Scent Glands

[andreaS15]

Hey all,

Funny quick question. I know gerbils have scent glands on there rear and head, do they also have them on their bellies?

Today during playtime Blazer was doing a big strech during his grooming, but he would rub his belly along the bed, and even drag himself along. It was SO cute! But since he did it many times, i thought maybe he was marking the bed lol...
His brothers been a bit skittish since the girls arived, while Blazers been his same ol self, so i'm thinking maybe if he was marking it, it's because he know the girls are here. (i keep them on either sides of the room)

It was hard to get a picture of him doing this little belly drag, but here's what I got....
http://www.hot4x4.ca/albums/album131/acn.sized.jpg

he he he, i also took a bit of video of him too, though when he did do the strech in the video he didn't drag along the bed, but it's still cute. Video (http://www.hot4x4.ca/albums/album131/act.avi)

[GerbilBoi]

Cute Gerbil! :)

Yes males have a larger scent gland on their stomach. You can actually see it when they stand up. It looks like a slit. The females also have one but it is smaller.

Lu

[Jakamoko]

As far as I know, or I've never heard of Gerbils having scent glands on their head or rear???

They do have one on their stomach as Gerbilboi said and you need to keep a check on these especially with males as their scent mark their terratory more they can get scent gland tumours. Females can get them too, but are less likely to as they don't mark their terratory as much.

This is also why you will see your Gerbils mounting eachother, they are claiming the other as theirs. This is especially true with the dominant of the group or pair. My pair of females will often mount eachother when they're on heat, it looks exactly like they're mating, only I know they're females!

[andreaS15]

I read online when researching gerbil introductions, that gerbils had scent glands on/near there face and bum. The site said during a introduction (after split cage) you could water down some vanilla and put a drop on the head and back end to desguise the gerbils smell, so both gerbils smell more the same.

Thank's for the info, I've never had male Gerbils before (only females) and i was wondering about the solid "line" that was runing ddown blazers chest and tummy. I thought mayeb it was his belly button :p
I'm glad I asked this question :)
Here's a pic. of blazers belly, i'm guessing the line i see that is darker is where his scent gland is.
http://www.hot4x4.ca/albums/album131/acc.sized.jpg

Now I'm a little worried about scent gland tumors, Can they be removed if they do grow on a gerbil?
I had a hamster when I was a child with a huge tumor in one of his testicles (poor guy), I ended up putting him to sleep b/c of it. I really don't want to have to do that with Blazer, he's realy one of my favorites (don't tell the others lol).

I'm guessing the reason why he's doing this is b/c he can smell the girls, he never did this before.
I'm going to have to do a little more research and see if it's true about those other scent glands, if anyone has a link I should look at please post it,

Thanks Everyone!

[Jakamoko]

Ah right, I think the reason they say put the smell on their nose is so they can't smell things correctly etc not because they actually have a scent gland there... Some people also use vaporub or similar to mask the smells of the Gerbils when introducing.

Scent glands can be removed, and there is supposed to be a relatively high success rate, so don't worry yourself too much. I've not had any yet - and don't expect to either!

Here's a link to an image of a scent gland tumour:
Scent gland Tumour (http://www.gerbils.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gerbils/images/gland.jpg)

I have some males that scent mark all the time and others aren't too bothered, it could be to do with females being around. If they also play in the same area then it may well be the reason. Also when your females are in heat, they will also probably leave their scent telling the males they're in heat. I've been marked numerous times by females, they leave some type of secretion (you can see it, not the normal quick rub like that of a male) I don't appreciate it much either!

[andreaS15]

I have some males that scent mark all the time and others aren't too bothered, it could be to do with females being around. If they also play in the same area then it may well be the reason. Also when your females are in heat, they will also probably leave their scent telling the males they're in heat. I've been marked numerous times by females, they leave some type of secretion (you can see it, not the normal quick rub like that of a male) I don't appreciate it much either!

LOL... :lol: Ya i belive ya!
The females havn't even been out of there cage yet, i'm letting them get used to me before i start picking them up. They are allready sitting in my hands and quite happy to see me. :)

If I was to do an introduction I think I'll stick to vanilla, vapor rubs have medicine in it, i'd be afraid of them to lick it off and get sick.

Thank you for the picture. Let's hope I never have to see anything like that with my pets :)

Thanx again!

[MonoOmoi]

Yup, sounds pretty normal. Agreed with Jakamoko, I've been marked a lot and no thanks! Heh... good to know they like us though. :rainbow:

Some of my gerbs do it more than others, too... Maybe Blazer is just feeling posessive lately. :rainbow: