Fat-tailed Gerbil - Appearance

Appearance

The fat-tailed gerbil is a medium sized gerbil. Its body length is about 10 cm (4”), with a tail length of about 5 cm (2”). This gerbil has a thick, soft, fluffy coat. The hair at the back and the head is yellow-coloured, with a dark grey basis and a small black tip. The belly is clear white. Fat-tailed gerbils weigh about 40 grams. Their body is round and somewhat flattened. They have no clear neck and a very sharp face, with large oval-shaped black eyes. The ears of this species are low positioned, which gives this species a fox-like head. The legs are comparatively short for a gerbil. They look similar to a hamster, but unlike a hamster they have a pointed snout and a fat, almost bald, club-shaped tail from which they gets their common name of 'fat-tailed gerbil'. The fat-tailed gerbil stores fat and water in its tail, in the same way that the camel stores fat in its hump. Therefore, a healthy fat-tailed gerbil should have a nicely rounded tail. It is this tail which makes them easy to distinguish from all other gerbil species.