What is a Funky White ?

Easy, it is Silver Nutmeg with gxgx. An all white gerbil with ruby eyes.  But don’t let the eye color fool you, they are actually dark eyed.  Darn near impossible to tell apart from Rew’s.

How did the name arise ?

I started calling them Funky Whites (FW) because they are all white and ruby-eyed, but genetically black-eyed.  Similar to our DTW’s, they are genetically P*  but have the phenotype of Ruby colored eyes.

As with all our White gerbils, which can be quite varied genetically, so can White gerbils with a gx or gxgx combinations. The FW label is given to the Silver Nutmeg who would have two gx alleles (gxgx) instead of two g alleles (gg). Gerbils that are gxgxpp are typically our Red-eyed Silver Nutmegs and Ruby-eyed Whites. A single gx on a Silver Nutmeg has some slight changes but could also be confused with  Normal Silver Nutmeg.

Genetic Codes

Coat Variety Genotype Phenotype
Funky White aaC-D-eegxgxP- White fur, ruby eyes
Silver Nutmeg aaC-D-eeggP- Normal colour
Silver Nutmeg aaC-D-eeggxP- Slight coat dilution
R.E.Silver Nutmeg aaC-D-eeggpp Cream self
R.E.Silver Nutmeg aaC-D-eeggxpp Slight Coat Dilution
Ruby-Eyed White aaC-D—ggpp White fur, ruby eyes

Personal Notes

I would have to say Angel was my Founder FW and her daughter Sarah came next in line. Sarah was paired with a Red Fox and she had some Nutmegs!  I knew then something really weird was going on.  But her litter colors weren’t helping me.  She had Red Fox and Nutmegs and White babies.  I bred one of her White babies when he was older, Keystone.  I paired him to Fiona another White gerbil.  All they had were Satins and Whites.  By the fourth litter, an Azure was born.  I later bred Keystone to a Lt.Deh.They had all NM, Deh and Lt.Deh.  I soon realized Keystone was the FW (SN) and Fiona was a Rew with one gx.