# looking for a jird breeder in scotland



## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

live in cairngorm area and had some jirds about 15 years ago but have haven't seen any since so am looking for any breeders instead of hoping some will magically show up in pet shop. any help would be awesome. p.s. have found viper and vine not sure yet if they deliver up here, asking here before asking them.


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## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

oops forgot to put that it's shaws jird i'm looking for


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## aquajird (Oct 27, 2010)

Something to be aware of is that the Shaw's Jirds available today are a different sub-species than the ones you almost certainly had 5 years ago. Sadly those old ones which we called "British Shaw's" died out a couple of years ago. 

The Shaw's Jirds you will find today are the Lesser Shaw's or Shawi isis. As the name suggests, they are somewhat smaller. They are very similar in most ways, but do not bond as closely with their human carers as the British Shaw's. On the positive side, they are less prone to "domestics" with their cagemates. They also breed prolifically, so think carefully before housing a male and female together.
Sue


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## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

bummer. I adored the ones I had. How come they died out? Never had any domestics with the ones I had and they didn't have a prob breeding till I split them up with a kid each


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## aquajird (Oct 27, 2010)

Maybe you had the Isis Shaw's then. They were around from the mid 90s onwards. With the "British Shaw's", the usual thing was that you had a pair and they would breed quickly. For the first and possibly second litter they would be fine together but once they reached peak hormonal age at about 6 months, then Mrs Shaw's would attack Mr Shaw's and if you did not separate them promptly would either castrate him or kill him outright. After that she would only tolerate the male for a few hours of fun when she was on heat.

It was also not unknown for a pair of same sex British Shaw's to suddenly fall out big time.

Isis Shaw's are much more like Mongolian gerbils in this respect and if put together as youngsters will happily spend their lives as a devoted couple.

The British Shaw's were so-called because we were never 100% sure what they were. They could have been Shawi grandis or even a hybrid Shaw/Libyan. They were kept as research animals in the 1980s and got out onto the pet market from labs and London Zoo. They were quite common even in pet shops in the 1990s, especially in the south-east of England. They were virtually unknown on mainland Europe, where Shawi isis has long been established on the pet market.

Probably the main reason they died out was the gene pool was quite small and towards the end, they were suffering from quite a few health problems.
Their niche in the pet market was taken over by degus which have been heavily promoted by Pets at Home. Be aware that if you breed jirds today, you will have difficulty finding homes for all the babies.


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## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

they prob were a hybrid then. just looking at egerbil pictures not easy working off old memories. oh well does anyone know of jird breeders north of manchester?


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## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

had pair together for about a year without incident (mind you they only had 2 poss 3 litters) till i split them up then bubbles daughter got ill (bubs & troubs would of been 1 1/2 - 2years old by then)and bubs got it too so that left me with troubles and his son. did find jirds again about 10 yrs ago when they popped up in [email protected] (the only pet shop in inverness i couldn't stand and it's the only one left grrrr) but it got ill within a few days and even though i tended as well as i could he died about a week after i got him. been pining ever since.


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## aquajird (Oct 27, 2010)

Interesting, for nearly 20 years I bred the "British Shaw's". I never had a single one get any sort of infectious disease.. I had quite a few trips to the vets, but always with injuries from "domestics" and as they got older from tumours. Most died between 3 to 4 years. My oldest ever lived to within a few days of her 4th birthday.


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## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

the one i got from [email protected] had the sniffles, from what i've heard i wasn't the only one that bought an ill pet from there in it's first year open there were quite a few that died in their first week not just jirds. the girls well there wasn't really any symptoms that i could put my finger on they were just off, took them to the local vet but he was as much use as a fart in a spacesuit and said they were fine. looking at egerbil pics and they looked just like the yellow agouti uk shaws jird. when i got to third pic i did think to myself thats bubbles, although not 100% working off piccies but they were a light colour troubs was a smidge darker they had the dark tips on tail can't remember about their ears or nails


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## aquajird (Oct 27, 2010)

The yellow British Shaw's were available in Scotland, so that fits. They were British Shaw's with fewer black hairs in their coat. I don't know how many of them there were this colour. I acquired a pair of males of this colour from an owne rin Glasgow. He had bought them as "Libyan jirds", but they were definitely British Shaw's. I bred them with my females successfully and they reverted to the natural coat colour.


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## sez79 (Apr 13, 2013)

would i have seen any variation in appearance in their young if they were hybrids? there wasn't they all took after mum and dad but thought i'd check. still think it's weird that i didn't have any squabbles since the girls are supposed to be a bit aggro. or i was just lucky. have been pming with a guy on here who works for a pet shop in glasgow so i'm keeping my fingers crossed. that or i might end up going for a couple days hol in manchester, viper&vine get them in from czech republic, or a place i found called simons rodents that sells to pet shops around the country so i might try them too to see where nearest they supply is.


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## aquajird (Oct 27, 2010)

Well one theory is that they were hybrids, but even if they were, they had been successfully breeding for very many generations so were well established.

Simon's rodents is a huge organisation that does indeed supply the pet trade all over the country. In fact pretty all independent pet shops have probably used them at some time or other, so that would probably be your best bet for acquiring some locally. I would not be surprised if Viper and Vine got their stock from the same source. But hopefully your Glasgow contact will come up trumps. I love in London, BTW. So cannot help you.

Sue


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