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Post by rasputin on Jan 27, 2004 3:16:03 GMT -4
Animal breeding of any species is not a thing to be undertaken lightly -- just as one bears responsibility for the lives they bring into the world, when you have control over the breeding habits of other creatures, you must also be held accountable for the well-being of the offspring whose creation you allow.
There is very little *need* for breeders of gerbils, yet people often have questions about breeding gerbils because pet shops inexpertly distribute secretly pregnant gerbils, or mis-sex gerbils on the sales floor.
I opted to allow my two most tame, placid gerbs to breed two litters.
Looking back, the second litter was likely a great mistake, as there were birth defects in the eyes of three of the seven brothers that comprised the litter. Breedback, as it has been explained to me, is a condition caused by a lack of recovery time between pregnancies. Nutrients in the mother's body have been depleted by the preceding litter, and this leads to deficiencies and abnormalities in the litter, and can be dangerous or lethal for both offspring and parent.
Having willfully committed great folly last year, and having taken full responsibility for every pup involved, I would be happy to field questions from anyone who needs advice in this area. What I do not know, I can usually find readily, or find someone who can find.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 27, 2004 23:54:23 GMT -4
"Breedback", huh? Didn't know that. I once thought of breeding either Chrissie or Crystal, but it was generally assumed I'd have to permanently separate the sisters. I won't do that. With Rainy the hamster's litter still here (9 out of 12 after a year) I do not plan any breeding soon!
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Post by rasputin on Jan 28, 2004 0:07:02 GMT -4
It would be almost certainly necessary to separate the sisters. Some folks have had no problem with siblings of the mother helping to raise the young, but there's always the chance that the tankmates don't take to the idea of genetic competition.
I have never had this issue myself, and have only the garbled anecdotes of others to go on.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 28, 2004 0:14:28 GMT -4
Chrissie and Crystal will live out their lives together. Old (but beautiful) maids! My eventual concern will be when one dies and if it will be feasible to intro a young female in with the older survivor. I'd be especially concerned if Crystal goes first as Chrissie, as you know, has biten me a few times; Crystal is slightly timid. I know some older females can live alone especially when they won't accept a newbie - I assume the young female would then have to be introduced to a second young female. Thoughts on all this? Hopefully, they will both live for years, but we never know.
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Post by rasputin on Jan 28, 2004 0:25:43 GMT -4
Intros are difficult -- I've had to do them a lot and it is always a problem. I thought blind Casper would have to live alone, but thankfully he grew to accept Corum. I thought Vodra would have to live alone, but she accepted her daughter Kara back into her life, saving me great heartache. This was a good thing, because when she was alone, she was constantly wetting my hand.
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Post by adara on Jan 28, 2004 6:49:19 GMT -4
I think the only good reasons to breed animals such as gerbils, rats etc is for good health and good temperament. Seeing as people who breed for pet shops seemingly don't give a monkeys about their health or temperament, I feel it is up to responsible breeders to keep happy, healthy animals and continue their lines - to encourage people not to buy from pet stores but from responsible people such as themselves. I could go on a very long rant about it but I'll stop myself here I've never had a problem with introductions - even with females. Just recently I introduced 2 of my elderly gerbs to 3 younger ones, then a few months later those 5 to another 2 younguns . Of course I observed them all the time to ensure there was no fighting, there wasn't even a squeak! Unfortunately one of the oldies died recently, but that was due to old age and a large tumour on her spleen.
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Post by rasputin on Jan 28, 2004 11:26:41 GMT -4
My dears just tend to want to fight strangers, and they seem to always require a split-tank intro to keep everything nice.
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Post by adara on Jan 28, 2004 12:03:34 GMT -4
You know, I've never ever witnessed a gerbil fight in 8 years of keeping them, and I don't believe any of them ever have as I've never seen evidence of it at all, and I check my gerbs daily for health problems as I know how quick some things can hit them. I think perhaps my big tank has some sort of luck attatched to it - it's the original tank I kept my first pair in 8 years ago and it's still going strong
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 28, 2004 22:52:37 GMT -4
The closest I ever saw to a gerbil fight is when confident Sam, and bigger but diffident Dave, are in a holding bin as I clean their tank. Sometimes they press heads together as if testing strength, and sometimes (although rarely) Dave gets scared and tries to hop out of the bin, which is quite a jump.
As I just posted elsewere, they have a uniquely quirky relationship here.
But of course none of that is really a "balled up" fight. I once saw two squirrels instantly turn into a spinning ball of fur. As I reached for a walnut to hurl at them to break it up they suddenly broke it off and each went in different directions, unhurt. It all took two seconds.
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Post by rasputin on Jan 29, 2004 2:20:56 GMT -4
Gerbil fights in the wild are not really hazardous in the long-term for the combatants -- because they have other ground to retreat to, and eventually the victor stops pursuing the vanquished. In a confined setting such as a tank, there is nowhere to escape to.
Adara, I don't know what to tell you but that you have been very fortunate.
I have seen plenty of ger-balls but I have only had one gerbil fight which resulted in bloodshed, and it was while I stepped out and the two were on opposite sides of a tank divider. One went over the top of the divider (poor choice of lid on my part) and became stuck on the other side, with the other gerb -- when I got home, both were squared off opposite each other and were very messy -- but they cleaned up well and got over their hatred of each other, and now make a very sweet pair. They even miss each other when I take one out to play, looking relentlessly for their missing tankmate.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 30, 2004 0:45:59 GMT -4
That's the problem with gerbils in captivity - if they fight it is like a "steel cage death match" as there is no escape.
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