Fat-tailed Gerbil - Breeding

Breeding

Fat-tailed gerbils are sexually mature when they are 2 months old, and in captivity they reproduce the whole year round. The gestation period of the fat-tailed gerbil is 19 days. Their average litter size is 3 to 6, and the pups are weaned at 3-4 weeks.

Breeding fat-tailed gerbils in captivity can be hard, as the females can be very aggressive when they are pregnant or nursing pups. They will attack the male, and even kill her mate if he is not housed separately after mating has taken place. The chance of a female housed with a male becoming pregnant is much less than it is with Mongolian gerbils. A proven method to breed fat-tailed gerbils it putting a male and a female together in a rather small tank with nothing else in it than some bedding material. No nesting box, nothing to play with, no food dish. This way there is really nothing the animals can fight about. They can’t become territorial because of the small space and because there are no points to use as demarcation. With this method it is needed to keep the male and female together for one week and then separate them and put them in a nice big tank with all kind of furnishings, most likely the female is already pregnant.

The mating ritual of the fat-tailed gerbil is rather unusual. Both male and female stand on their hind legs and wrestle, making squeaking noise. They never seem to actually bite each other, but they get rather rowdy. If the female is not receptive and the male doesn’t give up, the female will turn and kick bedding at the male. The female will make a nest and get a little nippy when she will be ready to have her litter. They are good mothers.