Gerbils

Please click thumbnails for larger images. Each gerbil is listed by name, colour, genotype, date of birth, gender, naming theme, and parents. In naming by theme, it's easier to remember ages and siblings. Of course, we do keep proper records as well.

Along the way, we'll introduce some of the many colours gerbils come in, along with the genes that make them (ignore the gene information if you prefer). It can all be confusing sometimes, especially as there can be several different names for a colour.

Wild gerbils are golden agouti (or just agouti), a mixture of black and orange striped hairs with a white belly and a grey undercoat. The colour genes that make a golden agouti are all dominant.

Spotted, pied and mottled gerbils vary in the amount of white in the coat, but the genecode is always Sp. White markings also lighten the rest of the coat.

Give the golden agouti gerbil the genes for red eyes, pp, and not only do the eyes turn red, but the fur is also lightened. This is called argente golden (or just argente). Argente cream is even lighter than argente golden with the addition of one himalayan gene, c(h). The tips of the hairs are silver.

Prairie Clan Bandicoot

Argente Golden

Aa CC E- pp Sp

4/5/2009 - female

Easter litter

Farley

X

Prairie Clan Toonie

Prairie Clan Dazzle

Golden Agouti

Aa Uwuw(d) Pp Sp

03/05/2010 - male

Brilliant colours litter

Prairie Clan Bilby

X

Prize (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Desi

Argente Cream

Aa Cc(h) E- pp Sp

05/06/2009 - female

Bob Dylan theme

Farley

X

Prairie Clan Toonie

Prairie Clan Pinta

Golden Agouti

Aa Ee(f) P- Sp

01/06/2010 - female

Voyage of Discovery litter

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Penny

Prairie Clan Snickers

Golden Agouti

A- C- Ee(f) P-

06/10/2010 - female

A chocolate litter

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Strelka

Prairie Clan Solar

Argente Cream

Aa Cc(h) E- pp

06/05/2009 - male

Solar eclipse litter

Farley

X

Prairie Clan Toonie

Take a golden agouti gerbil, change A- to aa, and you have black. A solid black will usually have just a little bit of white, typically on the chin or paws. It'll have even more white with the addition of white markings, Sp.

Give a black gerbil red eyes, pp, and you have a lilac. The gene that turns the eyes red washes out the colour of the hair, turning black to grey. Add spotting, Sp, and the hair will lighten even more, though not a predictable amount.

Lilac can also be lightened by a single chinchilla medium gene, c(chm), to create sapphire. Add spotting, Sp, and the shade may vary so much it can be hard to tell the difference between spotted lilac and spotted sapphire.

A single himalayan gene, c(ch), lightens more than c(chm), and will make a dove gerbil. A spotted dove will be lightened to almost white.

Prairie Clan Ariel

Black

aa E- Uwuw(d) P- Sp

09/09/2010 - female

Water litter

Prairie Clan Dazzle

X

Prize (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Emmy

Dove

aa Cch E- pp Sp

3/3/2009 - female

St. Patrick's litter

Farley

X

Prairie Clan Toonie

Prairie Clan Fib

Lilac

aa CC pp

3/31/2008 - male

April Fool's litter

Prairie Clan Ebenezer

X

Crystal Water Clan Sass

Prairie Clan Hint

Lilac

aa CC Ee Uwuw(d) pp

09/15/11 - female

Hush Puppies litter

Prairie Clan Hot Toddy

X

Prairie Clan Salacia

Prairie Clan Mimas

Black

aa Ee UwUw Pp

05/04/2008 - male

Mothers Day litter

Prairie Clan Ebenezer

X

Crystal Water Clan Sass

Prairie Clan Nalla

Sapphire

aa Cc(chm) EE pp Sp

08/13/2008 - female

Black Dagger Bro. litter

Jorden

X

Prairie Clan Lexus

Prairie Clan Oreo

Black

aa Cc- Pp Sp

06/11/2010 - male

A chocolate litter

Spirit (Europe import)

X

Prairie Clan Desi

Prairie Clan Penny

Black

aa Ee Pp Sp

12/08/2008 - female

Penny Black, first stamp

Prairie Clan Loonie

X

Crystal Water Clan Sass

Prairie Clan Razzle

Black

aa Uwuw(d) Pp Sp

03/05/2010 - male

Brilliant colours litter

Prairie Clan Bilby

X

Prize (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Sky

Dove

aa Cc(h) pp Sp

11/08/2008 - female

In Flanders Fields

Farley

X

Prairie Clan Toonie

Prairie Clan Vickie

Lilac

aa CC E- pp Sp

05/08/2009 - female

Victoria Day litter

Prairie Clan Puzzle

X

Prairie Clan Charity

The chinchilla medium, c(chm), and himalayan, c(h) genes are controlled by temperature. The warmth of the gerbil's body will cause the body hair to be light, while the cooler parts of the body, the "points" (nose, ears, feet and tail) will darken with age. Pups are more uniform in colour. Only in the adult coat is the full effect revealed.

A Colourpoint gerbil has a double dose of the chinchilla medium gene, c(chm)c(chm), and will influence all other colours. An especially attractive variety is the colourpoint black, called Burmese. A Light Colourpoint gerbil has a both a chinchilla medium and a himalayan gene, c(chm)c(h), again affecting all colours. Perhaps even more attractive than Burmese is the light colourpoint black, the Siamese.

A double dose of the himalayan gene, c(h)c(h), has such a drastic effect only the tail will retain any colour. It even strips the colour from black eyes, giving the appearance of red eyes. This even though the gerbil has genetically black eyes. The gerbil will start life looking like a pink-eyed white gerbil, and it can take several months for the colour in the tail to appear.

Pink-eyed white covers a variety of different genotypes. Any combination of chinchilla medium c(chm) and/or himalayan c(h) genes, along with red eyes, pp, leaves a uniformly white gerbil. Note that there is no such thing as an albino gerbil. An all white gerbil with pink eyes is a pink-eyed white, not an albino.

Prairie Clan Ace

Burmese

aa c(chm)c(chm) P-

01/03/2011 - male

Comic heroes litter

Prairie Clan Forrest Gump

X

Prairie Clan Phoebe

Prairie Clan Adrian

LCP agouti

Aa c(chm)c(h) Pp

7/18/2010 - male

Nadia Elena Comaneci litter

Spirit (Europe import)

X

Prairie Clan Desi

Prairie Clan Angel Baby

DTW

aa c(h)c(h) Pp Spsp

1/06/2010 - female

Spirit in the Sky litter

Spirit (Europe import)

X

Prairie Clan Sky

Prairie Clan Fredrick

PEW

a- c(chm/h)c(h) pp

07/19/2010 - male

Seneca Falls Convention

Prairie Clan Solar

X

Prairie Clan Safari

Prairie Clan Marvel

Burmese

aa c(chm)c(chm) Pp

01/03/2011 - male

Comic heroes litter

Prairie Clan Forrest Gump

X

Prairie Clan Phoebe

Prairie Clan Pallas

DTW

aa c(h)c(h) Pp

05/06/2010 - male

Titans - P

Spirit (Europe import)

X

Prairie Clan Desi

Prairie Clan Phoebe

Siamese

aa c(chm)c(h) Pp

05/06/2010 - female

Titans - P

Spirit (Europe import)

X

Prairie Clan Desi

Spirit

Siamese

aa c(chm)c(h) PP

08/01/2009 - male

Europe import

 

 

 

Prairie Clan X-Press

LCP Agouti

Aa E- c(chm)c(h) Uwuwd P-

09/14/11 - male

Newspapers litter

Prairie Clan Marvel

X

Prairie Clan Lolo

Take a golden agouti gerbil, change E- to ee, and you have a dark-eyed honey gerbil. The lighter shades are "extended" beyond their usual places, replacing some of the black in the coat, extending the white further up the side of the gerbil, and lightening the area around the eyes. The really fun part of these gerbils is the dramatic colour change as they grow up. They start out orange, and when they molt into their adult coat, some darker hair appears.

Give a dark-eyed honey gerbil red eyes, pp, and you have a red-eyed honey. This will dilute what little black remains on an adult DEH, leaving a brilliant shiny orange.

Give ee to a black gerbil, however, and you get nutmeg. Like a black gerbil, nutmeg is the same colour all over. No white belly. The pups start bright orange all over, and molt into a mix of black and orange all over. The change is very dramatic, moving across the gerbil in a specific order.

If a nutmeg has red eyes, pp, the sprinkling of black disappears and you get a gerbil that is orange all over: red fox (also called saffron, or an older term, argente nutmeg).

Prairie Clan Amber

DEH

A- ee Uwuw(d) Pp

10/09/2010 - female

Computer colours litter

Prairie Clan Rem

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Cupid

REH

A- ee pp Sp

3/10/2011 - male

Moons of Uranus litter

Prairie Clan Apollo

X

Prairie Clan Racy

Prairie Clan Daytona

DEH

Aa ee Uwuw(d) P-

04/05/10 - male

A racing litter

Prairie Clan Mimas

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Grace

Nutmeg

aa CC ee Pp

10/12/2008 - female

Thanksgiving litters

Prairie Clan Mimas

X

Prairie Clan Trix

Prairie Clan Puck

REH

A- CC ee pp

3/10/2011 - male

Moons of Uranus litter

Prairie Clan Apollo

X

Prairie Clan Racy

Prairie Clan Racy

DEH

Aa C- ee Uwuw(d) P-

05/21/2010 - female

A racing litter

Prairie Clan Mimas

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Rem

REH

Aa ee Uwuw(d) pp

06/25/2010 - male

A "Death Note" litter

Prairie Clan Mimas

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Tamarind

Red Fox

aa CC ee pp

09/06/2008 - female

Spice litter

Prairie Clan Mimas

X

Prairie Clan Trix

Also on the extension locus is the fading gene, e(f). In double dose, e(f)e(f), the gerbil will be Schimmel. Again, the babies start out orange, but the stronger effect of the fading gene causes almost all the colour to eventually disappear, except for on the tail and a bit on the nose. On A- schimmels, the tail is pale orange. On aa, it's a darker orange.

A spotted Schimmel (sometimes called Champagne), is unusual in that the pups start out nearly white and fade even more with age.

Spotting, Sp, may have additional effects on gerbils with ee, ee(f), ee c(chm) or ee c(h). Instead of the usual pattern, the white may extend even further up the sides, to varying degrees, giving a "racing stripes" effect. This is sometimes called Honey cream because the pattern is different from the usual spotted, pied and mottled appearance.

When chinchilla medium, c(chm) or himalayan, c(h), are added to ee or ee(f), the colour may be termed "lightened". Combined extension genes, ee(f), tend to fade over time, but not as much as e(f)e(f).

Prairie Clan Apollo

Honey Cream

Aa ee(f) P- Sp

05/07/2010 - male

Greek gods - A

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Strelka

Prairie Clan Caramilk

LDEH

A- Cc(-) ee(f) P-

06/10/2010 - female

A chocolate litter

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Strelka

Prairie Clan Champ

Champagne

A- e(f)e(f) P- Sp

10/27/2010 - male

Schimmel litter

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Pinta

Prairie Clan Manuka

Honey Cream

Aa ee(f) P- Sp

02/23/2010 - male

Honey litter

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Penny

Prairie Clan Shimmer

Schimmel

A- e(f)e(f) P-

10/27/2010 - female

Schimmel litter

Spook

X

Prairie Clan Pinta

Spook

Schimmel

AA e(f)e(f) PP

02/15/2009 - male

from C.E.I.L., Quebec

 

 

 

Underwhite, Uw, is the new name for grey, G. A new gene has been discovered at this location, so it has been renamed to match a similar gene in mice. The old g is now underwhite dense, uw(d). uw(d) takes out most of the yellow in the coat, transforming the golden agouti to grey agouti

In a black gerbil, adding uw(d)uw(d), has a lesser effect as there is very little yellow left to be removed. The coat is lightened slightly to slate, also slightly lightening the black eyes (shine a light and you'll see a shimmer of red), and lightening the toenails.

If a grey agouti has red eyes, most of the black is again removed, leaving a very pale orange gerbil, ivory cream.

If a grey agouti also has extension, ee the result is polar fox, which is a delicate orange as pups. Grey tips will appear on the hairs when the adult coat comes in.

A polar fox with red eyes, pp, won't have the gray tips. It is called apricot, and remains a very pale shade of orange throughout life.

Prairie Clan Cadet

Grey Agouti

A- Ee uw(d)uw(d) Pp

10/09/2010 - male

Computer colours litter

Prairie Clan Rem

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Chelsey

Grey Agouti

A- Ee uw(d)uw(d) Pp

08/10/2009 - female

Europe import

 

 

 

Prairie Clan Hot Toddy

Apricot

A- ee uw(d)uw(d) pp

11/14/2010 - male

Computer colours litter

Prairie Clan Rem

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Kira

Slate

aa uw(d)uw(d) P-

06/23/10 - male

A "Death Note" litter

Prairie Clan Dazzle

X

Prize (Europe import)

Prize

Slate

aa uw(d)uw(d) P-

08/10/2009 - female

Europe import

 

 

 

Prairie Clan Rodeo

Ivory Cream

A- Ee uw(d)uw(d) pp

11/14/2010 - male

Computer colours litter

Prairie Clan Rem

X

Chelsey (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Splotch

Slate

aa uw(d)uw(d) P- Sp

02/05/2011 - male

Messy colours litter

Prairie Clan MiniMunch

X

Munchkin (Europe import)

Prairie Clan Timber

Polar Fox

A- ee uw(d)uw(d) P-

11/14/2010 - male

Computer colours litter

Prairie Clan Rem

X

Chelsey (Europe import)