|
Post by mygerbilprince on Mar 27, 2022 15:40:41 GMT -8
I adopted a 11 month gerbil today named Dove from a rodent only animal shelter. They said that Dove was indeed a male, but when I picked him up and put him in the cage he didn't seem like a male to me after owning 3 male gerbils. I googled some information on sexing gerbils and I still couldn't tell. I got this gerbil to pair with my male Hershey so I put Dove in a split cage opposite Hershey. I started to notice some things that looked rather suspicious of two males meeting. First, Hershey (who is a confirmed male) did what looked like thumping his foot twice but I could have been wrong. Secondly, Hershey started digging around the edge of the divider and seemed very keen on getting to Dove (who is not a confirmed male). Again, this could be normal but with all the other evidence I'm afraid it points to Dove actually being female. Also, neither showed ANY signs of aggression. In fact, Hershey attempted to groom Dove through the divider. They also seemed to touch their mouths together through the mesh and already seem very fond of eachother, as a male and female would. If there are any signs I could look for to try to confirm the gender of Dove please let me know. I just adopted Dove and he is already pretty scared since I tried to check his underside, so I'm searching for a work around of constantly picking him up.
|
|
|
Post by LilyandDaisy on Mar 28, 2022 4:55:09 GMT -8
Well foot thumping can be a sign of heat but it can also be quite normal when two unfamiliar gerbils have just met. Appearing keen to get to the other gerbil, grooming through the mesh and touching noses/mouths through the mesh are also normal. The only way to be sure is to visually sex Dove. He won't like it but he will get over it. If you can't handle them yet, let them walk into a clear jar or tube. Have a look at the photos in this thread to compare. At 11 months a male gerbil should be easy to spot.
|
|
|
Post by mygerbilprince on Mar 28, 2022 10:30:59 GMT -8
Okay thank you. The shelter provides one free vet exam so I might take him and ask them to check while he is there.
|
|
|
Post by mygerbilprince on Apr 21, 2022 13:39:08 GMT -8
Turns out Dove is a girl! The vet was able to confirm my suspicions. She wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but she still makes for a great addition to the family!
|
|