Scared pet store will sex wrong

[allison]

I have a male right now and want to get him a male buddy, as I don't want to have babies. I wouldn't know what to do with them after they have matured...like no one would want them. And I don't want 100 gerbils. Anyways, how much can I trust the pet store people? I sort of know what I'm looking for my self but I may be wrong. I sometimes wonder if I'm wrong about my guy being a guy. I'm pretty sure he is a he though. Theres a fair distance between the anus and penis, and theres a slight bulge for what would be the testicles. I"m 90% sure. he's a male. But back to my problem, how can I trust the pet store guys and at such a young age it's harder to know the difference. The younger they are the more they look the same. (I've looked at a site that showed pictures to compare at different ages) Does any one have any other tricks to sex them? Or any advice at all??

[paws]

Just get whatever they say is a male, and if it has puppies, return the pups! I would get attached though... But even if you got pups, once they are 6 weeks old you can sell them to the store! Just in case, get the nicests colour there!

[allison]

I didn't think a pet store would want gerbils from local people, figured they had their suplier and that would be enough. If I do end up getting babies, I wouldn't want to again and I'd have to split them up I wouldn't want to have to do that. Is it possible to get a gerbil fixed? lol stupid question. Just wondering though.

[paws]

Yup, I might get a female and get her fixed! Rather have pups though

[devun]

I was going to get columbia neutered when i found out he was a boy but the vet made it sound really expensive and dangerous.

[callimico]

Some vets will fix gerbils, butI've heard it's best to neuteur the males, because it's more dangerous and invasive an operation to spay females. I know some people who got their male neuteured once they didn't want him having pups anymore, but some of them had problems with the female not recognizing his scent afterwords and attacking him. But if you bring the whole family along to the vets so you can put him back in the tank right away, everything works out...if he doesn't pick at his stitches too much.

Did you check out the site www.wagerbils.com/sexinggerbils.html

It's really good for all ages of gerbils and you can test yourself at the end.

My experience when I bought store gerbils, was whatever sex they told me the gerbil was I could be 99% certain that it was exactly the opposite sex. So if they tell you you have a female your probably safe that it's male, lol.

Good luck

[j]

You can't trust petstore people. Sure some know how to sex them, but a lot don't.

Look at pics of males and females online. The link Callimico posted was good..
This one has 5 week olds which will probably be about the age the petshop has.. www.gerbilbreeding.com/sexing.htm

It's pretty easy. Females have nothing and what they do have is practically touching.
Males even if their scrotom isn't showing.. theres still a distance and there will be like a dark line down there. (might depend on the color though..Ive seen it in blacks and agoutis.) Females will only have like 2 dots.

Make sure to hold it on its back and check.. don't try and just lift the tail up to see if there is a scrotom.

[doomgerbiluk]

Well I've never had a petshop make a mistake
I muxt be lucky
mind you I have laways double checked myself and as I kept rats before gerbils had a good idea what i was looking for before buying

[pixytwinkle]

i bought a supposed female from a petstore but i found out its a male.
when we told the petstore they said they would gladly take any babies but i already have homes for them.
;D
good luck

[sweetie]

I would say TRUST YOURSELF. You have done the research. The pet store people have a little knowledge about a lot of animal but not alot of specifiecs on every animal.

I would not listen to the pet stores. Some petstores only house males or females but not both like PetSmart. I would make sure *you* know the difference before you go in to buy one.

You might benefit from buying from a breeder since they "specialize" in gerbils.

[allison]

Wow thanks alot guys. Well I got my gerbil the day before yesterday and after looking at those pictures, I'm 90% it's a boy, it has the line between the anus and urethra. I didn't even look at the pet store I called in before I went and he said he'd go look quick to see what sex the new babies were and he came back saying he thinks they're all male. When I got htere he showed me one of them upside down and I didn't really know what it was...he said they all looked the same like that, so I just picked the color I liked best. Then when I got home and looked at him, he looked different than the one he showed me. The other one was a girl, I can see the difference now after comparing.

Thanks again!