Our History

Who We Are

At Westbrook Whiskers, we are a family operated kennel that is dedicated to raising hand-tame and show-quality gerbils.  The majority of care is handled by mom and dad, but the kiddos (ages 5 and 7 when the gerbils came home, now 7 and 9) are taking part in the care and cleaning as well.  They are learning to be patient, gentle, and above all else – QUIET! :) While our children are accustomed to various animals, large and small (including squirrels), we do not recommend gerbils for small children under the age of 7. 

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How We Got into Gerbils

My gerbil care journey began in 1992 with a single Golden Agouti gerbil named Jasmine who I had for about 2-3 years.  At that time, no one told you that gerbils were social and should live in pairs.  In 1997, I adopted a second pair of gerbils named Trigger and Yabbo from Petco, an Argente and Dove duo, sadly, Trigger was killed in an untimely accident leaving Yabbo alone.  Knowing gerbils were social creatures, I went to what was once the “Villa Italia” mall in Lakewood, CO and adopted Rizzo, a Pied Lilac.  About 2 months later on August 9, 1998, my first litter of gerbils was born.  I spent the next 5-6 years breeding and raising gerbils off and on.   As life got busy, I stopped breeding, re-homed most of my clan, and kept a few – with my last passing away in 2005.

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Getting Back into the Clan 

I always wanted to own gerbils again, but life got crazy – careers were being developed, I got married, a baby squirrel turned adult needed my care, two human babies came along, and I finished off my college degree – there was just too much going on.  Fast forward to September 2019 and life was finally at a place where gerbils could be a real possibility in my life again, but the timing just wasn’t right yet.  I shelved the idea until fall 2020 at which point I started looking more seriously and quickly realized there were no gerbils to be found in Colorado.  I contacted local breeders and was placed on long waitlists.  Luckily I eventually connected with Jo Kelley of Black Wolf Clan who I was able to adopt six pups from on November 21, 2020 as an early Christmas surprise for the kids!  Our clan members include Roxi, Ella, Thor, Wiki, Fifteen, and Batman!  Thanks to Jo, we are now jumping head first back into the amazing world of gerbils and could not be more excited to share our journey with you!