Hi!
> Viola and Ophelia are both black gebils, with black toenails etc. They both also
>have
> white patches on their throats that taper to a line toward their bellies. Viola also
> has a white spot on one of her toes. Is this normal for a black gerbil? Should they
> be called spotted/patched instead.
No, blacks, slates, lilacs can have up to 4 white paws and a bib which
reaches down to their scent gland and it's nothing to do with the
spotting gene. Infact for showing blacks are desired to have as little
white as possible, though I like it if you can tell them apart by the
different amount of white they have.
> When I bought Viola she had ticking below her eyes (like faint white cresents about
> 5mm under her eyes) now she's getting more ticking around her head. Is it just
> random, or might she be developing more patches?
I seriously doubt she's developping patches. Muffin had something
similar. She started to grow white hairs on her cheeks at the age of
around 12 weeks and in the end her whole body had single white hairs
spread all over it.
Eva
