Never Say Never

Anyone who knows Natalie knows she loves all creatures...big and small - even creepy crawly things, too. Hardly a day passes without her sharing how she can't wait to grow up and have her own dogs. She has always longed for a pet, however, it was something I didn't think I could ever give her. Though I had dogs growing up and cats, too - in my mid-20's I began having allergic reactions and asthma attacks from them. Unable to give up "my boys" (2 tabby cats) I dealt with medications, inhalers and hives for more than 10 years. After they passed, I figured we'd never again have a pet in our home.

On Nat's Christmas list was a wish for a pet turtle. I didn't give much thought to it, but once my mom and brother caught wind of it -- I began receiving emails with information on "tiny turtles"...ones that don't grow larger than 4 inches.

Hmmm...

Soon Natalie and I were both researching possibilities ...a Texas Map...a Missouri Musk. We watched countless youtube videos and visited online pet stores.

However, her dreams were dashed when we also discovered a turtle requires a 10 gallon tank for every inch of shell...our little home is just too small to house a 40 gallon tank for one tiny turtle.

Natalie was really disappointed, but by then I had passed the point of maybe getting her a pet to I'm definitely getting her something...I just didn't know what.

We settled on gerbils. We learned they aren't known to be a high allergen and are relatively easy to care for. Once we decided on what...the how seemed to fall into place within hours. I posted an ISO for a cage on our local swap and sell and within minutes received a response from a friend who had one. We also discovered that there is only one gerbil breeder in Missouri...and she happens to live less than 2 miles from our home. I couldn't believe our luck! And, she had two litters to choose from. The pups were just 28 days old.

Meet Sweet Pea and Flame. 

After she built her case -- Steve could hardly say no to her.

Natalie and her black mottled-Sweet Pea

Natalie holds her red honey-Flame