Dear all,
Amazing. What Michelle wrote was pretty much what I was thinking, so I've
left it. =) I'd also add that since it is difficult to introduce strange
gerbils to each other, and it can be difficult to sex gerbils even if you
don't want to produce babies, it's likely that these gerbils that she's
producing will be bred with each other, which increases the likelihood of
the trait turning up again. I was also going to bring up manx, which can
show up as a short, twisted tail, a small stump, no tail bones at all, or
spina bifida, all in varying degrees. Tail problems can be a sign of
something quite serious being carried, but masked in that animal by other
factors.
As someone preparing to work on creating a line of inbred gerbils (20
generations of brother-sister matings, so that the genes are very uniform),
and who also wants to play with gerbil colors, I would like the stock I
work with to be as healthy and "well bred" as possible. I hope that
breeders I've gotten animals from have chosen their best stock to work
with, but unfortunately I can't be sure of that, so I have to create my own.
I'm a cross between a typical gerbil fancier and a typical physical
geneticist (just discovered that last bit today.) =)
Rebecca...
P.S. Bill: I decided to work in the mouse woman's lab just for the glory
(i.e. my name on the article), & the experience writing grant proposals &
winning Brownie points. ;)
At 11:59 AM 1/25/00 -0700, Michelle Haines wrote:
>From: "Bill Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>> Isn't that a pretty violent leap?
>
>Not really, no. It is a policy of ethical breeders in general to not
>breed animals with genetic defects. Ann-Marie did say that this is
>inherited.
>
>> As you know, I know almost zip about genetics. I know that NGS
>Standards
>> do not recognize a kinked tail -- but so what for pets? Perhaps
>> Ann-Marie's gerbils will be sought after for their unique kinked tails
>and
>> wonderful personalities.
>
>Well, it's easy to say "so what for pets." However, she obviously can't
>keep all these gerbils. She has to pass them on to new homes. Those
>new homes may decide to breed them, thus perpetuating the defect.
>
>And, when it is out of Ann-Marie's hands, the kinked tail might become a
>"sought after" trait. And too much inbreeding of that fault and you're
>like to get gerbils with serious spinal problems and deformities. That
>may sound silly, but Manx cats often have that problem. Breeding for
>non-standard body types has given us many dog breeds, but also many dog
>breeds with serious hip, nose, eye, and skin problems. I think it
>should not be a goal of gerbil breeders to create unusual body type
>conformations.
>
>I'm not trying to condemn you, Ann-Marie, but IMO you should rethink
>breeding from any animals you know carry this trait.
>
>Michelle
>Flutist
>
