# help with my gerbils



## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

I have 3 girl gerbils well I was told they were girls and I had them since they were about 6 weeks old and there about 9 months old now.
Today I have noticed that one of them keeps humping the other two and now I am not totally sure if they are all girls. I can't find anything on the net that says anything only that they can breed from 7 weeks old so surely if one was a boy then I would have had baby gerbils by now? wouldn't I?:confused5::confused5::confused5:


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## ChrisTheGerbilGuy (Aug 9, 2008)

Female and male gerbils may 'hump' eachother for dominance. It's completely natural 
But if your uncertain, you can always post pics of their genitals on here for us to see and tell you their sex. You can take these sorts of pictures by gently holding the gerbil by the base of the tail.
The theory is, at 9 months of age, they would have had at least 1 litter of pups if there was different sexes in there.
Females come into heat every 4-5 days and their gestation period is only 3 weeks to a month


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## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

Oh thank god for that I panicked then and thought I was going to have baby gerbils and was going to have to put them apart etc.


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

I wouldn't necessarily worry, as Chris has said. Gerbil mating isn't just "humping". Gerbil mating involves a lot of chasing, flirting, stamping feet and only a small amount of humping, after which the male usually flings the female away. Here's a video of two of mine mating:
videos :: kenyadominofirstmeeting.flv video by belueberry - Photobucket

Gerbils have a scent gland on their tummy. If you lift up one of your gerbils and look right in the middle of the tummy you might see a little patch of yellow where there's no hair. Though if they're babies this can be tricky to spot. When gerbils want to show their dominance over each other they climb on the other's back and rub the scent gland on the other gerbil. This can happen in same-sex gerbils as well as opposite sex. It's nothing to worry about.

Like Chris said though, if you're unsure of the sexes that can be sorted out for you if you post a picture or two on here. I've sexed babies at not even a full day old!


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## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

Thanks for all your help I feel much better now


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