Special thanks to David Gerrold, for creating the most popular SciFi pet in the Federation, and of course to Gene Roddenberry, for creating the Star Trek Universe and making this all possible.
Disclaimer: I wrote this well before Terry J. Erdmann's 'The Tribble Handbook' came out, -it was published in 1998 and this was done somewhere around 1993-1994. I guess I should've sent it in to Paramount at the time, LOL!! But I didn't, and since Star Trek, the tribbles and everything else belongs to Paramount, I don't make money off this. Bummer!
The latest update here is a major fix in formatting, which was really rather horrible. I've written several new stories and finally figured out how to upload a file and not lose half the formatting, so I'm slowly working my way through the older stories and fixing them. Sorry, no new content in this story!
Tribbles (Tribbeleus Pregnantum) are furry, almost round animals, ranging in size from less than 3 to more than 35 cm. They have no legs, but are nonetheless able to propel themselves at a very reasonable speed. They can and will eat almost anything a carbon-based life form can digest, and then some. They do not posses eyes, but have other, highly accurate, senses, some of which have not been fully explained as of this date.
The natural tribble is some shade of black, brown, or white, but through selective breeding the tribble now comes in almost any color.
Tribbles are hermaphrodites and begin reproduction before birth, if the parent has enough food reserves built up. They are also capable of heterosexual reproduction, which is important for variety and evolution in the species. As a matter of fact, a tribble will choose a partner if one is available.
A tribble can reproduce once every 12 hours, with an average litter of 10, when fed free choice on a high protein diet, but the tribbles kept commonly as pets are genetically altered and can not breed.
Non-breeding tribbles make good pets because they are clean and easy to keep. They are very friendly to almost all humanoids, and most other Federation members.