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Post by betty on Jan 28, 2024 9:11:01 GMT -8
I haven't had a Shaw's Jird in a very long time - and have recently seen some for sale (UK) - just wondered if anyone had had any recently - or currently - and wanted to share a bit of personality about them?
Or any pictures...
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Post by Markpd on Jan 31, 2024 13:32:13 GMT -8
I can't add anything (had to do a quick Google to find out about them), interesting creatures though, similar looking to Gerbils but apparently up to about 14" (~35cm) long!? I wonder what size cage they'd need!? (NGS is woefully out of date here in the pdf I found! Dated 2014). Oh, here's a few of pics I found from the NGS.    |
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Post by betty on Feb 1, 2024 12:08:36 GMT -8
Yes, they are the jird most like a normal gerbil - just huge!
Many people have them in 4ft(ish) enclosures with a similar full-width topper to normal gerbils. They are very much more diggy that other large jirds, so depth is great. And the clear space at the top allows for their giant wheels (28cms min - and ideally a wider than usual running surface or open fronted - they can have quite a girth).
Other people go more landscape vivs - or in converted large 2-story units. You can really quite play around with them.
I found mine to be rather unsociable and I ended up having to keep them all as singles after just a few month - I barely had enough wall space for everyone!!!!
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Post by Markpd on Feb 2, 2024 16:15:56 GMT -8
Lol, curious they were so unsociable, was that just to other Jirds or to people too? That's odd, my pics have disappeared  [edit] wth?? I clicked edit, and then one reappeared, switched to BBcode and then back again and they're all there! Can you see 3 photos betty in my first post here? (hmm, this photo weirdness is ringing a bell.....)
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Post by betty on Feb 4, 2024 11:21:11 GMT -8
Nope - no images first time - now just the little boxes showing 'broken image' icons.
There was a Shaw's keeper/breeder at the show I went to - but he even confirmed that they are still very unsociable to co-habit and that is why he is finding it difficult to find new breeders to help boost their numbers in the UK.
He was very open about it when I asked him, and I said - yes, that it why I stopped keeping them all those years ago - so no change.
They still make great human friends, but probs best to only home them as singles - and really get bonded to them. As they are so big and friendly - they could be out more of the time free-ranging like chinchillas are. If I remember correctly, they are also quite intelligent too - so training them could be quite fun!
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 5, 2024 1:06:52 GMT -8
Do we know how Shaw's jirds live in the wild?
Are they inherently less social than Mongolians, or are we just missing something they might need to cohabit successfully in captivity?
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Post by betty on Feb 5, 2024 8:12:44 GMT -8
They overlap in habitat type with duprasi and Libyan jirds - so north African coutries (from Morocco to Egypt), but noone I havespoken to has really elaborated on their co-habiting strategy. Something to chase up for sure.
I have just thought about going into wikipedia in different languages as sometimes other countries have bigger sections than the UK version. Also, might log back in to the renmaus forum and see what is on there...
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), late 70s
