Hi Amber, I sent off the message, before it was done...here's the rest
> Hi Amber, welcome! My name is Donna. I've been caring for and breeding gerbils
> for about a year now and have learned so much from the GML-ers.
>
> "Amber W." wrote:
>
> > I have no idea what the two females are! :o�
>
> Check out the gerbil color pallette and match them up.
> http://home.wtal.de/ehr/gerbils/colors.htm
>
> > But now to my questions (and sorry if this turns out to be a little
> > long...I'm TRYING to keep it short!)...I've been thinking about breeding one
> > pair of my gerbils (not sure which I'll pick from each cage yet),
>
> These are good sites on care including introducing gerbils.
> www.rodent.demon.co.uk/gerbils/gerbfaq.htm
> http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9792/care.html
>
> I've found it very easy to introduce young pairs, with the males being older and
> so well bonded you might find that they have trouble separating (?), but then
> again the appeal of a young, sexually mature female may overcome that.
You could want to try a split cage introduction of both and set up two breeding
pairs. And see if one or both work out. What are your long-term goals as far as
how many pups you want to keep and do you have any budget (to advertise) or
connections (a large group of animal loving friends & relatives) to place pups?
A nice way to do limited breeding is: Have a first litter. At just before five
weeks remove dad and boys to a tank. Let mom and the girl pups raise the new pups,
and then split out boys and girls.
> > The first is probably a silly question, but since my males are older than
> > the females, would it still be okay to breed them? I've heard of
> > parent-child matings, but I don't know...pairing older guys with younger
> > girls just sounds like exploitation! ;)
>
> I'd think that would be fine. Age shouldn't matter (unless a gerbil is beyond
> breeding age)
>
> > Also, since I only want one breeding pair, that'll leave the other male and
> > female without a cagemate!
>
> This is an important point; You don't want to do that. In the gerbil world being
> "clan" or bonded is key, it sounds like you have an appreciation of that.
>
> > Does anyone have a suggestion about that?
> > Should I forget about breeding ANY of the 4 and just buy a breeding pair?
> > Or should I get them each a new cagemate? That might be a little difficult,
> > since I'd have to do the split-cage introductions, I'm sure. But I'd NEVER
> > leave the poor critters alone!
> >
>
> If the females are young, I've found that young gerbils are pretty adaptable.
> You might want to get a new male and pair him with one young female. Then set up
> the female with one of the new pups. She'd be alone for 2 month, but should be
> okay.
>
> >
> > Is it recommended to leave the male and female together for life? I know
> > they mate for life, so it would probably be upsetting for them to be
> > separated, but would there be any serious effects from taking the male away
> > from the female? In other words, can it be done without either of them
> > getting depressed or anything?
I have done plenty of splitting and reintroductions with the gerbils perfectly happy
with the new situation (and clanned) in a very short period (my newest pair Bullet
and Promise have bonded and breed in 48 hours btw). But others have strong feelings
about this otherwise. I think the key variable is perhaps the age of the gerbil and
how long he's been bonded with a cagemate.
>
> > Okay, this next question is from something the pet shop girl said when I was
> > getting my two girls. She was saying that gerbil dispositions can change
> > after mating...like, a once mild-tempered female might be more
> > short-tempered after her first litter.
Nope, this is not true at all. I would leave a new mother alone with her pups so as
not to stress her out, but an experienced mom lets my hands in the cage and touch
the pups from day one. The mother's temperment is the same (hamsters are quite a
different animal as Deb R. can tell you.)
> > Only 2 more questions to go! This one isn't really VITAL, but more of an
> > opinion. Were I to finally decide to breed, would there be any pairings
> > that would have better litters? I don't know if it's harder to decide
> > without the genealogy,
Before setting up a pair, run the genetics and see what the gerbils will produce.
http://www.netxp.com/rick/gerbils/frameset.html then click on "gene
predictor"
The hardest colors to place are: agouti, black, and nutmeg (at least in my area);
getting a
spotted gerbil is a good idea, people like spots in any color.
>
> > And finally, the last question. I live in Pennsylvania, and I don't know if
> > there are any of you who are also from this state, but generally-speaking
> > are there laws concerning selling gerbils? I heard that in Colorado you
> > can't sell the pups before a certain age (6 weeks) but is there anything
> > else? You don't need licenses or anything? Hehehe..."Hi, I have a gerbil
> > license!" ;o)
I don't know, I sell mind at just at 6 weeks or older. I've never heard about a
license.
> To those of you who read through this whole long thing,
> > thank you SO much!
You're welcome.
> Hopefully you all can appreciate the need to be well-informed! ;oD
> > Oh yeah! Is there anyone who could give an estimate on how much it would
> > cost to breed a pair of gerbils (assuming they were left together for life
> > and had the usual number of litters)? And how much would I need in regard
> > to supplies?
You'll have the first litter 25 days after mating and then every 35 days for the
next couple of years. You do need a budget
Shopping of the internet using coupons is the cheapest way, or getting stuff used.
You can set up new tank for about $25. Litter is about 12-20$ for a giant bag that
will last you a couple of months with 3 tanks going, and KMR (kitten replacement
milk), if you need it goes for about $8 a can and last for a long time. Food goes
goes quickly too, I like L&M highest quality for a bout 3.50/ 5 lbs off the
internet.
For good deals: try
http://www.bargains4pets.com/ and go to the "P" sites
Good luck and you're asking all the right questions -- Donna
PS -- if you want to pick out a clan name and register your gerbils and pups, check
out:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Shores/8181/AGS/joinags.html
ABC Gerbils
http://www.geocities.com/abcgerbils/home.html
GML Codes�
:C for general care, feeding, housing, bedding, etc discussions.
:B for breeding discussions that are less genetics intensive
:G for long, genetics discussions of the long, "alphabet soup" type
:M for meta discussion -- discussion on the group itself.
:$ for selling gerbils, wanting to buy gerbils or related information.
:I for this is completely irrelevant and "we're just babbling" discussions.
:S for information on gatherings and shows.
:Z for zoological and scientific postings that do not fit into any other category
:E for this relates *only* to exotic species of gerbils
