Missy "Wissy" Dani was born sometime in June of 1995. She was my very first gerbil, who I bought at the local pet store. At first she lived with Splotch, my sister's spotted agouti. Later, she was moved in with Pookie, and the two of them had 20 children. The picture above is Missy (the golden gerbil) with her first litter and her mate, Pookie.
Missy and Pookie reared all of their children in their ten gallon tank. Here is Missy eating from the food dish on top of a kleenex box I put in the tank.
I used to call Missy my "little jumping bean" as she loved trying to hop out of her cage. But other times she would just sit there in my hand.
Missy had an innate sense of curiousity that would sometimes get her into trouble. She loved to escape from her tank and take a run around my room. Sometimes I would get panicked when she did this, especially when she was pregnant or was raising a litter.
I would often bring Missy and Pookie downstairs during family gatherings so they could sit in the little cage and see what we were up to.
The birth announcement for Missy's first litter.
Missy died on August 19th, 1996. She will be missed.