Me Time - Pt. 2

I know. I know. I said I was taking me time this weekend and probably wouldn't be blogging until Monday, but what the hell? It's almost midnight and I'm too tired to do much more than veg.

It was kind of a "me" day. No, not really. But that's okay. Sometimes, it's not so bad, sacrificing the me time. That's what happened today - but it was for the Girl and it made her happy. There's little to complain about when one of your kids says, "You're the best mom ever." =)

I ended up spending a good part of the day running from pet store to pet store. I know there are archived posts about the Girl's gerbils, but in case you missed them, or just don't feel like looking them up - here's a quick recap. We had two gerbils. Two boys. Only one wasn't a boy, as we found out when Eddie had a pup. The pup died, but Eddie later had three more pups. They are now almost 6 weeks old and doing great. So now we have five gerbils.

The cage I'd gotten for two gerbils is way too small for five of them. And I had to split up Tiger and Eddie because I really don't want anymore gerbils. We're waiting to see if Eddie is going to have another litter (which I've already got homes lined up for, so that's a load off my mind.) because gerbils are like rabbits that way. We should know sometime in the next week or so.

So now we have three pups that are thriving. There's Scooter, who's all black and the tip of his tail is missing - I think one of his brothers bit it (maybe I should post pictures of them - they really are cute.) And there are the twins, who are are identical - Frick and Frack, as I call them.

Anyhow, long story short, I have Eddie in the original cage and had gotten something (I thought) bigger for Tiger and the pups (which are all boys, btw.) Well, that something bigger really isn't. It's just messier. So, I had to go and get something else for them. I trekked all over to find two ten gallon aquarium tanks. Had no problem finding the tanks. The lids, however, were an altogether other story. No lids. We have one each of the big pet stores (you know, the Smart one and the ones where the pets Go?) and both had tanks, neither had lids. They had lids for 15 gallon tanks, 20 gallon tanks, for 30 gallon tanks, for 40 gallon tanks, and for 50+ gallon tanks (have you seen how HUGE those tanks are? Jeezaloo, where would I put any of them???)

But no 10 gallon tank lids.

Damn it.

So, this morning, I go onto the American Gerbil Society webpage (yes, there really is an American Gerbil Society and their webpage is my new best friend.) This site is fantastic for everything gerbil. When Scooter had came down with a respiratory infection (which, I found out, is common in weaning gerbils), the AGS webpage told me how to treat it, since a respiratory infection can kill them. I trekked all over then looking for tetracycline - but that's another story.

But I digress...

According to the AGS page, I can just make a lid. All I need is hardware cloth and clips. No problem.

What's hardware cloth, you ask?

Good - I had to ask, too, so at least I'm not alone in not knowing what it is. Basically, it's a thin wire mesh. I found it at Home Depot (where everyone I pestered there with my questions was fabulous in trying to help me. And that's not sarcasm. They really were great.) Bought a roll of it (anyone need hardware cloth? Let me know. I've got some to spare.)

Now, I found the clips in one pet store, two 10 gallon tanks in another, and I've got my hardware cloth. I'm ready to rock.

I had the Girl with me, and while we're in Manland (AKA Home Depot), a thunderstorm decided to douse us. So we waited until the rain wasn't quite a monsoon any longer, and made a mad dash to the car. From there, I drove out to a big-box store to replace a CD of hers that the Boy made off with, and then, we went home.

According to the AGS webpage, making a lid is a snap.

They had no idea I was lurking on the horizon.

It took me two hours to figure out how to make this lid. Once I got it, sure, it's simple, but getting there? Ugh. At one point, I thought I had it, only the clips didn't work. I tried rigging paper-clips in place of the clip-clips. I got one to work perfectly, but when I tried to do it with the others, I couldn't figure out how I did it the first time.

Well, long story short again, I tossed the first lid aside and fumbled my way around with another piece of the hardware cloth (which is tedious to cut, btw. I had to do it one teeny metal square at a time) and I'm happy to say, the second lid was a success. And I got the clip-clips to work, so the twisted, mangled paperclips went into the garbage.

Unfortunately, the second tank has a huge crack in it (conveniently located beneath a sticker on the front of the glass), so I'm going back to the pet store tomorrow to exchange it. For now, the pups can stay with Dad because they're still tiny. It won't be long, though, before I'll need that second tank. In the meantime, I'll be haunting the pet stores until they get those rotten lids in. My lid's good for now, but let's face it. I built it. I'd feel a lot more secure once I've got real lids made by people who know what they're doing on top of those tanks.

In the meantime, Eddie is now my gerbil. I feel bad for her because the Girl is much more interested in the pups. But that's okay. Eddie will have a nice home in my office. I like the company when I'm working. And if she has more pups, hopefully one will be a girl, because then Eddie has company. If not, never fear... my old buddies at the AGS say that if I get a young female, I can most likely introduce her to Eddie and they should get along. If not...

I'll be going out for (yet another) tank.

And lid.

Hopefully they'll be in stock.