Black Wolf Clan Gerbils, MO

Foundation Sire

BWC's Piccasso

Color: Mottled Lilac M

These are the only photos of Piccasso, the first gerbil registered under BWC's name and the foundation sire for an incredible line of gentle, friendly, beautiful spotted gerbils. Piccasso was found in a pet store in Ohio and at first was so light colored that we thought he was a dove. . .  Over time he darkened and the full heavy spotting on his coat contrasted amazingly against his dark lilac coloring. In the first litter bred to twin CPS females, Angelina and her sister, more than 2/3 of the pups were spotted.

Cly came from this first mating. The spotting pattern continued to dominate this line from the beginning, showing up in mottled  gerbils in the second or third generation almost immediately, although only Cly's line was recovered when the significance of this spotting gene was realized. From the beginning, Piccasso, Cly, and several other generations of spotted gerbils were bred exclusively to solid gerbils with almost no white under the chin.

Over time, it was discovered, as seen in the generations below, that the spotted side tracing back thru Piccasso carries a spotted gene mutation which expresses more in some lines than others, an extended mottling, including lots of white and variegation on the tail, collar, face, and hindquarters. Also this gene can remain hidden in a spotted parent and be expressed in the pups. Thus, a parent such as Cly or Indy with very little spotting of their own, can produce very heavily marked pups.

2^nd Generation

BB's Clymenestra

Pied Black F
Bred by Jocie Kessinger of Titan Clan

BB's Agamemnon

Siamese M
Bred by Jocie Kessinger of Titan Clan

This pair and Jocie are almost single-handedly responsible for the spread of BWC gerbils from Piccasso's line all over NE and South TX (and later westward) among AGS members and pet owners. This pair remained lifelong mates and sired many beautiful pups for both Jocie (of Titan Clan) and Mollie (of Busy Burrowers). I was able to reclaim five of these beautiful gerbils and continue breeding what is now Piccasso's extended mottled line.

Although Cly carried mostly pied markings, most of her very spotted children showed extended white on the tail (often 2/3 white), full collars, and lots of white on the rump. Over time, this spotting has carried down the line into the beautiful gerbils in later generations. Cly was from Piccasso, the very mottled lilac male who was the foundation sire of BWC Gerbils, and Angelina, a CPS female from the now extinct TX line from Evon.

3^rd Generation

BWC's Wintersky

CPDEH F

BWC's Indiana Fury P3

Siamese Spot M

This is a beautiful, favorite breeding pair of BWC, which has consistently produced large, healthy litters of eight pups in a variety of rare colors: burmese, siamese, CPA, LCPA, CPDEH, LCPDEH, CPN, and LCPN. The father carried the mottled mutation from his grandfather Piccasso, which has been displayed in two mottled siamese male pups, though the father himself carried very little spotting on his head, tail, and collar. One of the mottled male siamese pups won the pup division of the 2003 KY Show and went to Donna of ABC Gerbils in NH.


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BWC's Illusion P3

Mottled Black F

Illusion had some very interesting habits. For one thing, she was the FIRST gerbil I'd ever seen who could literally sleep through a hurricane. (This trait was later seen in Tag and many of his descendants.) Illusion was often sound asleep even when people were moving things around inside of her cage or when her cagemates were bouncing around. She was eventually paired with Sarek, a CPS male who was her third partner. Illusion placed Best Of Opposite Sex at the 2003 NE Show. She produced one mottled lilac daughter, Fantasy, who went on to start her own family.


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BWC's Lost Treasure P3 “Trey”

Mottled Siamese M

BWC's Piccasso's Jewel P3

Mottled Siamese F

Both Trey and Jewel carried a lot of white on their tails. They were full siblings to Illusion, Indy, and Pepe. All carried the heavy mottling from their grandfather, although their mother carried very little spotting. All five produced mottled or extremely mottled pups (the babies carrying more spotting than the parents, showing that the mottled mutation in this line can remain hidden and then suddenly show up generations later)


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BWC's Gary's Pepe

Mottled Black M

This is the father of Awesome, Beauty, Cloudy, and Impressive — a beautiful line of extremely mottled gerbils who consistently bring home blue ribbons at AGS shows. Awesome was paired with Trixie, a burmese female from TTS. Pepe proved the most consistent carrier for the excessive mottled gene mutation, especially with lots of white on the tails. One pup in every other litter has so far expressed the excessive mottling, more so than the father. One of his sons, Nightwind, a black pied with a long white tail, produced an agouti pup with quite a bit of white on the tail and head also.

4^th Generation

BWC's Pepe's Impressive

Heavily Mottled Black F

Impressive placed Best Of Opposite Sex in the Pup Class of the 2003 AGS MW Show to her mottled siamese cousin Fury. Impressive was placed with Rio, a pied CPS male by Purple Kat Kritters. Kudos to Gary for saving and breeding Pepe, the father, who changed hands many times, unknowingly carrying this beautiful spotting line in his genetics. Impressive is a full sister to Awesome, the Best In Show winner of the 2003 AGS NE Show, and Cloudy, the Mottled Class winner at the 2003 AGS MW Show.


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BWC's Ian HC3

Slate M with Cc_b

Ian was a beautiful slate male with an interesting pedigree. His mother, Kasha, was a grey agouti born in a pet store to Halle, an ivory cream female, and Connor, a black male carrying Gg (all purchased by BWC). Ian's father was Sarek, a CPS male from Florida. Ian placed in the Self Class at both the 2003 AGS NE Show and 2003 AGS MW Show.


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BWC's Justa Fantasy “Fantasy”

Mottled Lilac F

Fantasy is the only mottled pup from Illusion to date and was fostered by Willow since Illusion had difficulty producing enough milk. Fantasy had her first litter in November 2003.


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BWC's Before the Dawn “Raina”

CPSN F

BWC's Bluegrass Jazz P4

Mottled Black M with Cc_h

Jazz was the only extreme mottled pup from a mottled x mottled pairing of BWC's Lost Treasure P3 “Trey” and Marie. This pair (Trey x Marie) produced mottled but not heavily mottled pups until Jazz was born. In Raina and Jazz' second litter, they had one pied siamese pup and two heavily mottled black (male and female) pups — all of which stayed at BWC.


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Starlight's Zoë

Mottled Burmese F

Zoë, originally born to Valerie of Starlight Gerbils, now owned and bred by Roger in TX, is the first mottled burmese from this line and her descendants are now all the way in Maine with Janet, the former AGS president; Kat and Shannon of Albany's PKK Gerbils; and Ron and Carin Devoe of KS. Zoë was from Valerie's Maggie (Spotted Black F) and Zelda (Black M).

5^th Generation

BWC's Reflections HC4P5 “Reece”

Mottled Black M

Reece was four generations on his father's side from Halle x Connor and five generations from Piccasso on his mother's side. He was the most mottled pup from Fantasy and Ian's first litter. Reece carried the lovely mottled pattern characterized by this line, similar to both his mother's and grandmother Illusion's spotting. Reece was mated with Kyan, a sweet little siamese girl born to an agouti pair (Keala x Kai) which carried c_b and c_h.


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BWC's CC Sandpiper P5 “Piper”

Mottled Siamese M

BWC's Genesis Creation P5

LCPA F

Sandpiper and Reece were from one of Zoë and Janus' first litters. They were bred by Roger of Mew's Tribe in TX and traveled to KY with Michele Rush of Double Star Kennels. :)

Piper went on to produce many extremely mottled gerbils owned by AGS members all over the US.