My gerbil, Gandalf the Grey

It's been ages, I know. But I've finally got something that just sparkles my spirits, and I am eager to write about it. Ah, how my words tumble like messy bricks, crumbling at each step. They are no longer a tepid breeze, flowing and filling. I apologize in advance for their blundering awkwardness.

A few weeks ago, a little thing called fate happened. I was in my animal physiology lab, and I was pretty excited about the experiment for the day. We were measuring metabolic rate of small mammals based on their oxygen use. Groups were given the choice of picking a hampster, gerbil, or mouse, and there were a couple of each. I was keen on getting a fluffy little brown and white hampster, but alas, I did not make it to the table in time to pick her. So, I went for the next cutest animal in the lab cages at the front. What sad, tiny containers held my furry friends. I eagerly scooped up a grey gerbil. He was a hyper thing, but compliant nontheless. We got him set up in his little apparatus, a clear tube that he was to sit in, inside a larger clear tube with beads to absorb his carbon dioxide output. The closed end of the container had a long tube protruding, into which I squirted a bubble of soap. The bubbles rate of traveling along the centimeter-marked tube was recorded and thus oxygen intake could be derived.

That's not the point at all, really.

The point is this:
During the middle of the lab, my darling little professor tells the class how these animals are done with after the lab. The petstore would take some back, but others would be euthanized after the lab period or kept in those tiny cages for later experiments. The professor was planning to take one home, as he cared for their well-being, and he urged students to take one (or more) home if we were at all able.

Well, I jumped at this opportunity. Literally, I started jumping around the room, super excited, saying how I couldn't wait to take home a new pet! I looked around at every group, asking people about the demeanor of their particular animals, observing the cuteness factor of each, and asking to hold them when they came out of their tubes. I talked to the professor about his impression of them, which he liked the most, and the like. He was highly fond of a black gerbil he named Ursula. He was going to take her home, and it was really cute. He told me his second favorite was the other silver-colored gerbil, who he had been calling "Grey." Well, howdy duty, that was the little guy I'd been working with, and frankly, I agreed that he was adorable. So, at the end of the lab period, I walked quickly home with my boy in tow, and got him set up in his home. It's a very dear set-up. He has a deep layer of shaving to burrow in, a wheel to run on (though he doesn't love it), tubes coming out of the top that he can climb through, a wooden castle that he sleeps in and climbs on top of for fun, and a ladder that he never seems to use because he prefers a form of glorified hopping to get where he wants to go. Oh! My friend helped me pick the new name, as Grey was just not zazzy enough, and let me just say, I am in LOVE with the LOTR reference name.

Gandalf loves to climb. Here's how I know. Every night, around 6 pm, I do this weird thing called "bathroom time with Gandalf," or so my roomates call it. I wanted a room that Gandy (as I affectionately call him) could run around in, but one small enough I could keep an eye on him. The only room in my apartment that fit the bill was my bathroom. So, every night for his exercise time, I take my homework into the bathroom, take a pillow to sit on, Gandy's toys, and of course, Gandalf, and I spend an hour or two...or three...just working and watching my sweet little man run and play and have the best time ever. Today, he was very fiesty. Well, let's be honest, Gandalf is always hyper. He is the most curious little animal I have ever seen, and so daring! Today he was really adventurous, though. He figured out that if he gets a good enough runny-go, he can run vertically up my pants, shirt, and onto my shoulder or head!!! Once he gets up there, he does some crazy spidergerbil moves to leap onto my chest, hand, hip and then runs back down my leg again. I, as a protective mother, kept gently depositing him back on the ground from my shoulder, but he continued his little acrobatics, with more fervor every time! What fun. He will climb onto anything, higher and higher and higher if he has the opportunity. He's amazingly agile, can jump high, is unafraid and unabashed, eats positively everything I give him, including his house and food bowl!

He has a few other favorite things besides climbing and chewing. One is toilet paper tubes. He is obsessed with the things. I put one in his house and literally one minute later, the whole tube is a mass of shreds and he is hurredly carrying them in his mouth to hide inside of his castle to line his bed. Next, he loves towels. In bathroom time, I will make these long rolls of towels, and he just goes crazy running through them over and over again. I make towel obstacle courses for him. Third, he loves sunflower seeds like I have never seen anyone love sunflower seeds. That little fatty will search through his whole bowl of food and pick out just the 4 or so sunflower seeds and eat them. I've had to start removing them from the food so he will eat his fiber! I use the seeds as training treats now, and he is so dear when I place my hand in his cage with a seed on it. He lopes over and uses his paws to pick it up, nibbling at it, sniffing my hand and tickling me with his whiskers, looking for more. He stands on his hind legs in a way that reminds me of the meerkats of my summer when he's curious about something.

He's awesome and beautiful and makes me verry happy.

Here are some photos of him!

 

My Goldfish

I guess this is what things have come to. I'm writing a post about my pet goldfish. I'm pretty awesome, let's be honest. But you know what? It makes me happy that I can find so much enjoyment from a tiny fish that I feel the need to write about him. It makes me happy that he's worth that much to me.

Here's the story:
As I had become fed up with a certain petstore and the quality of fish I had received from there, I decided to try another one. My friend and I went to said store to pick out new creatures to grace my lovely, albeit empty tank. The tank is a standard 10 gallon, with teal and green rocks, as well as blue glass rocks on the bottom. There are three fake plants in purple, teal, and pink, of varying heights and styles. I have a small statue that looks like a Chinese hut, as well as the coolest Egyptian statue ever. I have a special fondness for Egypt because the best day of my life (or at least one of the top three) was spent climbing around on the pyramids at Giza and shopping in Cairo's fun bazaars (more on that another time!). Anyway, the so-named "Temple of Rah" looks like the side of a building, with columns, a statue of a pharaoh, and hyeroglyphics written on it. My hood has LED lights that give it a special and white-light glow. Basically, it was in need of some cool aquatic animals seeing as I was unable to successfully shrink myself and find a way to breath underwater so that I might live there.

We got to the store, and having been highly frustrated with my skills as an aquarist. I had regretfully went through several fish in the past two years, despite my ardent research, vast amounts of money spent, and earnest to succeed in providing the most healthy environment for fish...So, I was kind of fed up with the whole thing. But good news is, I don't give up very easily. I get very set in my ways, stubborn, to accomplish something I've set my mind to, and keeping a fish long enough to truly love it was my goal.

Remember all that money I said I'd spent on the tank? Well, I couldn't afford the prettiest fish anymore. So, I got one fiddler crab and 5 so-called 'feeder fish' (the tiny, 25cent goldfish that are typically bought as food for larger fish). One of the fish died before we even got home. Of the four left, one was unique. He has black tipped on his tail fin, just on the end, and he was distinguishable by this trait. I was reluctant to name the fish, because of their likely death, but did name the crab, as I had luck in keeping them in years past. His name was Anakin, but he quickly was re-named Vader when we realized he had a dark side. Crazy little thing ate 3 of my 4 goldfish within the first day!!! I saw him hiding in the Chinese hut just cleaning out their insides. Now, I'm not mad at the crab for doing what was only natural to him, and that's just the circle of life for ya, but it kinda stunk that I only had 1 surviving fish after ONE day. And well,  I guess Vader ate too much, because the next week, he was dead, too.

And so there was one. Little black-tipped tail guy. Somehow he was just a trooper who managed to avoid the grasps of Vader, and over the past few weeks, he has grown to at least 2-3 times his original size! Crazy enough, as we had named the crab Vader, this guy is turning to the dark side, too! And I don't mean the mean side...I mean, he is turning black! His whole tail has grown to black, as well as his caudal fin, and he has gotten black spots along his sides. It's so cute! Anyway, after watching him for several mornings, I came up with a name for him. He flits around, most curious, and has an intuition about things, but overall, his simpleness and will to survive shine through. He loves his food and eats it well, and he explores his tank as if it is new each time he looks or tastes something in it. Because of his nature, I named him Henricus Ludivicus. Why the crazy name? That was my Dutch grandfather's name. By the time I was old enough to truly know him, he was suffering from Alzheimer's. He was simple, had a short memory, but his love of animals, crazy foods, and will to survive shone through. I remember him puttering around the farm, showing me baby kittens and cattle and feed and tractors. I remember petting his dogs and watching him eat ridiculous concotions of cereal with orange juice or lemonade instead of milk! My dad is so much like him. Just plain kind. No matter what he did, you could see that earnest showing through, and though I was young, I have such fond memories of him. He's one of the first people who really taught me to love animals. And so I named my fish in his honor and memory.

I'm training Henricus right now. I do this silly thing at night where I lok at his tank light being on and say "Henricus, it is way past your bed time mister! Why you still have the lights on?" And then I proceed to turn out his light. However, lately I've decided that in my earnest love of him, I want to give him a goodnight kiss. Okay, this sounds ridiculous, I know! But it's adorable to watch, and I will explain to you what I mean by it. When I look down at his tank, watch him for a bit, and say "It's past your bedtime," I pucker up near the glass and when he swims up to my lips and kisses at the glass, I sprinkle a little bit of food while simultaneously turning off the light. It will take a little time, but I am hoping to train him to associate 'bedtime' with a ksis goodnight and a little snack.

I'm honestly scared to add any more fish. He's doing so well, I just don't want to disrupt the balance. I've grown so fond of him that I fear my affections would wane if others were there for me to worry about. I just sense that he will live a long time. I once had two goldfish that lived for 2 years each. They were beautiful and I frequently drew them. I hope Henricus will be the same way. As he is the main animal in my life right now, I get to outpour my affections on him, and I am always happy to spend my morning sipping coffee and watching him have his breakfast. He is very dear to me. He is a goldfish. It is the simple things in life that set us free.