Choosing the parents

Breeding gerbils-  choosing the parents


Breeding gerbils isn't just putting a male and female together and ending up with cute pups.  A big part of the breeding process is using the right mother and father.
There are four main aspects to keep in mind when picking the parents:

1.  Health and age-  an unhealthy or injured gerbil should not be bred.  Not only will it be hard on the gerbil,  it could also bring about unhealthy pups.  Also,  a gerbil that is too young (under four months) or too old (over a year and a half) generally should not be bred. (this is not always the case)
2. Temperament-  only well-tempered gerbils should be bred.  That way,  the pups will hopefully have good temperaments as well.
3. Taming-  has the gerbil been tamed?  Breeding an untamed gerbil is not a good idea.  Why?  Because pups learn the most from doing what Mom and Dad do.  So if Mom refuses to be held and is scared of people,  the pups will do the same thing.
4.  Coloring-  though not so significant,  the gerbils' color and genetics is still a factor.  Some gerbil colors are hard to rehome,  so it would be best to avoid those.

  So,  you need to make sure your parent gerbils meet the qualifications.  How do you ensure this?
To make this easy,  I'm going to give you an example.  I'm going to describe the temperament,  health,  taming,  and color of some of my gerbils,  and show you why they would or wouldn't be good for breeding.  For this demonstration,  I'll be using Parsley,  Penelope,  and Pixel.

Parsley

Health and age-  Parsley is approximately a year old.  She is and always has been a healthy gerbil-  no known illnesses.
Temperament-  Though a rascal and mischievous,  Parsley is not scared of people and is relatively friendly. 
Taming-  Parsley is happy to crawl onto human hands for treats,  and can be held,  though she will squirm.  She never nips or bites.
Color-  Siamese.
Looking at these factors,  we can conclude that Parsley would probably make a fine mom.  She is healthy,  a good age,  relatively tame,  and a very popular color.  The only thing going against her is that she is a bit mischievous,  and isn't a huge fan of being held.  Still,  I would say that these issues could be overlooked.

Pixel 

Health and age-  Healthy,  no known issues.  Is around a year and a half old.
Temperament-  Friendly,  curious,  calm and docile.  Not skittish.
Taming-  Quite tame.
Color-  REH,  red-eyed honey.

With Pixel,  we can conclude that as far as temperament and taming goes,  she would make a wonderful mother.  She is getting up there in age,  so that would be something to consider.  At that point,  I would have to go off of whether or not she was healthy enough otherwise,  and she probably is. 
REH is a fine color.  I would need to keep in mind that her sister is a PEW,  which is a less-than-popular color,  and that Pixel may have the genes to produce PEW.
Over all,  though,  Pixel would probably be fine for breeding.

Penelope

Health-  Has shown signs of sickness before,  but recovered quickly.  Otherwise,  no known illnesses.  Probably about a year old.
Temperament-  Skittish,  easily stressed,  but friendly enough.
Taming-  Doesn't bite or nip,  but hard to hold and in general skittish around people.
Color-  Spotted REH.
From this,  Penelope may not be a good mother.  She doesn't have the best of temperaments,  and is not very tame.  She is a good color (people love spotting),  but that is not as important as the other factors.



In the end,  health and temperament are the most important factors,  so you should ultimately base your decision of of those.  Color should not be a huge priority,  and if necessary,  you can tame the gerbil yourself. (though of course,  that may only be possible if they are well-tempered.)
Still,  if you are able to choose colors as well,  some of the most popular colors are Siamese,  Burmese,  Agouti,  Silver Nutmeg/Grey Agouti,  and anything spotted.
Some colors that are not overly popular are:  PEW,  light greys such as dove, and black (though this is actually one of my favorite colors).
However,  keep in mind that even if a gerbil is PEW,  if it has the right genes and is mixed with another certain set of genes,  you might not get any PEW.  So genetics are just as important as colors.