Deb Rebel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>>>Does anyone know about hairless cats or hairless dogs for people who are
>>>alregic to them? What if someone is alregic to gerbils? Do they have
>hairless
>>>gerbils?
>>>Thanks,
>>>Lisa and The Field Clan
>>
>>It is very rare to be allergic to gerbils. I allergic to cats and dogs
>>but gerbils do nothing to me.
>
>
>One is more often allergic to the feed, the bedding, and related.
>My hubby is....(feed and bedding dust)
Of course, but the gerbil being hairless wouldn't help in that case.
>
>>BTW, hairless gerbils did appear in Birmingham University and were
>>described in a scientific paper. But they have probably died out now.
>
>Haven't heard offhand but I believe that if it's shown up that
>someone has them somewhere.
I doubt it. If the gerbils at Birmingham University had continued to
breed, and only three gerbils are mentioned in the article, I am sure
the NGS would have some knowledge of them over the last 20 years. As we
have never had anyone contact us about hairless gerbils it seems
unlikely that a University in the middle of England has ever released
any into the pet population. If they had continued to breed them, I
would have expected further scientific papers as the existing one only
mentions the existence of the gerbils, describes them and compares them
to other airless rodents. There is also a photo.
The article reference and extract follows:
Swanson, H.H. 1980. The 'hairless' gerbil: a new mutant. Laboratory
Animals, 14, 143-147.
Three hairless animals were born to a couple of Mongolian gerbils. Two
did not survive past 5 weeks. The third animal (a female) survived and
produced three litters, the first two died within two days after birth,
the third was fostered. The pups of the fostered nest were examined
after one week, all seemed to be growing hair. Although the hairless
animal looks bald, the smooth warm skin is covered by fine stubble. The
vibrissae also appear broken off short.
--
Julian
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Gerbil Society
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
