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Post by radek on Nov 12, 2004 0:07:14 GMT -8
Two weeks ago I had bought young nutmeg gerbil. I was sure that it is a female. Next week, that gerbil looked like a male. Now it look like a female again. What is it mean  (That gerbil is now about 8 weeks old) |
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Post by queenofthenile on Nov 12, 2004 5:45:30 GMT -8
Some male gerbils take a bit longer to develop. It also depends on how you hold them. If you hold them with their hind end curled in your hand, this kind of squishes the testicles inwards and the gerbil can look almost like a female.
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Post by sweetie on Nov 12, 2004 13:22:39 GMT -8
This is why many people (especially untrained pet store employees) sex gerbils incorrectly. What happens is the testicles are mobile. Depending on thier position in relation to the object they are on or in, the testicle shift: thereby making a male appear to be female. It is hard to sex gerbils before 10 weeks if it was not your pup. If it is your pup, it will be easier to keep tabs on the maturing and shifting pups. The problem usually arises when gerbils are breed and shipped to stores or dropped off at shelters. On intake of the gerbils, some pet stores don't even segragate by sex, others who are untrained or don't take the time, put them in the wrong tanks. PetSmart has a great method by which they have one store sell females and the other one sells males. You can't buy a male and a female at one store!! The smaller pet shops however do not have the same luxury . If you are unsure of the sex, there are several websites that can show you the difference Queenie's www.gerbilbreeding.com. It is most important if you bought your gerbils from the same store. You may have a male and a female from the same litter. This might mean that if your gerbils have pups, they will be inbred. If you don't have any knowledge of thier lineage, it may be the second or third generation of in family breeding. Good luck. Keep us posted. |
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Post by radek on Nov 13, 2004 0:57:44 GMT -8
I have two gerbils, but they were bought in two shops far away from each other. And looks like I have two males. So I think that I would buy third gerbil - female. But it will be hard to introducing. I must be very careful with introducing.
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Post by queenofthenile on Nov 13, 2004 5:29:09 GMT -8
You do not want to introduce a third gerbil into the mix! The likelihood of fighting when they hit sexual maturity is very high. If you are wanting to breed, it would be best to get another male and female gerbil to put together.
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Post by sandy on Nov 13, 2004 20:23:40 GMT -8
I agree. That is a recipe for a big fight and a badly injured gerbil.
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Post by radek on Nov 15, 2004 5:37:19 GMT -8
Now I have a pair. I changed in shop one of males for his sister. (It was the same shop, where i bought him, and I am 100% sure that she is his sister) His brothers in shop quickly recognized him and accepted him again. He is again in old family, and his sister is with my second male.
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