Breeder tips needed

[sweetie]

Hello all. I am almost positive that I want to breed my gerbils.
I need some tips and pointers.

1) Do you register your gerbils? If so where?
2) Do you have a website?
3) What methods do you utilize to place pups after weening?
4) How can I tell what genes my gerbils have and what the pups genes will be?
5) Do you only breed for color?
6) Do you split your pairs before the birth?
7) How many pups have you gotten from one mating pair?
8) Do your pairs regulate them selves or are they continuously having babies?

Thanks again for all of your support. Again I want to make sure I do it right!

[queenofthenile]

I no longer breed, but I'll answer about what I used to do.

1) No, I kind of think it's a waste of money. Then again, some people may be more impressed if your gerbs have papers... I'm really not sure if that works or not.

2) Yes

3) I used to give to friends or sell to the petstore . Actually, the reason I stopped breeding, was because the store could no longer guarentee that the pups went in pairs.

4) You will only be able to tell for sure the genes that are "visible". For instance, if you have a black gerbil, you know that it is aa, but you don't know much else. So your genetics would be aa C* D* E* G* P*. Have a look at the gerbils available in your area. This will help you make an educated guess about the other recessive genes. For instance, the d gene isn't available in the USA, so it's pretty safe to say that your gerbil isn't Dd .

Have you seen pink-eyed whites, dark-eyed honeys, siamese or grey agouti? This will give you an indication whether your gerbil is very likely to carry the other recessive genes. Ie) Where I live, I've seen argente goldens, black, agouti, lilac and PEW - so the gerbils here will have almost no chance of carrying Cchm, d, e or g. Does that make sense?

The only way to find out for sure the complete genetics is through breeding or having the parents' history that can show the genes contributed to the offspring.

5) If your gerbils are well socialed, then colour is usually the main determining factor. Never breed gerbils with genetic defects.

6) No. The dad really helps a lot. The older pups help a lot too, and its a good idea to leave them in for the first week of the second litter.

7) I had six litters with Indira and Aris before Aris was neutered. I'm not sure how many litters they had before they were entrusted to my care.

8) I found that Indira popped them out every 35 days. If your gerbils don't regulate the litters well, that you can split cage them for a few days to give the mom a rest and prevent mating.

[crazycritter]

1) Not yet, but I plan to register them with The American Gerbil Society just because it seems more proffesional and there are a lot of benefits to being a member of the AGS.

2) Do you have a website?
Yes, I do. It really needs to be redone though. Soon!
members.shaw.ca/crazy_critters/crazycritters.htm

3) What methods do you utilize to place pups after weening?
ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS!! (they work) Website, message boards, signs around the city, newspaper, bargain finder.

4) How can I tell what genes my gerbils have and what the pups genes will be?
I really suck at genetics Sorry. Queenofthenile does mine for me. ;D

5) Do you only breed for color?
No, I also breed for temperament.I won't breed biters or REALLY skittish gerbils unless there is something really special about that gerbil colorwise. Even then, I would probably only breed for one litter to get the desired pup color. But, this problem hasn't come up yet. I also breed for health.

6) Do you split your pairs before the birth?
No, I don't, unless I don't want anymore pups from the pair, which is rare

7) How many pups have you gotten from one mating pair?
Oh, I'm not really that sure. I've just started keeping GOOD records. I *think* that one pair Bonnie and Clyde have had atleast 7-9 litters. Bonnie looks as if she is about to burst, so she's going to have atleast onemore

8) Do your pairs regulate them selves or are they continuously having babies?
My gerbils seem to have breaks in between. Some of them don't but, for example, my gerbil Fate didn't let her mate Hades mate with her until a week after she gave birth. So, they seem to have breaks. It's never every 35 days on the dot.

[Ritzie/Admin]

1) Do you register your gerbils? If so where?
I keep a pedigree with all the information I know of each gerbil in an excell-file. Some breeders register their gerbils at a gerbil society, I don't.

2) Do you have a website?
Yes,
The Mongolian Gerbil Website
www.petermaas.nl/gerbils
The Recently Extinct Animals website
www.petermaas.nl/extinct
PeterMaas.nl
www.petermaas.nl

3) What methods do you utilize to place pups after weening?
My website, adds in supermarkets, pet shops, other websites, etc.

4) How can I tell what genes my gerbils have and what the pups genes will be?
You will know after a couple of litters what genes they have, and when you know the parent's genetics, you will know the pup's genetics too.

5) Do you only breed for color?
No, also on behaviour. Never breed with aggressive gerbils for example. Or with epileptic disorder, etc.

6) Do you split your pairs before the birth?
No, always leave the male and female together. You should only seperate them if you want to stop breeding!

7) How many pups have you gotten from one mating pair?
Hmmm, lets think. Different per female, actually I'm not sure, would have to check my administration!

8) Do your pairs regulate them selves or are they continuously having babies?
They are having continuously having babies!!!

[sweetie]

Thanks so much for the information. I have recently registered at the AGS to help with the classifieds and the "paperwork" (I am not fond of thier Forum. Actually, this Forum has spoiled me!!). Also with my computer whiz Dad's help, I hope I can get a website up and running soon (sinceI am virtually computer illiterate). I would like to breed and I want to make sure that I have all the info and can give the pups to loving homes since I can't keep them all and I don't like the petstore stuff I am hearing.

Your information has helped me tremendously! I know have more ideas and I am on the right track!

[andrea]

Hi

1) No, In the UK there is no registering system like ther is with Dogs, But many people feel better if they know you are a member of the National Gerbil Society

2) Yes www.brooks-gerbils.co.uk although it is all done by my better half darren I take most of the photos..

3) We advertise pups via the NGS, our website and forums. approx 80% of all pups are re-omed via our website. Luckily so far we have had more trouble keeping pups for ourselves than not being able to find homes.

4) Genes are hard to understand, in fact there are many very successful NGS members that do not known anything about genetics. As far as I am concerned is as long as you know that the gerbil has come from a very good line then genetics is kinda irrelevant. Also I advise never to breed from pet shop or rescue gerbils, it tends to be a recipe for disaster. Rennerpro is a great piece of software that works out the genetics and possible colours for you, just it can get a difficult when you get weird recessives.

5) When breeding a believe its good to have a goal, for most people seondary after, health, temprement etc is colour. Although I would love to keep and breed all sorts of colours this is not practical. so I have restricted our breeding program to be specific colours. We have started with colourpoints, we have recently got some heavily pied pairs and we are hopin to mate the heavily pied pup with a burmese, ultimate goal is a mottled burmese.

6) No the dad is very important, we tried it once with piper and she was not happy being on her own and re-pairing was a bit hairy, so dads stay in.

7&8) Piper and Iceman have had 6 litter so far they have both just turned a year old. Piper tends to regulate well and never seems to get pregnant until existing pups are taken away, although once pups have been taken away you can almost guarantee another litter from her will arrive about a week/2 weeks after.


Good Luck
Andrea

[sweetie]

Thanks Andrea.

Unfortunately, I got 2 from a shelter and 2 from a petstore. Breeding was not intended at the time. Now after getting gerbilitis, I really want to have at least one litter from each pair. They all have great temperments and are tame. They are so cool but I do not want to go get more gerbils to breed with.
I am happy to hear that yours regulate. I know you mentioned it before and was relieved to hear it.

I really want to be able to pair up the girls after the litters. In another thread, Shorty mentioned that she had two pregnant females in one house. Is that possible? That way, I won't need to continue pregnancies or even have to reintroduce the females (since I heard it was really difficult ) It would also help so that the females were not on thier own to raise the pups. I don't want them to raise the pups by them selves.

[queenofthenile]

No, it isn't safe to house 2 females with a male. I would *never* recommend it. You are almost guarenteed to have fights break out or have the litters savaged. Shorty has accepted the risks involved and I hope it works for her.

[sweetie]

NO Queenie,

I fear you have misunderstood me. I wanted to know if I let Sweetie and Bubba out together in free raom and they mate but put them back in thier respective cages then do the same with Blackie and Cowboy, will it be okay to have 2 pregnant females in the same house together?

I would never put 2 girls and 1 boy. I wanted to keep the dynamics as they are and leave the girls together and the boys together.

I just wanted to know if I could have 2 preggoes in the same house and if it would be safe for the pups!!!! That way, I would have more control over the amount of pups I have and make sure that I have enough homes for the pups . I don't know if I could handle the influx of pups from 2 pairs and ensure they went to homes instead of pet stores. I also like the idea of first time mom's being there together since I don't want to leave them on thier own if I take out the males.

[queenofthenile]

Okay, when you said that you were hoping to have a situation like the one Shorty put together, I just extrapolated. The only problem with your proposal is that your gerbs will likely fight when you let them out for the "free roam". Now that your gerbils are older, they will be much more territorial than when they were younger.

Even if they don't fight when they are an a free roam, it is unlikely that they will mate. There is usually a lot of courtship involved and the act of intercourse takes several hours before the female is actually impregnanted. Also, many gerbil pairs don't mate for months after they are introduced. This is why the idea of "stud gerbils" really doesn't work.

[sweetie]

Thanks I guess it's on to plan B what ever that would be.....
I don't mind keeping them in pairs but I don't want a bunch of pups that I can't place!! I also don't want the mom's to be raising by themselves. Also if the 2 blacks only have blacks then I will have to separate anyway and introduce another mate.
I guess that's why I started digging for information now so I can get all the bugs worked out before I start.

Also it's a good thing it takes hours. Yesterday, during free raom, Sweetie bumped her roll around ball and the cap fell off. She was running around with the boys and Bubba mounted her a couple of times before I could catch her to put her back in. So if I heard you correctly, I have nothing to worry about!! Whew!!
I put the girls in the balls and then let the boys free roam then after a half hour or so, I put the boys in the balls and let the girls free roam so I don't have any accidents. Now I even tape Sweeties ball after I put her in it since the cap is loosened after much use!!