page_title: Mongolian gerbil
section_title: Reproduction
hierarchical_section_title: Mongolian gerbil / Reproduction
caption_attribution_description: English: 2-day-old Mongolian gerbils Polski: 2-dniowe myszoskoczki mongolskie
context_page_description: The Mongolian gerbil or Mongolian jird is a small rodent belonging to the subfamily Gerbillinae. Body size is typically 110–135mm, with a 95–120mm tail, and body weight 60–130g, with adult males larger than females. The animal is used in science and kept as a small house pet. Their use in science dates back to the latter half of the 19th century, but they only started to be kept as pets after 1954, when they were brought to the United States. However, their use in scientific research has fallen out of favor.
context_section_description: These rodents are widely used as subjects of testing within laboratories for a plethora of different reasons. These rodents are susceptible to carrying diseases and infections some transmitted sexually, much the subject of many experiments within labs. In the wild, Wild Mongolian gerbils breed during the months of February and October. Males do not become sexually mature for about 70-80 days, while the vaginal opening occurs in females about 33-50 days after birth. For other gerbils such as the hairy footed gerbil, sexual maturity has a slightly earlier and longer window of 60-90 days in comparison with a later and shorter window for Mongolian gerbils, 70-84 days . Females reach sexual maturity shortly after this opening occurs. They experience oestrus cycles every 4-6 days. Mongolian gerbils are regarded as monogamous within science. Even with this said, many Mongolian Gerbils have still been found in laboratory tests regarding their sexual reproduction behavior to have shown signs of "cheating" when not in contact with their initial mate in laboratory setting.  Cheating meaning showing signs of promiscuity and mating with other females while their monogamous partner is absent. Gerbils are for the most part selective when it comes to picking a mate for copulation; though their selection process occurs more rapid than other species due to the high amount of gerbil population and shorter life span. An average litter size for the Mongilian Gerbil would be around 4-8 pups, if the litter only contains around 1-2 young than the mother will neglect them and they will die from starvation.Mongolian Gerbils are monogamous and mate with their selected partner for the rest of their time together, when one becomes widowed many gerbils refrain from seeking other mates to reproduce with. Males generally find new mates whereas females don't. Obviously not every single gerbil is going to act the same after losing their mate but for the most part these rodents do not seek additional partners after the fact. When older females lose their mate they almost all of the time give up on seeking reproduction. Their behavior tends to vary when faced with different settings, within the wild finding and selecting a mate is not a problem at all due to the high frequency of mates. Within a laboratory setting many gerbils tend to keep to themselves and refrain from copulation.
caption: Mongolian Gerbil Young
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