|
Post by sweetie on Oct 4, 2004 19:28:16 GMT -8
Hey guys,
If you don't know how old a gerbil is since the pet store had no information, how do you know if it is okay to breed her?
Momma Bear was as big as my boys when I got her. My boys were 5 months old. My girls are now 6 months old and are still not as big as her.
Is there some way to check the age of a gerbil? She has not graying on the snout or any where else.
|
|
|
Post by queenofthenile on Oct 5, 2004 6:04:22 GMT -8
You can't tell for sure, but I really doubt that a gerbil would be at the petstore for any length of time. Perhaps what happened is that mom came in with her litter. My two year old burmese does not have any grey on him, so I don't think that will help. I'm pretty sure gerbils are full-size at about 6-8 months. It might just be that momma bear is from a line that produces bigger gerbils.
|
|
|
Post by sweetie on Oct 5, 2004 19:32:38 GMT -8
Thanks Queenie . If she was brought in with the litter, she may not be good to breed though right? I mean why would any one drop off a beautiful Burmese unless some thing was wrong with her? Ashley did get back to me today. We will meet up Thursday. The pups are about 6 weeks old which will be great. I am hoping that Momma Bear will take to the pup. I am afraid that she has been alone so long that she will not want a little buddy.
|
|
|
Post by queenofthenile on Oct 6, 2004 9:39:34 GMT -8
As far as I know, a petstore wouldn't buy an old gerbil . Where I live, they refuse to buy gerbils that are older than 4 months. I'm not sure about your situation though. I personally would try breeding her, and if you have any troubles in the first litter, split her up. Because she is such an unusual colour where you live, I would at least give it a try.
|
|
|
Post by sweetie on Oct 8, 2004 11:09:51 GMT -8
Hey Queenie,
I finally met up with Ashley ;D. She is really nice and very knowledgable. We tried Momma Bear with an older solid male Burmese but Bear was extremely hostile. We then tried her with a 6 week old spotted Burmese male. We named him squirt. He is so cute!! I can wait to get caught up on everything so I can post pictures of my 2 new additions. I have them split caged for now but I am thinking that it might not be necesssary. I guess I am hesitant since I don't want the little guy hurt.
I am really excited about the whole thing. The website should be up soon. I was also thinking of breeding one of her offspring with Sweetie the Sapphire. Wow the colour point possibilities.
I'll keep you posted on the happenings.
|
|
|
Post by queenofthenile on Oct 8, 2004 18:53:34 GMT -8
I just wanted to warn you that if Momma Bear's offspring carry p, then you will wind up with 50% white gerbils. I wouldn't breed a colourpoint with a gerbil that is pp, unless it was a special situation (ie: no other colourpoints available).
|
|
|
Post by sweetie on Oct 11, 2004 18:08:52 GMT -8
So it's best not to breed Sweetie? I thought that she was a colourpoint? I do not want whites. I thought that Sweetie would lighten any color that I paired her with?? Wow I am totally confused now even more than ever.
Momma Bear is now with Squirt. There is no divider. they are fine. I took the divider down Friday afternoon. It was easier than I thought. I think Ashley said Squirt is a spotted Siamese. That should make for some cute little pups!!
|
|
|
Post by queenofthenile on Oct 11, 2004 20:53:33 GMT -8
Sweetie isn't a colourpoint, but you feel that she probably carries a colourpoint gene. If that is true, her genetics would be aa CCchm pp. So sweetie could produce eggs that are 'aCp' or 'aCchmp'. If Momma Bear's offspring was aa CchmCchm Pp, he would produce sperm that were 'aCchmP', or 'aCchmp'. So you would get 1/4 black, 1/4 burmese, 1/4 lilac and 1/4 PEW if they had no other recessives.
I think it would be best to stick with just Momma Bear and Honeymunch for the meantime. It is much more of a gamble breeding Sweetie because she is 'pp'.
|
|
|
Post by sweetie on Oct 13, 2004 12:01:49 GMT -8
I guess I was thinking that she was a colourpoint. Maybe I was looking at the Color Palette wrong. I am only going to have one litter from each pairing and then I think I will separate!! I need to get some experience before continuing. Can I reintroduce the pair if I want more pups from them? How hard would that be? I know that females are hard to introduce and I don't want any causualties but I don't want to keep them together and have a ton of pups either!!
|
|
|
Post by sandy2 on Oct 13, 2004 13:09:59 GMT -8
If you want to slow down the breeding in future, I'd recommend split caging the male from the female--that way they stay acquanted with each other's scent. If you separate them entirely you run the risk of them not accepting each other ever again. I've had it happen!
Another suggestion: it looks like your Burmese pair (she's Burmese, he's spotted Burmese) will produce Burmese, and if both carry a recessive p gene, possibly Pink Eyed White (25%).
If you want Siamese pups, start looking for a male Dark Tailed White--bred with your Burmese female, you'd get Siamese. Or, if you know she doesn't carry recessive p, and you can guarantee a PEW male (eg: from a breeder) carries 2 Himalayan c(h) genes instead of 2 c(chm) genes, try that. The best would be a PEW male who carries one Himalayan and one Burmese gene, then you get 50% Siamese, 50% Burmese pups.
You could also look for a Dove or spotted Dove male (make sure he's really Dove, not Sapphire) which should not be too difficult, and then you'd get Siamese and Black pups, or if she carries recessive p, Siamese, Sapphire, Pink Eyed White, and Black pups (this offers a bit more variety for your clients).
If your Burmese carries a recessive g gene, you could also look for a Slate male, in which case you could produce Nutmeg and colourpoint Slate pups. If bred with a Ruby Eyed White, she'd produce PEW, Slate, Siamese, Sapphire, REW, Light Colourpoint Slate, and Black.
It all depends on the recessives she carries.
|
|
|
Post by sweetie on Oct 13, 2004 18:07:34 GMT -8
Recessives Recessives
|
|