There are million of rodents all over the world but the gerbil is the sweetest one of them all.  They are also called clawed gerbils.  Mongolian Gerbils are cute, soft, and you can cuddle with them.  Mongolian gerbil or jird’s scientific name is Meriones unguiculatus.

 

            Mongolian gerbils are small rodents with tiny little pink noses.  Their body length is around twelve centimeters long and the tail is about twelve centimeters long also.  Gerbil’s fur is thin and their roots grey; if you look closely at their paws you can see their pink skin.  Male gerbils are a little larger than females, they weigh sixty grams and females weigh up to fifty to fifty-five grams.  Most of the Mongolian gerbils look the same but up close could look very different from others.

 

Gerbils can eat many foods but the main foods they eat are grains, fruit, and vegetables. They also eat grass (lyme and bristle), saltworm, and mugwort.  Their diet is sunflowers, seeds, and even dog biscuits. Gerbils do not compete with any animal for food.  They don’t drink water often because they conserve their water and fat very well. Gerbils can eat a lot of food. 

 

Gerbils live in many different places, they mainly live in the inner Mongolia highlands. They also live in China, Siberia, and even the desert.  They can live in extreme conditions.  The temperature they can live in is up to “negative forty degrees Celsius in the winter and fifty degrees Celsius in the summer.”  They live in grasslands, arid stepper, sandy deserts, scrubs, clay, and mountain valleys in colonies but they prefer sand soil.  Gerbils can live in some pretty hot temperatures around the world.

 

Gerbil’s population is very stable with about a million of them every where and can live up to five years! The gerbils economic and importance for humans are positive and a negative.  The positive is that they are easy to take care of, require little care, and popular to pet trading.  They adapt very well to captivity.  The negative is that if a gerbil is introduced to new habitat territory it can cause a threat to the animals that live there because it can spread diseases and have competition with other animals.

 

Mongolian gerbils produce sexually.  During October and February most Mongolian gerbils breed.  They produce about five to six gerbils and weigh to about two pounds five ounces.  Gerbils mature at about seven to eight weeks.  Their gestation period is about twenty-four to twenty-six days and their reproductive maturity is thirty-six days.

 

There are many things about Mongolian gerbils that you probably didn’t know until now.  For example, where they live or what they eat.  Who knows maybe you will want one of these cute-soft animals for yourself someday.    

           

Author: Hayley P.

Date Published:                 

           

Source 1: "Gerbils, Clawed Jird, Monodelphis Domestica." Dr. Jungles Exotic Pets, Animals, Aquariums. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://animal-world.com/encyclo/critters/gerbils/gerbils.php>.

Source 2: Chen, Jack. "ADW: Meriones Unguiculatus: Information." Animal Diversity Web. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Meriones_unguiculatus.html>.

Source 3:  The Americana Annual 2008: an Encyclopedia of the Events of 2007. [Danbury Conn.]: Grolier, 2008. Print.

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Photo website: Photograph. Wildkleurgerbil.jpg.