legs. The last one to get touched by the ball wins. Also, it's really just fun to watch them, they're pretty cute.

Q. Are they a nuisance?
A. Not really. Their wheel made noise for a while until I put some lubricant on it (lanolin, or you could use Vaseline) and sometimes they chew kind of loud, but it doesn't seem to bother the kids when they're sleeping.

Q. Are the kids gentle with them?
A. Surprisingly Yes. They are really gentle with them. we told them in the beginning that you have to pick up a gerbil by the base of the tail or the scruff of the neck so only mommy's and daddy's can do it. Since then it has never been an issue. They always ask before petting them and when we take the lid off and the kids put their hands in the cage the gerbils always come straight up to them and hold their hands. They are very friendly and NEVER bite or scratch.

And now for the question asked most often . . .

Q. DO THEY STINK?
A. NO! Do you stink? Probably only if you don't bathe right?
If you keep their cage clean the gerbils don't smell AT ALL!
In fact the bedding we currently have in their cage is lavender scented (note the purple) and it makes the girls room smell great.
We clean their cage every 10 days or so and all that entails is dumping the old bedding and using a wipe to wipe out the cage. Then we put in new bedding and a couple of empty food boxes e.g. cereal, cracker, mac n' cheese, etc. and we're done. It takes about five minutes.
We get all our supplies from Target including little yogurt treats (they love the pink ones).

It's been a lot of fun and the whole family is really enjoying it. I figure we have to ease in slowly to the pet thing. This was maybe in about ten years I'll actually be ready for a dog.
Probably not.