(1996 - 1998)

Taffy was a standard brown gerbil and Licorice was a solid black gerbil. Unfortunately Licorice was not a healthy gerbil and he died about a month after we adopted him. Single gerbils require a lot of human attention and interaction, so Taffy was the only gerbil which we hand tamed. She was taken out of her tank on a daily basis and handled. She was also taught to come to the sound of a clicker and would roam around the Library in her exercise ball accompanied by a clicker and peanut packing staff member. She seemed to enjoy taking the elevator a lot.

(2001 - 2003)

Harry and Ron were our first "fancy" gerbils. Harry was a pied black with a lightning bolt shaped marking on his head and Ron was a red-head called an argente golden. They were a very relaxed pair who would have been happiest with a tiny couch, television set, and remote control.

(2006 - 2008)

Henry was a lilac gerbil, dark grey with redish eyes, and Mudge was a cinnamon gerbil, a dark gold. Although they were supposed to both be boys, we were a bit suspicious that they were not and our suspicions proved true when Mudge gave birth to 10 babies on November 27, 2006. We gave away all but three of the babies to staff members; keeping two males, Spot and Ribsy, and a female, Lassie. We had planned to move Henry, Spot and Ribsy to their own tank before the birth of the second litter, but Mudge had other plans and gave birth to 9 babies in the wee hours of January 2, 2007, a week earlier than expected! The boys moved to their new home two days later. We gave all of the second litter of babies away to children whose parents submitted requests for a pair of gerbils. Finally on February 11, 2007 Mudge gave birth to her last litter of 8 babies. Those gerbils were also given to some of our young patrons. You can see our gerbil baby book here, or go to our YouTube page to see movies of the babies.

Henry was a very attentive father who made sure the babies were kept safe.

This little guy was the runt of the litter.

Unlike a lot of rodents gerbils are very social. Here Henry, the dad, and two of the older siblings have come to nap with Mudge and the new babies.

The third and final litter of babies with their fur just starting to come in.

(2011-Present)

Because they look so similar to their predecessors many patrons do not realize that these three are new, but they have distict differences.  Arthur, often mistaken for Hickory, is a standard brown gerbil not a pied agouti, Merlin is a black gerbil rather than a slate like Doc.  Lancelot is a Siamese like Dickory though.  Arthur loves to run on the wheel, while Merlin is the chow hound.  Lancelot is the low man on the totem pole and is often ganged up on by Arthur and Merlin.  Despite this bullyiing the three are avid cuddlers and prefer to sleep on their backs like humans.