I've just finished putting together a new video of Mario, Luigi and Yoshi! Hope you enjoy it.
On a quick note I'm pleased to announce that they seem to be eating more of the Gerri Gerbil now, although they still like to take it all out of the bowl and leave it around the edge. The green flake bits seem to be their favourite.
Saturday 30 July 2011
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Fussy eaters
Just like me, the jirds appear to only like what isn't good for them. They are turning out to be quite fussy eaters!
Things they like (so far):
Clearly I have jirds who like gourmet dining only. I know fruit and veg sounds ok, but I've read in a few places that they should only have it once a week so they don't get bad tummies. In an effort to try and get them to eat more of their 'proper' food, I only give them small amounts of the treat food each time but they just won't eat the gerri gerbil. Oh dear. Hopefully they'll get a taste for it as they get older.
Things they like (so far):
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Millet
- Almond
- Walnut
- Bread
- Broccoli
- Cherry tomato
- Cucumber
- Carrot
- Dried corn on the cob
- Dried fruit
Things they don't like:
- Mealworms (I was very surprised at this, my last two loved them!)
- The entirety of gerri gerbil mix! All the pieces get taken out the bowl, nibbled, and discarded at the side. They seem to be quite methodical about this, going through all of the bowl until they get to the good stuff, leaving me a nice mess to clean up in the morning!
Clearly I have jirds who like gourmet dining only. I know fruit and veg sounds ok, but I've read in a few places that they should only have it once a week so they don't get bad tummies. In an effort to try and get them to eat more of their 'proper' food, I only give them small amounts of the treat food each time but they just won't eat the gerri gerbil. Oh dear. Hopefully they'll get a taste for it as they get older.
Monday 25 July 2011
Megazorb squashing and house amendments
I vacuum bagged the megazorb today. This was actually quite successful although when decanting it out of the sack I did manage to get a great deal of it over myself and the carpet. It didn't compress as much as I was expecting, but still enough for it to be more manageable. It meant I could hide it easily in a space behind a cupboard!
Now I've had a chance to see what the jirds get up to in their house, I've moved the toys round a bit. The wheel got moved to the bottom after one of the jirds managed to get on top of it, and then roll off and fall to the bottom. Luckily he was ok but I didn't want another one to do it and hurt himself. They were investigating the wheel yesterday and finally worked out what it did! They quite like it now.
Another small amendment has been the addition of a new water bottle. The one I had before stuck on the glass but as soon as I put water in it, it leaked. I was also worried about it being plastic and the jirds chewing it. I got one of the basic water bottles and made one of the ventilation holes bigger so I could push the spout through from the back. It worked well, apart from the bottle was quite bulky and I couldn't push the cabinet all the way back against the wall. As a solution I found a 'flat bac' bottle online which takes up less space. It also comes with a floating duck inside so you can see when it needs refilling - novelty value! These bottles come with a clip to attach them to wire cages, and you can also buy suckers if you want to attach it to a smooth surface. Here is the link to the website I bought it from: http://www.ukpetsupplies.com/product.php/2507/0
Now I've had a chance to see what the jirds get up to in their house, I've moved the toys round a bit. The wheel got moved to the bottom after one of the jirds managed to get on top of it, and then roll off and fall to the bottom. Luckily he was ok but I didn't want another one to do it and hurt himself. They were investigating the wheel yesterday and finally worked out what it did! They quite like it now.
Another small amendment has been the addition of a new water bottle. The one I had before stuck on the glass but as soon as I put water in it, it leaked. I was also worried about it being plastic and the jirds chewing it. I got one of the basic water bottles and made one of the ventilation holes bigger so I could push the spout through from the back. It worked well, apart from the bottle was quite bulky and I couldn't push the cabinet all the way back against the wall. As a solution I found a 'flat bac' bottle online which takes up less space. It also comes with a floating duck inside so you can see when it needs refilling - novelty value! These bottles come with a clip to attach them to wire cages, and you can also buy suckers if you want to attach it to a smooth surface. Here is the link to the website I bought it from: http://www.ukpetsupplies.com/product.php/2507/0
 |
| I've used plastic coated wire to hold the bottle in place. The wire is held by a ventilation hole and one of the eye screws left over from putting the ladders up. |
 |
| Spout comes in from the back. The jirds have sniffed it, but not used it yet. Until I see them use it they have a little dish of water inside the house as well. |
Sunday 24 July 2011
Play time
We put the pirate ship in there (being as it doesn't fit in the house!) which they had fun exploring, and some other toys. I think they were quite nervous of the new experience at first as they had a few accidents - luckily we had put newspaper down first. After they got over the nerves they had a great time, especially when they got given some sunflower seeds!
Here are some pics of their little adventure...
Saturday 23 July 2011
Settling in
The boys seem to have settled in fine. They woke up earlier for another look round the house and they are definitely getting more adventurous and confident. Their favourite food appears to be millet - it was the first thing claimed from the food bowl!
It's easy to tell who is getting which name. There is one jird who is always first to try everything, and gives anything a go, including jumps he can't quite make! That one is Mario. Luigi is always the second one out and likes to follow Mario and watch him before trying things himself. Yoshi is the shy one. He likes to sit in the house or under the log and only comes out when he feels brave enough. Waiting for him to come out of his shell...
Bad pun, sorry!
Well, I've spent all the evening playing with them and making the first video. Hope you enjoy it!
Well, I've spent all the evening playing with them and making the first video. Hope you enjoy it!
The boys have arrived!
Well, the boys have arrived and are all settled into their new home!
I think they had a comfortable journey. They seemed very happy in their travel box and after running around to explore it for a bit they all went in the house and went to sleep until they got home. We put them in the house and showed them all the different levels. They explored it for quite a while before going to bed. I think they were exhausted after their busy day. Hopefully we'll see them again later.
We managed to take some pictures that weren't blurry. They are very quick and hard to photograph! I've also filmed some video on my phone but it will take me a little while to edit it. I'll post the finished article soon!
I think they had a comfortable journey. They seemed very happy in their travel box and after running around to explore it for a bit they all went in the house and went to sleep until they got home. We put them in the house and showed them all the different levels. They explored it for quite a while before going to bed. I think they were exhausted after their busy day. Hopefully we'll see them again later.
We managed to take some pictures that weren't blurry. They are very quick and hard to photograph! I've also filmed some video on my phone but it will take me a little while to edit it. I'll post the finished article soon!
Friday 22 July 2011
Jirds arrive tomorrow :D
Just a quick blog entry before I go to pick the jirds up tomorrow! Yay!
The Megazorb arrived today in a HUGE bag! Luckily I've found a space at the top of a cupboard that hasn't been used yet so it can go in there once it's been squashed into a vacuum bag. It's actually much better than the carefresh stuff because it's finer, so will be better for the jirds to burrow in.
I was pleased it arrived as it meant I could put some in the jirds' travel box. I've taken the top bit off their house, put a bit of bedding inside, added a couple of toilet roll tubes, and some food for the journey!
The eagle eyed among you might spot the mealworms in the food pot - I'm wondering how long they will take to scoff them! I've got quite a collection of different foodstuffs for them now. Here is a picture of the jird feast!
Dad says we shouldn't give them too many sunflower seeds because it will make them fat! Treat food only. I suppose it's like chocolate to them!
I can't wait to see them tomorrow! I worked out earlier they are about 6-7 weeks old, so about the size of a gerbil now. I will upload pics as soon as I get home.
Finally for today, a video that made me smile from Perserblog. It's of their new baby jirds just exploring the outside world. Very big cute factor! I love the bit where they all climb over the log one after the other!
Come back tomorrow for the first pictures of the boys!
The Megazorb arrived today in a HUGE bag! Luckily I've found a space at the top of a cupboard that hasn't been used yet so it can go in there once it's been squashed into a vacuum bag. It's actually much better than the carefresh stuff because it's finer, so will be better for the jirds to burrow in.
I was pleased it arrived as it meant I could put some in the jirds' travel box. I've taken the top bit off their house, put a bit of bedding inside, added a couple of toilet roll tubes, and some food for the journey!
The eagle eyed among you might spot the mealworms in the food pot - I'm wondering how long they will take to scoff them! I've got quite a collection of different foodstuffs for them now. Here is a picture of the jird feast!
Dad says we shouldn't give them too many sunflower seeds because it will make them fat! Treat food only. I suppose it's like chocolate to them!
I can't wait to see them tomorrow! I worked out earlier they are about 6-7 weeks old, so about the size of a gerbil now. I will upload pics as soon as I get home.
Finally for today, a video that made me smile from Perserblog. It's of their new baby jirds just exploring the outside world. Very big cute factor! I love the bit where they all climb over the log one after the other!
Come back tomorrow for the first pictures of the boys!
Thursday 21 July 2011
Jird House FINISHED
I'm am delighted to announce the jird house is fully complete!
Earlier in the week I put the bedding in ready. I wanted to get the Carefresh stuff from Pets at Home because it's dust free which will be nicer for the jirds, and for B, who starts sneezing from anything remotely dusty! I got a 14 litre pack, and I was expecting to need about half of it. To my shock and horror the whole pack was needed! At £5 a pack Carefresh isn't exactly the economical choice, so I decided to look for something else online. After a bit of searching I was very pleased to find Megazorb which is exactly the same bedding, but you can buy an 85 litre pack from Amazon for £13.75 delivered. The only problem will be where a giant bag of bedding will go in our little flat. The solution? Vacuum storage bags! I shall flatten the big bag of bedding into something more manageable. Genius I thought! I'll let you know if it works...
Anyway, bedding issue aside, to complete the house, I bought some little screw eye things from Homebase to mount the ladders on to, and used a hammer and nail to make little pilot holes to help make screwing them in easier. Although some areas were quite awkward to reach I got there in the end without hammering my fingers too much! The only problem came when I dropped the nail into the nicely laid out bedding. Talk about needle in a haystack. I managed to find it luckily. The ladders hooked on easily and I used some pliers to close their hooks so they don't unhook themselves when the jirds jump on them. I also coupled two ladders together to make a big suspension bridge (again closing the hooks in the middle). Have a look at the pics to see the ladders in all their glory! I'm now quite jealous of the jirds, it looks well fun in there!
The last bit was drilling some more ventilation holes in the back, to make sure the jirds have enough fresh air when the glass is closed. B had taken the glass out for me, so it was easy to do the drilling. Unfortunately in my excitement at getting the ladders in I didn't anticipate that they would now be in the way. I had great fun trying to be a contortionist and winding my arm with the drill around the ladders to make the holes! Again, I got there in the end! We then put the glass back - the right way round this time - and that was it!
Well, enough writing, here are the pics of the finished article! Hope you like it.
Earlier in the week I put the bedding in ready. I wanted to get the Carefresh stuff from Pets at Home because it's dust free which will be nicer for the jirds, and for B, who starts sneezing from anything remotely dusty! I got a 14 litre pack, and I was expecting to need about half of it. To my shock and horror the whole pack was needed! At £5 a pack Carefresh isn't exactly the economical choice, so I decided to look for something else online. After a bit of searching I was very pleased to find Megazorb which is exactly the same bedding, but you can buy an 85 litre pack from Amazon for £13.75 delivered. The only problem will be where a giant bag of bedding will go in our little flat. The solution? Vacuum storage bags! I shall flatten the big bag of bedding into something more manageable. Genius I thought! I'll let you know if it works...
Anyway, bedding issue aside, to complete the house, I bought some little screw eye things from Homebase to mount the ladders on to, and used a hammer and nail to make little pilot holes to help make screwing them in easier. Although some areas were quite awkward to reach I got there in the end without hammering my fingers too much! The only problem came when I dropped the nail into the nicely laid out bedding. Talk about needle in a haystack. I managed to find it luckily. The ladders hooked on easily and I used some pliers to close their hooks so they don't unhook themselves when the jirds jump on them. I also coupled two ladders together to make a big suspension bridge (again closing the hooks in the middle). Have a look at the pics to see the ladders in all their glory! I'm now quite jealous of the jirds, it looks well fun in there!
The last bit was drilling some more ventilation holes in the back, to make sure the jirds have enough fresh air when the glass is closed. B had taken the glass out for me, so it was easy to do the drilling. Unfortunately in my excitement at getting the ladders in I didn't anticipate that they would now be in the way. I had great fun trying to be a contortionist and winding my arm with the drill around the ladders to make the holes! Again, I got there in the end! We then put the glass back - the right way round this time - and that was it!
Well, enough writing, here are the pics of the finished article! Hope you like it.
Monday 18 July 2011
Jird House Stage 2
Well we managed to get hold of a drill so we've spent the evening working on the next bit of the jird house. It's nearly finished now!
We had got some floating shelves from Homebase last week but the back of the cabinet only had a thin piece of wood - not enough to hold a shelf! We solved the problem by putting some thicker wood strips behind the back of the cabinet to screw into and hold the shelves.
Problem number one - we accidentally screwed the bracket in upside down. The whole thing had to be unscrewed and turned over!
Problem number two - we couldn't get the shelf in behind the glass to slide it onto the bracket! Luckily the top of the cabinet was easy to unscrew and lift off so we could take the glass out.
Problem number three - we managed to put the bracket of the small shelf in a lot more easily, and made sure it was the right way round. The shelf went easily onto the bracket as the glass was already out. No more problems we thought. Wrong! The space between the two shelves was too small to fit the screwdriver into, and we needed to put screws into the bottom of the shelf to fix it to the bracket. After some grumbling we took out the bottom shelf, screwed in the top shelf, then put the bottom shelf back!
Problem number four - we put the glass back, screwed the top of the cabinet back down, then realised the glass was in the wrong way round! By this point we thought we'd just leave it, maybe sort it out later in the week when we're not feeling annoyed!
Despite all the problems the house was looking pretty good by now. The final thing we did this evening was to drill ventilation holes in the back of the cabinet.
The next jobs will be to fit the wooden ladders, put the bedding in the bottom, add all the toilet roll tubes I've saved up and fill up the food and water. Oh, and change the glass back round! Once we've done that it will all be ready for the jirds arrival.
We had got some floating shelves from Homebase last week but the back of the cabinet only had a thin piece of wood - not enough to hold a shelf! We solved the problem by putting some thicker wood strips behind the back of the cabinet to screw into and hold the shelves.
 |
| The floating shelves from Homebase and the wood supports |
 |
| Wooden supports at the back to hold the shelves |
Problem number one - we accidentally screwed the bracket in upside down. The whole thing had to be unscrewed and turned over!
 |
| First bracket in place |
Problem number two - we couldn't get the shelf in behind the glass to slide it onto the bracket! Luckily the top of the cabinet was easy to unscrew and lift off so we could take the glass out.
Problem number three - we managed to put the bracket of the small shelf in a lot more easily, and made sure it was the right way round. The shelf went easily onto the bracket as the glass was already out. No more problems we thought. Wrong! The space between the two shelves was too small to fit the screwdriver into, and we needed to put screws into the bottom of the shelf to fix it to the bracket. After some grumbling we took out the bottom shelf, screwed in the top shelf, then put the bottom shelf back!
 |
| First shelf fitted and second bracket put in |
Problem number four - we put the glass back, screwed the top of the cabinet back down, then realised the glass was in the wrong way round! By this point we thought we'd just leave it, maybe sort it out later in the week when we're not feeling annoyed!
Despite all the problems the house was looking pretty good by now. The final thing we did this evening was to drill ventilation holes in the back of the cabinet.
 |
| Shelves in place (eventually!) and ventilation holes drilled |
The next jobs will be to fit the wooden ladders, put the bedding in the bottom, add all the toilet roll tubes I've saved up and fill up the food and water. Oh, and change the glass back round! Once we've done that it will all be ready for the jirds arrival.
 |
| Some toys added to see what they look like! |
 |
| Jird house nearly finished! |
Sunday 17 July 2011
Jird House Stage 1
One week to go!
We thought it was about time we got started on the jird house modifications. Stage 1 has been to work out how they are going to have their sawdust and bedding in the bottom for them to burrow. I originally thought of having a plastic tray or something in the bottom to fill with bedding but I was worried the jirds would be likely to chew it. Little sharp plastic shards are not good for jird bellies! So after some thought, we came up with a better idea.
We removed the shelf that came with the cabinet, and cut it in half, making one of the halves shorter. We then used the two halves to make a L-shape by screwing the edges together of each piece.
With one of the sides being shorter, this made sure that we could still push the shelf into the cabinet past the glass.
With the shelf fully in position, this is what we are left with:
The new L-shaped shelf fully spans the width of the cabinet, and all bedding material can be put in the space behind it. I'm simply going to cover the base with newspaper and add the sawdust on top. Easy! Many thanks to B and his Dad for all their handiwork in making the L-shape shelf!
Stage 2 coming soon - we need to borrow a drill first...
We thought it was about time we got started on the jird house modifications. Stage 1 has been to work out how they are going to have their sawdust and bedding in the bottom for them to burrow. I originally thought of having a plastic tray or something in the bottom to fill with bedding but I was worried the jirds would be likely to chew it. Little sharp plastic shards are not good for jird bellies! So after some thought, we came up with a better idea.
We removed the shelf that came with the cabinet, and cut it in half, making one of the halves shorter. We then used the two halves to make a L-shape by screwing the edges together of each piece.
With the shelf fully in position, this is what we are left with:
The new L-shaped shelf fully spans the width of the cabinet, and all bedding material can be put in the space behind it. I'm simply going to cover the base with newspaper and add the sawdust on top. Easy! Many thanks to B and his Dad for all their handiwork in making the L-shape shelf!
Stage 2 coming soon - we need to borrow a drill first...
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Second lot of toys
The second lot of jird toys arrived today! Again a very exciting moment. I have now realised that I may have been a bit too enthusiastic and bought a few too many for them all to fit in the house at once. Oh well, it means I can swap the toys when I clean them out each time and keep life exciting for them!
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Another Persian Jird blog
Forgot to add, I found another Persian Jird blog today. It's in German, but google translate does a reasonable job. It doesn't all make sense, but you get the idea of what is happening.
Here is the link if you fancy a read! There are some great pics and vids on there even if you don't read the blog:
perserblog.de
Here is the link if you fancy a read! There are some great pics and vids on there even if you don't read the blog:
perserblog.de
First lot of toys have arrived!
I am pleased to announce that the first toy package has arrived this evening! I was feeling quite disappointed because nothing had arrived today. I had gone out to get my hair cut in the evening and B called me to say a big parcel had arrived! I was so excited. Well, here are they are:
The pirate ship is definitely my favourite! I also particularly like that the sand bath has ears (I thought this thoroughly justified it being a little overpriced ;) ).
On a further note, I was looking for food to buy them earlier and came across the most perfect jird food in existence on zooplus.co.uk:
Now I don't speak German, but luckily an English ingredients list was included in the description! The title is 'Bunny Gerbil Dream'. It basically includes cereals, vegetables, vitamin pellets, millet, seeds, and crickets and mealworms! It is literally their entire natural diet in a packet.
It is however a whopping £6 per pack, and the pack only weighs 600g. Tesco premium hamster food is only a mere £2 for 1kg. Quite a difference there! I of course will want the best for my jirds but my last pair were perfectly healthy on hamster food supplemented with the usual extras (dry cat food, mealworms, fresh veg etc) so I think that I will probably get the dream gerbil stuff, but maybe only give it to them every other day, or maybe do a half and half mix with regular hamster food.
The pirate ship is definitely my favourite! I also particularly like that the sand bath has ears (I thought this thoroughly justified it being a little overpriced ;) ).
On a further note, I was looking for food to buy them earlier and came across the most perfect jird food in existence on zooplus.co.uk:
Now I don't speak German, but luckily an English ingredients list was included in the description! The title is 'Bunny Gerbil Dream'. It basically includes cereals, vegetables, vitamin pellets, millet, seeds, and crickets and mealworms! It is literally their entire natural diet in a packet.
It is however a whopping £6 per pack, and the pack only weighs 600g. Tesco premium hamster food is only a mere £2 for 1kg. Quite a difference there! I of course will want the best for my jirds but my last pair were perfectly healthy on hamster food supplemented with the usual extras (dry cat food, mealworms, fresh veg etc) so I think that I will probably get the dream gerbil stuff, but maybe only give it to them every other day, or maybe do a half and half mix with regular hamster food.
New jird video
I was very excited yesterday to see LazySilke, who filmed my favourite jird video featured in the last post, has done a second one! Here it is:
I saw from this video that it is sunflower seeds in the jar, not mealworms. Something else to add to the shopping list after seeing how much they like them! I love the bit where she's not looking and one of them knocks the lid off and sticks its face right in the jar, then a second one comes along to join the party!
They don't appear to like mushrooms very much.
I'm hoping their toys will arrive today. I'll post pictures later if they do.
Monday 11 July 2011
Preparations
Hi Everyone!
I'm Amy, and you are reading Part 1 of The Jird Blog!
In two weeks, I will be getting 3 baby Persian Jirds! This blog will be all about them, starting from now as I get everything ready for their arrival.
So this is how it all began...
Some friends of mine were going to Glastonbury festival a few weeks ago, and they asked if B* and I could look after their hamster for the week. We did, and I really enjoyed having him! It made me think that I'd actually really like to have a pet myself - I've not had any since leaving home mainly due to space and being in student accommodation. I remembered having jirds as a teenager and thought they would be perfect!
After getting the 'yes' vote from the landlord and B, I arranged getting 3 baby boy jirds from a breeder I found online. It's only two weeks now until I go to pick them up!
Now, when I tell people about the pending jird arrival the first question I always get asked is 'what is a jird?'. The easiest answer is that they are a big gerbil (they're part of the same family). As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words so here is one courtesy of gerbils.co.uk.
You can get Shaws jirds and Bushy Tailed jirds too but the Persian jirds are my favourite! I love their long beautiful tails.
The picture doesn't really give you the full impression so this is my favourite video which really shows what they are like. The writing is in German but you get the idea. It translates as 'they are always hungry... they are extremely curious... and have cold feet... Persian gerbils... four ladies show to you...' - thanks Google translate!
I think it's mealworms in the jar - it is their favourite food which is why they are so desperate to get at it!
You'll see from the video how active they are and how they are good at climbing/jumping. It's this that inspired the names of mine, which I've decided I'm calling Mario, Luigi and Yoshi! I was originally going to get two (Mario and Luigi) but after getting a larger than expected house for them I asked the breeder if I could have three, and didn't want to call the third one Wario - that would just be mean! Then B thought of Yoshi which is my other favourite Nintendo character so that was the third name sorted!
Buying the house was interesting. B didn't want to have a fish tank like I did when I had jirds before because they can look quite messy, and I didn't want a wire cage after I had gerbils in one as a kid and the gerbil got stuck in the wires. After a bit of searching I thought a reptile vivarium could be good but discovered that even on Ebay they were quite expensive. I then had the brainwave of searching for glass fronted cabinets and managed to get one from an Ebay office furniture supplier for just £25! This is it:
We are going to spend next weekend customising it - I'll take pics along the way! We're going to get some wood from Homebase to make lots of different levels to put toys on. I spent last weekend browsing online pet shops to buy toys to fill it with and can't wait for them to arrive. They include a wooden pirate ship which looks amazing! It will get chewed, but I had to have it. I'll post pics when I get everything. The final job will be a trip to Pets At Home to get food, bedding, chinchilla dust etc.
I'm so excited!
*B is my boyfriend! He'll get mentioned quite a bit, so he will be known as 'B' for ease of typing/reading
I'm Amy, and you are reading Part 1 of The Jird Blog!
In two weeks, I will be getting 3 baby Persian Jirds! This blog will be all about them, starting from now as I get everything ready for their arrival.
So this is how it all began...
Some friends of mine were going to Glastonbury festival a few weeks ago, and they asked if B* and I could look after their hamster for the week. We did, and I really enjoyed having him! It made me think that I'd actually really like to have a pet myself - I've not had any since leaving home mainly due to space and being in student accommodation. I remembered having jirds as a teenager and thought they would be perfect!
After getting the 'yes' vote from the landlord and B, I arranged getting 3 baby boy jirds from a breeder I found online. It's only two weeks now until I go to pick them up!
Now, when I tell people about the pending jird arrival the first question I always get asked is 'what is a jird?'. The easiest answer is that they are a big gerbil (they're part of the same family). As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words so here is one courtesy of gerbils.co.uk.
You can get Shaws jirds and Bushy Tailed jirds too but the Persian jirds are my favourite! I love their long beautiful tails.
The picture doesn't really give you the full impression so this is my favourite video which really shows what they are like. The writing is in German but you get the idea. It translates as 'they are always hungry... they are extremely curious... and have cold feet... Persian gerbils... four ladies show to you...' - thanks Google translate!
I think it's mealworms in the jar - it is their favourite food which is why they are so desperate to get at it!
You'll see from the video how active they are and how they are good at climbing/jumping. It's this that inspired the names of mine, which I've decided I'm calling Mario, Luigi and Yoshi! I was originally going to get two (Mario and Luigi) but after getting a larger than expected house for them I asked the breeder if I could have three, and didn't want to call the third one Wario - that would just be mean! Then B thought of Yoshi which is my other favourite Nintendo character so that was the third name sorted!
Buying the house was interesting. B didn't want to have a fish tank like I did when I had jirds before because they can look quite messy, and I didn't want a wire cage after I had gerbils in one as a kid and the gerbil got stuck in the wires. After a bit of searching I thought a reptile vivarium could be good but discovered that even on Ebay they were quite expensive. I then had the brainwave of searching for glass fronted cabinets and managed to get one from an Ebay office furniture supplier for just £25! This is it:
We are going to spend next weekend customising it - I'll take pics along the way! We're going to get some wood from Homebase to make lots of different levels to put toys on. I spent last weekend browsing online pet shops to buy toys to fill it with and can't wait for them to arrive. They include a wooden pirate ship which looks amazing! It will get chewed, but I had to have it. I'll post pics when I get everything. The final job will be a trip to Pets At Home to get food, bedding, chinchilla dust etc.
I'm so excited!
*B is my boyfriend! He'll get mentioned quite a bit, so he will be known as 'B' for ease of typing/reading
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