Shadow, Slate male, 16 weeks, Rex coat, shown by Lauren Rothe of Silver Star Mousery in Vero Beach, Florida
2024_021 *This young male is a Slate, and was judged as such.* He doesn't have an adult male's build yet; his head and forequarters look promising, but the hind end is weak, and the camera angle doesn't help. Very nice head, short and deep. Ears are positioned too high though, making the head look more narrow than it is. Eyes too round. It's a shame the top and side views aren't in better focus-- in the front view, his coat looks nicely plush and wavy, but the quality of his coat isn't really visible in the full-body shots. Tail is thick and mostly straight, with a good length. There may be some rexing of the tail/tuft, but it's difficult to tell. Nice whisker curl. Good dark slate color, a bit uneven along the body but that may be the rexing. Has a brown cast in the front view, but not in the others, so likely a lighting effect. Correct dark (but not black) nails. Some white on the chin, but really none visible on the paws, which is awesome.
HHG's BWC Dresden, Agouti male, adult, Rex coat, shown by Diane Nott of Heavenly Heart Gerbilry in Elyria, Ohio
2024_029 The photo of the gerbil in his tank, on a dirty cardboard box, is not appropriate for a conformation submission. This is the virtual equivalent of the gerbil being judged in a dirty, stained show box. This male has really excellent curl, appearing almost shaggy. Unfortunately, he's decidedly obese, with a large shoulder hump and his front paws barely visible. His eyes are not open fully - a red flag for Rex, which can suffer eye irritation from inward-curling lashes. His tail has a pronounced curve, visible in two different shots so unlikely to be just movement/positioning. There's a nice tuft; tail may have some bristle to it, but hard to tell. There's no clear shot of the whiskers, they seem straight overall, maybe a few curled? His agouti coloring looks good, though there's not much of it to judge-- he has a lot of white, approaching the 75% cap.
HHG's BWC Zephyr, Mottled Black male, 2 years, Rex coat, shown by Diane Nott of Heavenly Heart Gerbilry in Elyria, Ohio
2024_041 Loads of curl! I would've liked to feel this gerbil in-hand. He has the right silhouette for a show male, but a good bit of his "bulk" seems to be his very curly, plush fur. He is older, so he may have lost muscle mass with age. He has a few curled whiskers, nothing too crazy but not entirely straight either. Very nice short, broad head with almond eye. Thick tail, not held entirely straight and perhaps a bit short. Not an impressive tuft, but the end of the tail does seem to be nicely bristled. Interesting atypical spotting pattern, no true forehead spot and far less white on the tail than we usually see in Mottled, but neither is actually a fault. Certainly unique!
Sodapop,  Mottled Black male, 1.5 years, Rex coat, shown by Laura Goly of Angel's Burrow Gerbils in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2024_053 Judged as a Mottled Slate; if he's actually Black, he's very faded and off-color. But he is the correct shade for Slate, taking into account the effect of the rexing. Very small male, his plush fur can't hide the neck dip and overall lack of muscle. Whiskers may have some curl, but they're barely visible. Does have lots of body curl, and I can just make out some bristling on the tail. Good head, though there's something off about the left eye - looks maybe irritated, not held fully open - a definite red flag for Rex, which can
suffer from eye irritation caused by inward-curling lashes.
Everest, Black-Eyed White male, 2 years, Rex coat, shown by Heather Griffith of Midsummer Clan Gerbils in Morgantown, West Virginia
2024_056 Fluffy little sheep - BEW is a good color to display the rex coat. Unfortunately White is subject to particular scrutiny when it comes to cleanliness and off-colored fur. There's a hint of staining on neck/chest, and some orange coloring on the tail, which takes away from what's otherwise quite a nice example of clean white on BEW; some gray skin is to be expected, but coloration in the fur is a fault. He's over-conditioned, with a fat pad on his shoulders. I like his head, though I don't have a good side-view of it to work with. Whiskers are barely visible, what I can see is straight. He has very good body curl, and looks to have a nice, bristly "pipe cleaner" tail. Third place.
Shasta 2, Yellow Fox Spot female, 1 year, Rex coat,  shown by Heather Griffith of Midsummer Clan Gerbils in Morgantown, West Virginia
2024_057 Interesting entry of a true Spot Yellow Fox rather than Strawberry Cream; color is still bright golden-yellow, and markings are (mostly) restricted to the correct areas. Neck spot is large and ragged, nose spot trails up the face, white flecking in colored portion of tail, and there may be some white flecking across the hips. Looks like she might have some fur missing on her lower back, but could just be the rexing. Good build, the neck spot blending into the background gives the appearance of a neck dip, but topline is actually smooth. Good head, but eyes are squinted - a red flag for Rex, which can suffer from eye irritation caused by inward-curling lashes. Straight whiskers. Not much curl on most of the body; some on head and forequarters, hindquarters look fluffy but mostly straight. Good bristling on tail, especially tuft.
Glaciee, Gray Agouti female, 2 years, Rex coat, shown by Heather Griffith of Midsummer Clan Gerbils in Morgantown, West Virginia
2024_058 A bit big for a female, some may be fur but she looks very solid. Nicely shaped head; eye looks round, though it's a bad angle to tell. Nice bright white feet and belly, though some areas of the topcoat tend towards brown. Correct bicolored whiskers with fairly good curl visible in the top view. Her coat is quite plush but with little actual curl - a different expression of the Rex mutation than what's preferred for show. Thick tail held mostly straight; maybe some wiry texture to the tuft, but tail looks largely smooth.
Mango Punch, Schimmel male, adult, Rex coat, shown by Donna Anastasi of ABC Gerbils in Portland, Maine
2024_066 Schimmel is a great color to showcase the rex coat, especially when the body hasn't fully faded and that orange undercoat comes peeking through. I would like to see less color on the body; presumably he's on the younger side and will continue to fade. Excellent male body type, bulky without being obese. Nice short, broad head with almond eye. Whiskers are hard to see but do look curly. Very nice curl on the body, and even some bristly fur on the tops of the feet! Stellar tufty, bright orange pipe-cleaner tail. First place.
Blueberry Crumbles, Mottled Blue male, adult, Rex coat, shown by Donna Anastasi of ABC Gerbils in Portland, Maine
2024_069 An overlarge male with a fat pad on the shoulders. He has a great deep blue color, contrasting with an attractive mottling pattern. Blues with spotting can sometimes be pale with indistinct markings, but he's avoided that tendency nicely. Good head with almond eye. Fair whisker curl, and very good body curl. Long thick tail with a nice tuft and good bristle.
Proudly powered by Weebly