Male adult gerbils can get huge! But this is usually
at about 8 months or older. My females and breeding
males are a good 50% smaller than the bachelors.
My guess is that the petstore is mis-informed on the
age.
Donna
ABC Gerbils
www.abcgerbils.com
--- Melanie Gall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<HR>
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>
<P><BR><BR>So, my question 'o' the day..</P>
<P> </P>
<P>I was in a petshop yesterday visiting the world's
sweetest degu (which I can't buy because I'm in school
and CANNOT sneak 2 gerbils *and* a degu on a plane
*sob*)</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Anyway, I saw two little gerbil copies of my Percil
gerbil (although Percil is of course much cuter!) and
these gebils were huge! Double the size of
Percil at least. So, I asked the petstore people
how old their gerbils were, and they said just over
six weeks. Now, Percil is 6 months, and I am not
kidding, DOUBLE the size. I mentioned this and
he asked what Percil ate. He said that those
square food things are better than feed, which is
true. I thought that was because feed was so
high in fat. But Percil is smaller, and he
munches on the feed. (Although never when I am
watching.. although in 6 months he must have eaten
once or twice..;) )</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Anyway, my question is, is the pet shop lying about
the ages of the gerbils? Or is Percil waay too
small and undernourished? His g/f Kippy is the
piggiest gerbil and loves the food I give them.
She hogs the sunflower seeds, but there is
plenty of food left, so that isn't the
problem. (Althouh I have NEVER seen him eat.. if
I give him food he will chew it and then scamper
away..) The guy at the pet store also said
that if he is that small he has not achieved maturity
yet. That could be true, because he has not once
tried to get it on with Kippy - he'd much rather
have a nap. Could his lack of maturity be
because he was separated from his mother by the
pet shop at just over 4 weeks (way too early, but at
the time, I figured better with me than in a pet
shop)..</P>
<P>..not urgent, just wonderings..</P>
<P> </P>
<P>--Melanie, Kippy, Percil </P></DIV></div><br
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