help with a gerbil.......

[makaze]

well....here ya go........

#1: if(when) i buy a gerbil do i need to buy them in pairs?

#2: male or female?

#3: are tey active in the evening hours?

#4: how manny (excuse me for usnign wrong termonogly on this next word) "babies" do they have at once???




********all answers are appreciated************


:badpc: makaze:badpc:

[makaze]

'comon people! please answer!!!!!!!!




|makaze|

[BaBiLiCi0uZz]

I am not a gerbil expert but I found some stuff on the internet bout gerbils.

No, you don't have to get two gerbils if you don't want to,but housing them in two or more is recommended, make shure they are in the same litter cause Some gerbils MAY get territorial with other gerbils they don't know.You should get them 6-8 weeks old so they can bond if your gonna get two.If they start to fight, you put a divider in the cage so they'll get to know each others scent.

Get which ever one you prefer.

Gerbils are active during the day.

They usually have about 5-6 pups but 1-9 pups are normal too.

Hope this helps!!:angel5:

[gerbilheaven]

Hi,
I'm Ashley and I breed and rescue gerbils. Maybe I can help.

1.) You should never get a gerbil by itself. They can become very depressed and become destructive. (Take it from me I had a female this way.) Your best bet is to sex them yourself. Another words if you goto a pet shop and get gerbils, please check them yourself. The employees often do not know the difference.

2.) Male/Female is really optional. I have some males that are very skittish and some that are extremely friendly. Same with females. Its really up to you on that one. Females can be a tad bit more territorial though.

3.) Yes gerbils are very active in the evening. They are usually nesting down in the morning and are up around the mid-day part, and get very active in the evening and night. I share my bedroom with 29 gerbils and they are noisey.

4.) Gerbil babies are called "pups" because they resemble puppies. They are not called puppies but pups instead. This is the case for hamsters rats and so on. Gerbils have an average litter of around 4-6 pups but larger litters aren't uncommon. I have one female who had 7 her very first litter and one who had 3 her very first litter. Depends on age, health and just nature.

Please feel free to ask anything you need to know. Here are a few good tips though. If you ever intend to breed please study genetics first. If you don't understand genes ask me I'll give you a quick easy way to learn them. They really aren't hard to learn. If you do get any rodent please do not use cedar or pine bedding as it has been proven to cause respiratory infections which can be fatal especially in young, old or weaker animals. It can kill a normally healthy adult too. If you need help figuring out sex here's a link... http://www.agsgerbils.org/Gerbil_Care_Handbook/breeding.html#sex
Thanks and good luck!
Ashley

[makaze]

ashley, i know just about all of what you said in that last paragraph. i've studied hamster genetics for about 1and a half years. and the last 3 years of my life i was studing hamsters in general. i thank you all for your help. im not a gerbil geneous but im a hamster geneous. :badpc: makaze:badpc: sorry if i sound like a jerk