Here are some pages that allow you to get to know my clan better!

News - What's the latest with this site & my clan?
My Gerbils - They each have a page
Current Litters - Check out the pups
Past Litters - Past pups
Family Tree - Take a gander at that!
Where in the USA Are The Danis? - A map of where your local Danis are
Our Genetics - The breeding pairs & what they produce
Adopt-A-Dani - I always have sweet, friendly pups available

History

The Dani Clan was "founded" in September of 1995 when I, Elizabeth Heckert, bought my first pet gerbil. Her name was Missy, and she was an argente golden. Along with Missy, we bought an agouti pied girl named Splotch. A few weeks later we also added "Vampira", a black, to the mix. Little did we know, Vampira wasn't a she, but a he (one of only 3 times I've ever made that mistake), and as soon as the mistake was discovered we removed Splotch so Missy and Vampira (aka "Pookie") could start their family unhindered. And so they did!

Missy, Pookie, and Litter #1

Pookie became known as TDC's Pookie Dani. The Dani came from the fact that his father, a black male owned by my 7th grade Life Science teacher, was named Dani. Missy and Pookie had 4 litters before Missy suffered an untimely death at the age of about 1 year. After that I didn't have any interest in breeding for a while. I had kept a few of their kids, though. In fact, their entire last litter of 7. When I opened this site in June or July of 1997, I had just 7 gerbils. However, having joined the gerbil mailing list, I became interested in breeding again. Since I had recently lost one of Pookie's daughters, a black named Rachel, I decided to breed her sister Phoebe. Phoebe was paired to a very sweet lilac male named Ciaran. They had 8 litters despite the fact Phoebe had her first at 17 months old!

At that point I became interested in some of the newer colors. In April of 1997 a group of people had imported some g and c(b) gene gerbils (grey agouti, burmese, etc.) from Europe. I met one of these people (Kelly Christenson) in gerbil chat one evening... and so it began! I ended up getting a lt colorpoint slate, pink eyed white, grey agouti spot, and nutmeg pied from Kelly--whom I owe a big debt of gratitude!

Riven is one of my "Kelly Gerbils"

Now my clan has blossomed to include many different colors. I have pups that come in almost every color. However color isn't my only concern. First the parents must be in good health and must have great temperament. Some of my gerbs are real characters! I'm currently trying to breed some more exotic colors into my Dani line, and I've produced my first generation of "rare colored" gerbils from TDC's Last Dance ("Minerva") and TDC's Fifth Age ("Zeus"), including an adorable, special little ivory cream spot male named Lyric.

Riven & His Son

My Dani line is very special. I have a few different families of gerbils (though it seems like many of them have a tie here or there to Mindy Arledge's D'Arcey line) but I must say the Danis have remained my favorite. Maybe it's just my rose colored glasses for my first gerbs, or maybe they really are... I don't know. But they have great personalities, hilarious expressions, and excellent health. Even though there is nothing wrong with a little inbreeding in a line, I have kept that out of my Danis, and I must say I'm quite pleased with the results!

Pookie Dani: September 10th, 1995 - November 1st, 1998

Unfortunately, our patriarch, Pookie, passed away in November of 1998. He may be gone, but I will never forget him. He has surely made a great mark on the face of gerbil breeding and his genes continue on in hundreds of descendants!

How I Care For The Clan

I have a very strict code of ethics when it comes to my little fuzzballs. I love each and every one of them, and give them all a name. Even the pups. (however naturally I let new adopters rename them if they want!) This way I can identify with them personally, they're not just "that white one over there". All pups are handled daily to make them as friendly as possible. That is, after all, the whole point of breeding!

The Dani Clan

All the gerbils share my bedroom with me. In fact they have a larger part of my room than I do! All the pairs are kept in a 10 gallon aquarium, and I have a trio of girls in a 20L and a 24gallon "pup tank" as well. I have all manner of spare cages too, all equivalent to a 10 gallon tank in size or larger.

I feed them the highest quality gerbil food that I can find. All cages are kept clean and tidy, with plenty of food and water. The gerbils get an assortment of houses, toys, and wheels to keep them occupied when they aren't busy doing other things. I do my best to keep them in pairs although I do have the occaisional female who just wants to be alone. They're kept on aspen bedding ONLY, and given tissues to make a nice cozy nest.

I do not sell to pet stores. I think that it's my responsibility as a breeder to see that each pup gets a good, loving home, and doesn't end up being neglected. I might also be a bit picky when it comes to who adopts my pups--but who wouldn't be? If you think you can provide a good, loving, life-long home to a pair of pups, then by all means drop me a line! I always have pups available to good owners.

I no longer breed because I am going to college. However I'm leaving this site up both as a testament to my breeding program, and so gerbil lovers can continue to use it as a resource.

Dani pups are irresistable!

Club Affiliations

I am a member of the American Gerbil Society. At one time I served as secretary and webmistress to the Society. I am also a member of the Gerbil Club of Missouri and a member of the Gerbil Mailing List.

Elizabeth (the breeder)

I'm 18 years old, and attend the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. In addition to gerbils, I'm very interested in webpages, graphics, the TV show Earth2, and Pomeranians (dogs). If you'd like to email me with questions or comments about my page, please feel free to email me.

Thank-Yous

I would like to say thank you to the following people.

Donne DeKay - for dear little Pookie
Kelly Christenson - for my first "exotic" gerbs! ;)
Mindy Arledge - for the D'Arcey clan and the Reillys =)
Lisa Harrell - for my chubby lil Sympatico & sweet Hafwen
Kate Potter - for chubby boy Darwin & my precious Ash
Heather Schwartz - wherever ya are, for Lilith ("Lily") who's a sweetie
My Parents - for putting up with me!! =P
My Friends - Same =)
& all the people who've visited this page since July 1997 and/or have adopted pups from me. I couldn't keep this up without ya!