A lot of (mostly useless) crap has transpired since my last blog, so I'm going to try and cover it all with this one. Prepare for one hell of an entry. ^_^
First of all, I'm now leader of The Haunting Ground Union! That makes me so happy! :) Now I run two HG forums (the other is at fanfiction.net) and I'm prepare to do the best possible job I can. I plan to write articles, and in general make it a HG fan hub. I made a icon and banner for it, hope everybody likes. :D
Second, about my gerbils...I'd like to thank everybody for their sympathy, but it's a lost cause. Another was killed, in the same cage, and now I know who it is. It was the black gerbil I thought might have killed the other one, but couldn't believe it. I mean...He was the nice one. He never started trouble. You wanna know what's really weird? You know what his name is?
...Riccardo.
Hah. Riccardo killed two of his brothers...That's both ironic and sad at the same time. Oh well...
Anyway, the victim is what really upset me...You see, Seth was sort of an as$hole. I wasn't surprised if he would have started a fight and Riccardo finished it...But the victim this time was a poor, debilitated, handicapped one. When he was a baby, he got out of his cage and attacked by one of my cats...He bit off his back legs. Despite this, he grew up healthy and was able to get around wherever he wanted in the cage without difficulty. They lived together, him, Rick, and Seth without a single problem...Then this happens...It doesn't make any sense.
We named him Tiny Tim because he was born around Christmas and had the weird leg thing. My mom really loved the little guy, she grew attached to him. I hated to brake the news to her when I found him in his cage...With an ear missing and a hole in his head...And what was left of his rear legs all bitten up. She freaked out, and I had to stop her from trying to kill the gerbil that did it. I told her that in the end, it's an animal...They don't know any better. I can't blame her for being upset...Tim had a hard life, and he had to go like that, by somebody he groomed and slept by. That's just horrible...
I think I might know why this happened. It might have been redirected aggression. You see, since Shadow died, I had to place the males that were in his cage together with the male in the other cage in order for them not to be lonely. This meant I had to introduce one male to three, which is a tricky situation that I wouldn't recommend. Yet, I've done it before...I was confident I could do it again.
But the split-cage method didn't work. Still, I had to transfer the one black & white gerbil I had (Doom, not after the game, but so I could name him that and sister Gloom, get it?) into the cage with the other males. So I split the three-cage system down so they could share it while seeing each other and getting used to one another, that way when I clean the cage next, it might work out. I transferred them every day and night between the cages. It was working fine, then Seth died...
I think that Rick was so pissed with Doom, that he took it out on his two brothers. Perhaps the fact that they had no access to food in the one cage (the cage with the food was one of three cages, but they would be able to access it once a day, as I transferred them into it once a day) and it made them think it was a desperate situation...It might have sparked a fire.
I don't feel guilty at all, I didn't feel as though I did anything wrong. I really couldn't go about it any other way...I've also never seen redirected agression in gerbils. They are a SOCIAL species, they absolutely must have a companion to be healthy and live a long life. They rarely ever fight with their own companion. I also don't believe it was a genetic issue, as this only happened with Doom moved in...It was something I never even considered, for good reason. It shouldn't have happened.
Now I have two male gerbils, Rick and Doom. I have to try and put those two together, despite trying to kill each other, apparently. I have no other choice. I'll try when I clean the cage next, and their smells are neutral in the cleaned tank. I'll split-cage them again, see if they get along. Though this is safer then you might think, as two males tend to be easier to introduce then three to one, or even two females. The fact that both are alone also tend to help make them both desperate for companionship and more likely to comply.
Okay...Now I have two males, and two females in the other cage. Whom are now raising their last litters. I still feel that this line is a good one, despite the recent tragedies. Shadow's death caused two more, and in the end it was a bad situation and a bad chain reaction...That happens, things like that have happened before to me...What can I say? Sh*t happens...
Here I go again...
R.I.P. Tiny Tim, you didn't deserve that...
Alright, enough...Doom and gloom...Here's some good news, finally.
I'm sure you've all been worried since my last post about Hewie, hey, I was too. But they were unfounded fears. He's made a full recovery. Almost the day I brought him back from the vet, he's been acting like a normal puppy. Now he eats anything and everything, and bounds around happily. He still isn't a really "playful" puppy with me, he doesn't want to fetch or chase anything. Which makes him excellent with my cats, and makes life easier for me. He will bound after them in play sometimes, but he's more inclined to lick their ears and ignore them if anything. Spooky was a practical monster to them when she was a pup.
He is slightly feverish, he sneezes. I was able to obtain amoxicillian from the vet to give him, which he takes twice a day for a few more days yet. It seems to help. But he's been doing so well I could even give him his booster shot (a 7-way combination vaccine) though I can't say he cared for that much. ^_^
Some may have missed out on his pictures, so I'm posting them below:
Hewie (bad picture, much cuter IRL!)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a219/HazardousRaptor/HewieSibling.jpg
Hewie playing with another pup at the shelter:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a219/HazardousRaptor/DannyChristy_dog_2-19-06.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a219/HazardousRaptor/Christydanny_dog_2-19-06.jpg
Hewie's mother (Dakota):
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a219/HazardousRaptor/Dakota-HewiesMom2.jpg
Well, okay, that's enough for now. Talk to y'all later.