ANDREA SPIEGLE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>Wow, I thought jerboas were a strictly wild animal. I've never heard of
>any being kept in captivity (not that I'm an expert or anything). I've
>seen pictures of them, they look kind of like gerbils but with longer
>hind legs and bigger back feet. IMHO they look kind of strange, I can't
>imagine anyone actually owning one much less breeding them in a tank. I
>can only picture desert for those critters, but what do I know? Maybe
>people do keep them and breed them.
I have see jerboas in captivity in England and The Netherlands.
They are only relatives of gerbils in the same way that a rat or a mouse
is. The need a lot of space as they run very fast and leap large
distances. They need at least a six foot tank, preferably a 10ftx10ft
enclosure (3m x 3m).
There are several species of jerboa. Some have reputations for being
aggressive, others for being tameable. All are very nocturnal.
There is a small photo of a jerboa (Jaculus orientalis) at:
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gerbils/jerboa.htm
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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