Shaw's jird

Shaw's jird

Order : Rodentia
Suborder : Sciurognathi
Family : Muridae
Subfamily : Gerbillinae
Species : Meriones shawi

 

The Shaw's jird is listed as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Some facts about the
Shaw's jird

Adult weight : 0.185 kg (0.407 lbs)

Female maturity :102 days

Male maturity : 120 days

Gestation : 26 days

Weaning : 23 days

Litter size : 5

Interval between litters : 31 days

Weight at birth : 0.004 kg (0.0088 lbs)

Weight at weaning : 0.025 kg (0.055 lbs)

Source: AnAge, licensed under CC

Facts about the Shaw's jird

Shaw's Jird is large, even tempered and makes a good pet, and when fanciers use the term jird they are often referring to this species.

"I found in a book a table with different Jird species' lengths, and here it says that Shaw's Jirds are around 14cm in length and Persian Jirds are 13-17cm in length with a tail of around 14-19cm long.

A fully grown adult Male Shaw's Jird is around the size of an average pet rat, and so are much easier to handle than their cousins the Mongolian Gerbil.

According to Julian Barker, "The main differences, other than size, are the usually darker colouring, (although lighter coloured Shaw's Jirds are known,) a less prominent tuft at the tip of the tail, and larger ears which are much less hairy than those of Mongolian Gerbils.

Male and female Shaw's Jirds are prone to fighting, as the females are more aggressive to other Jirds in general.

Meriones shawi isis

picture by Karin van Veen (shawi's found in Germany) The Shaw's jird is related to the Mongolian jird, but is about twice as big.

Shaw's Jirds Shaw's Jirds are

The general distribution of Meriones shawi is in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Marocco (yellow & purper area).

The Shaw's Jird (Meriones shawi) is about the same size as a Rat and looks like a giant version of the Mongolian Gerbil.

The Shaw's Jird is an uncommon pet gerbil, which is surprising because they are docile, incredibly intelligent, social, and trainable animals.

There are at least two sub-species of Shaw's Jird, and Shaw's Jirds are .

De Shawi gerbil (Meriones shawi), is verwant aan de Mongoolse gerbil. (Full text)

Meriones shawi is a member of the saharo-mediterranean species, its presence does not support a long period of dryness. (Full text)

DIET Like Mongolian Gerbils, the basic diet of the Shaw's Jird is a mixture of seeds and grains. (Full text)

The main differences, other than size, are the usually darker colouring, (although lighter coloured Shaw's Jirds are known,) a less prominent tuft at the tip of the tail, and larger ears which are much less hairy than those of Mongolian Gerbils. (Full text)

Shaw's jirds are indigenous to the coastal regions around North Africa, encompassing the warm and arid areas of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, and according to research done by Lay and Nadler (1969) they are never found more than 150 miles inland. (Full text)

Spotted Shaws are a particularly attractive coat colour variety The actual breeding of Shaw's jirds are not too difficult, but experience and several extra tanks are needed to successfully manage the offspring. (Full text)

The Shaw’s jird is the most popular followed by the Sundevall jird and Libyan jird. (Full text)

WHAT THEY ARE The Shaw's Jird (Meriones shawi) is about the same size as a rat and looks like a giant version of the Mongolian Gerbil. (Full text)

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