My gerbil is changing colors!

[RitzieAnn]

Chances are that your gerbil is "molting". This is when they shed out their fur and grow in new fur. The biggest most interesting molt is the "first" one, which happens right about 8 weeks.

Here are a few good pictures of a molt...






If you've got a nice clear picture of a molt you'd like to have posted, then please pm the picture to a mod (or admin)! ;D

[Markpd]

Thanks to LilyandDaisy for providing these photos

This one is Daisy aged 6 weeks before she moulted. She's a polar fox which means she started out as a creamy peach colour before moulting into her lightly ticked adult coat at 8 weeks.



This is Daisy aged 8 weeks mid-moult. She has a light moult line on her back.



This is Daisy as an adult with her light ticking.

Moult lines can most easily be seen when a gerbil puffs their up, as Daisy is doing here.

This is Lily aged 8 weeks mid-moult, showing the contrast between the old and new coat.