Moonstone Gerbils

Worcester - Providence - Framingham

Breeder of Mongolian Gerbils and Southern Flying Squirrels

This area is still under works.

Showing Gerbils

Showing gerbils is fun where the friendly competition is combined with the joy of seeing gorgeous gerbils. Gerbils compete in conformation (overall appearance, shape, color and personality) to earn show points towards a championship. Gerbils can also compete in the pet class and earn ribbons for “gerbil chewing”, hamball racing, and shoulder sitting.

Which Gerbils May Participate

To be eligible to compete, a gerbil must:

· be individually registered with the American Gerbil Society and at least 6 weeks old

· be quarantined one month prior to show and follow all other health regulations for the show

· Should meet the written standard for its class

All gerbils are welcome to the show, regardless if they were purchased at a pet store, rescues from a shelter, or from a obtained from a breeder.

What qualities do judges look for

Judges look for Fur (Color), Body, Tail, Eyes, Ears, and Temperament,

BODY
Body is the general overall appearance of your gerbil, shape, size and build. The five components are Body, Head, Teeth, Whiskers,  and Toenails. This represents 25% of the gerbils score.

Body Type and Build: Gerbils should be firm and solid. Not skinny, boney, or fat. Males should be large, muscular, without being fat. Females should be smaller with an athletic build.  Females should not have a masculine build, and conversely males should not have a feminine build. 

Head: The head of a gerbil should be short and broad. Long skinny heads resembling a mouse or rat are undesirable.

Teeth: Teeth should be correct length, neither too long or too short. Gerbils should not be missing any teeth. Teeth should not be broken, or white.

Whiskers: Whiskers should be long and bristling. Color should match the standard. Broken or missing whiskers are a flaw.

Toenails: Toenails should match the standard. Missing, miscolored, or broken toes are  considered flaws.

FUR

TAIL AND TUFT

EYES

EARS

TEMPERMENT

What are the different classes of gerbils

There are  four main classes of gerbils, three marked classes, and two classes for gerbils based on age.

CLASSES: White Bellied, Self, Colorpoint, Other, Spot, Pied, Mottled, Pup, Senior

How to prepare a gerbil for show

When showing gerbils you must plan ahead and start preparing your gerbils for the show. You must evaluate your gerbils based on the standards and decide if you need to take action. If you have a male who doesn’t have much bulk to him, you may want to consider changing his diet. If you have a female that is a little large and has lost her feminine shape you might consider cutting down on the amount of fat in her diet. If you are showing a White Belly or gerbil with a light colored underbelly you might have to put them on a different bedding, and give them extra sand bathes to help get rid of staining. Sometimes gerbils will have barbered tails from their bored tank mates, so sometimes prepping a gerbil for a show also means giving extra care to tank mates.

Along with preparing their body and coat, you should also spend extra time handling your gerbils. Temperament is a large portion and can make a big difference. Teaching your gerbil to climb readily into your hands, from inside a medium Kritter Keeper makes it easy for the judges to get the gerbil out. Some gerbils are posers and will readily sit still in your hands making it easy for judges to examine a gerbil. Gerbils who are squirrely are harder to examine and may not do as well.

Some things you can do that will make it easier for the judge to examine your gerbils is to make sure your gerbils are used to being flipped over on their backs. Judges will examine the teeth, chin (self class especially), and underbelly of your gerbil from this position. If gerbils can’t easily be flipped over, judges will have to look at them carefully through the kritter keeper.

At the show you will want to make sure they definitely get a dust bath before the show before being placed into the judging area. Sometimes gerbils will not roll around in the sand, and may have dust sprinkled into their coat for them to shake out. Its not as effective, but will soak up oils.