It was approaching Susan’s and my birthday, so our parents were taking us out to get us a present together. They gave us a riddle to ponder on the way to the store. They asked us, What has two tails, and runs in two directions at the same time? The answer was a pair of gerbils, also called kangaroo rats. They stand up on their back paws. Gerbils live in the desert. They wanted to give us some thing we had never had before. We named the pair Jack and Jill. Our dad set up a cage for them. W had a lot of fun watching them. The only thing is, we had a wire cage, not a good idea. It’s better to have an aquarium to keep the mess down. We had the pair a while. One day, We discovered one was having babies. We took care of them, then found a home for them. Later on Jill died, so we named the male JJ. He got really big, but he was fun. W did get another pair after losing JJ. We had a lot of fun watching their many antics. Gerbils like to bury their food, then dig for it. They chew on paper towel rolls. They have to have something to chew on. They eat sunflower seeds and some fruit. We would buy a special mixture of a special gerbil food with lots of variety. They also need to have fresh water in their cage. They like to make nests, so we would throw paper towels or kleenex for their use. Gerbil nesting material at the petstore is better to use.
