Scientific Name: Sekeetamys calurus External features: The body length is 9.8 - 12.8 cm., the tail adds another 13.1 - 16.4 to that. In captivity they weigh about 80 - 95 gr., whereas the wild animals weigh only about 45 gr. Their head is long and slender, with extremely long white and black whiskers, round eyes and pretty big ears. The body is getting wider towards the tail (broad hips). The hind legs are very long and slender. The hind feet soles are bare. The nails are very light coloured. The fur is of a chamois leather colour, yellowish, with quite some black ticking. The hairs are bluish grey near the skin followed by a yellow band and most hairs end with a black tip. Towards the flanks the ticking becomes less stronger. The belly is clear white. There is a clear line between the top colour and the belly. The ears are of a mid grey colour. There are some white hairs behind the ears. When these Jirds are allowed to take a sand bath their fur is close and woolly and might shine a bit. The hairs on the tail are brownish grey. The tip of the tail is often white. The size of the white tip varies a lot, varying from a few centimeters to almost nothing. More than half of the tail is covered with long hairs which stand out in a feather like way, making the tail bushy. Mostly the animals wear their tails curled up on their backs. Female Bushy-tailed Jirds have 8 nipples. You can clearly see the testicles of the adult males. Distribution: Eastern Egypt, Sinai, South-East Israel, Jordan and near Riyadh in central Saudi Arabia (= yellow area). Habitat: They live in an arid, rocky environment with a solid soil. They make their burrows under boulders, edges and rocks that lean over. That is why they are very good climbers. They are considered to be nocturnal, although in captivity they are also seen during daytime. Reproduction: Bushy-tailed Jirds are sexually mature when they are about 3 months old. They can produce their first litter when they are 4 months old. But in captivity such young mothers often fail to raise their pups. The gestation period is about 21 days, the litter size varies from 2 to 9 (average is about 3-4 pups). They can reach an age of 4 - 5 years. Maintenance and behaviour in captivity: As all other gerbils it is best to keep the Bushy-tailed Jird in an Aquarium. They like to climb, so you should provide them with some climbing elements like branches, stones, etcetera. Another thing that these Jirds really need is a sand bath. If they can not sand bathe regularly their fur will get greasy and it will not isolate that well any more. They are very busy animals, move a lot and therefore they need enough space. The minimum cage size required for a pair of Jirds is 60 x 40 cm., with a height of at least 30-40 cm. They are very curious (like most gerbils), friendly and intelligent. Unlikely many other gerbil species, it is not very hard to introduce strange Bushy-tailed jirds to each other. They reproduce well in captivity, comparable with the Mongolian gerbil. When the aquarium gets a bit overcrowded though, they won't raise their pups anymore, and cannibalism occurs. You can feed these Jirds like other gerbils with hamster food or lab blocks. They like extra's like sunflower seeds, millet or mealworms. When they are used to it, they will eat it out of your hand. You also have to provide them with lime blocks. They will eat these blocks. First they will make square blocks round by eating the edges first and then they play football with it! They drink a little bit more water than Mongolian gerbils do, so make sure they always have enough fresh water. As bedding material you can use saw dust or corncob, supplemented with hay and as desired with some nesting material like tissues. Some people use sand as bedding material, but it is smelly, and rather heavy. A good alternative is corncob bedding with a separate sand bowl.

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