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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 5, 2023 4:09:01 GMT -8
Twiglet peaked at 95g but is back down to 92g now. I think her weight may finally have plateaued? I love how naturally huge she is. I'm told that her father may have come from Polish lines, and that Polish gerbils are known for being big. So that could explain her size. She was noticeably big even from birth.
Astra has been maintaining at 70g for a long time now. Evidently she did not inherit the huge genes. She is a lot more active than Twiglet, but I can tell she also just has a much smaller frame.
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Post by Markpd on Jun 5, 2023 13:39:05 GMT -8
Interesting to hear about Polish gerbil sizes! I wonder what their typical weight range is?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 14, 2023 15:39:15 GMT -8
I was wrong! Twiglet hasn't plateaued. Today I thought she seemed even bigger than usual so I weighed her and she's reached 100g. She is definitely the biggest female gerbil I have ever met who wasn't significantly overweight, and even most male gerbils at her weight have more palpable body fat than she does. Markpd I'm not sure about the Polish gerbil weight ranges. I've been trying to find a discussion forum to maybe find the Polish equivalent of this thread where people discuss their gerbils' weights but I haven't had any luck so far.
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Post by betty on Jun 15, 2023 12:48:17 GMT -8
In that image - she looks like she has a shorter tail too - or is that just the angle of the image? I have seen seemingly huge gerbils before - they look great.
Sadly the only female gerbil over 100g that I had was overweight rather than large overall.
How very interesting.
She also looks like she has shorter hairs - or reduced ticking as well. Very handsome indeed.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 15, 2023 13:56:14 GMT -8
Her tail might be a bit shorter than average but it's not quite as short as the photo makes it look. This is a photo of her in February when she weighed about 86-90g (and I thought she was big even then but she looks tiny in this photo!) She is lovely, a real gentle giant. She is very interested in food and a bit lazy which probably helps with her size but mostly it seems to be genetics. I have known female gerbils weighing 150g but they were very obese and thankfully, not mine. One of them was so big she had not only a fat hump but a kind of fat shawl around her whole shoulder and neck region.
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Post by betty on Jun 15, 2023 22:42:51 GMT -8
She really is beautiful, especially with that sandier appearance.
I wonder if the Polish ones are bred to be more 'wild type'. I have a strange feeling that the first rex coats were found in Poland too - but that was a LONG time ago - so maybe they have more robust pioneer breeding projects.
Interesting thoughts from this.
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Post by Markpd on Jun 22, 2023 5:57:57 GMT -8
Yea she's a lovely gerbil, she might be hefty but she looks well built . Would you say she's slightly longer than average or broader? Or a bit of both?
LMK if you have any luck on the Polish gerbil weight question.
This reminds me, I've got some weight updates to add..... I thought I had a temporary weigh of identifying one of them via a moult line, but of course they both have one now (although I think the one whose Gan is further forward and more defined atm). This is going to become a problem as their weight is differentiating slightly now.
Date ......... Gan .... Vila
20-03-23 ... 36g .... 37g 04-04-23 ... 41g .... 46g 24-04-23 ... 52g .... 58g (Big leap in their weights! And they have noticeable grown now too. Erin's Ark's food ran out on the 28th, now on Little One Feed For Dwarf Hamsters). 09-05-23 ... 69g .... 69g (A big leap in weight by Vila, but a huge leap in weight by Gan!) 23-05-23 ... 72g .... 73g (Remarkably close in weight still! I've noticed that quite a bit of food is being left around, so I've cut their feed to 10g/day (from 12g), as from 2nd June).
13-06-23 ... 74g .... 77g
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 22, 2023 6:36:55 GMT -8
I think she's probably both long and broad, but especially broad with a hefty build and a large head. I feel sorry for her mother since she is apparently quite small (like Astra).
I believe many breeders will mark identical pups by snipping a little bit of fur to reveal the undercoat, and that lasts a few weeks until it grows back in.
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Post by Markpd on Jun 22, 2023 8:19:20 GMT -8
Her poor mum! Good idea, although that'll be tricky to do as they don't keep still normally!
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Post by tanzanyte on Jun 29, 2023 2:36:52 GMT -8
I didn't think about the issues you might have weighing them when they look the same, Mark. Don't worry if it becomes too problematic. It's just interesting to see, especially as I find weight to be tricky when they fluctuate or increase.
We got Max's weight down just before and following his op, and unfortunately it's gone right back up, despite me having been away dog sitting and having to come back once a day to sort out meds and feed, water and sort sand etc. Which means he hasn't had treats throughout the day so I just don't understand.
Twiglet definitely doesn't look overweight, she looks gorgeous and perfectly proportioned. I think a lot of the time we worry about these things but I know with one of my previous girls, Bubbles, she was on the heavy side at over 90g and I'm pretty sure now it was a tumour because of where it showed and it being shortly before she died. Whereas Max definitely has a little chubb around the sides so his is excess weight.
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Post by Markpd on Jul 4, 2023 14:26:26 GMT -8
I'm weighing them anyway, as part of monitoring their health, so the only extra thing is posting it here, no real bother I just wish I could identify them easily! lol
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Post by Markpd on Aug 28, 2023 13:04:37 GMT -8
Date ......... Gan .... Vila (Vila the shy boy, Gan the explorer , to help me identify them! lol) 20-03-23 ... 36g .... 37g 04-04-23 ... 41g .... 46g 24-04-23 ... 52g .... 58g (Big leap in their weights! And they have noticeable grown now too. Erin's Ark's food ran out on the 28th, now on Little One Feed For Dwarf Hamsters). 09-05-23 ... 69g .... 69g (A big leap in weight by Vila, but a huge leap in weight by Gan!) 23-05-23 ... 72g .... 73g (Remarkably close in weight still! I've noticed that quite a bit of food is being left around, so I've cut their feed to 10g/day (from 12g), as from 2nd June). 13-06-23 ... 74g .... 77g 27-06-23 ... 78g .... 79g 11-07-23 ... 78g .... 78g 31-07-23 ... 80g .... 81g 28-08-23 ... 84g .... 81g 13-09-23 ... 87g .... 82g (food being left, cut feed to 8g/day) 17-11-23 ... 85g .... 86g 12-12-23 ... 90g .... 89g 02-01-24 .. 101g ... 99g (a big jump in their weights!) 23-01-24 .. 108g ... 104g 10-02-24 .. 109g ... 106g
Weight updates, still really close to each other!
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Post by Markpd on Jan 2, 2024 13:27:26 GMT -8
Weight updates, really been struggling to remember to weigh them, or find the time. Anyway, a big jump in their weights! And still remarkably similar!
Interestingly Avon and Blake both had notably weight gains in their 1st 2 Januaries, perhaps it's natural weight gain to prepare for the winter?
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Post by Markpd on Feb 11, 2024 15:40:56 GMT -8
Weight updates, another significant jump in weights in January! The intention is to keep the feed to the same amount and see if their weight drops off in the spring, but they're really getting to the upper end! With one of them looking rather porky! It's odd that they look quite different weight when there's only 3g between them! So I'm glad they've more or less levelled off this month. I'll stick to 8g/day for them for now (+ a pumpkin seed each, 2x small sunflower seeds, 2 mealworms each and a little veg). Oh and I've finally found a way to tell them apart! Hallelujah! Lol, Gan's white flecks on the side of his neck go higher than Vila's, so it's often difficult to see, but at least it is actually possible to tell them apart with close inspection! . You can just about see it in this photo. And one of my boys looking rather chubby in this photo! (Well imgur seems broken again as I can't upload to it from Google, so here's just a link for it photos.app.goo.gl/QC4bcFZ7YxSQ2US76
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 15, 2024 11:36:42 GMT -8
Markpd Your boys are getting big! Twiglet is up to 108g, and she's still not even fat, just really chunky and huge. She is a majestic specimen of a gerbil, and if she were younger I would breed her (especially now that her and Astra are officially declanned). Astra is still about the same as she's always been at 74g. This is the largest size difference I have ever had in a pair, which makes it all the more astonishing that Astra successfully instigated a declan. She used to rely on intimidation tactics and taking Twiglet by surprise, since she couldn't physically overpower her. I'm actually quite impressed by Astra. She's the brains to Twiglet's brawn.
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