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Post by zeemiller on Sept 25, 2011 5:01:42 GMT -8
When looking at very young Gerbils in the cage, can you tell which ones are Male or Female by the way they behave? Also, does a male and female have the same lifespan ?
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Post by esztershine on Sept 25, 2011 23:43:47 GMT -8
You can't tell their sex just by looking at them and their lifespan depends on diet, care, genetics, environment etc
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Post by brighttreegerbils on Sept 26, 2011 4:43:20 GMT -8
In my experience, males (particularly in their middle and old age) tend to be calmer and less jumpy. Of course, I'd never try to determine sex by observing this behavior alone since there are plenty of exceptions. When they are very young, if you want to determine sex based on behavior (or even outward appearance) you might as well flip a coin.
Like Eszter said, lifespan of any gerbil (male or female) depends on a wide range of factors, but I've never considered that in general males or females might live longer. It would be something worth studying. My educated guess is that males might tend to live a little longer. My longest lived gerbils have all been male and I've had more early female deaths due to ovarian tumors and such than male deaths. That is just a guess, of course. I'd want to collect a lot more hard data before putting that out as a general rule.
Good questions!
-Matt
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