Rick Stidham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>I saw three male black gerbils in a pet shop today that were black with
>a generous amount of white ticking all over their bodies. Almost like a
>nutmeg but with black where the brown would be, and white where the
>black would be. I wonder if they were just old and greying, or if it
>was something else. They were full-grown but I don't know how old they
>were. Has anyone ever seen this sort of coloration? If it's not just
>age-related I think I'll go back and buy them.
>
>Rick
Are you sure this wasn't either Grey Agouti - that is Golden Agouti with
white where the yellow is so they are white and black all over except
for their white belly?
If not, they were probably some sort of pied black.
There are silvering genes in other animals that give a lot of white
hairs on the flanks of the animal. But silvering in gerbils is not known
to exist.
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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