Weight Loss in Gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus) Continuously Deprived of Food, Water, and Both Food and Water
Daily weight measurements were taken on four groups of gerbils according to a randomized blocks design which combined presence or absence of food with presence or absence of water in the home cage. The deprivation condition appropriate for each group was experienced for a 12-day period. The major findings were: (1) all three deprived groups lost more weight than the non-deprived control group, (2) weight loss for food-deprived and totally deprived Ss was significantly more than weight loss for water-deprived Ss, (3) the food-deprived Ss did not differ in weight loss from the totally deprived Ss, (4) only 5 out of 10 Ss in the food-deprived group survived, while all Ss in the other three groups survived the deprivation period. The relevance of the deprivation-produced differences in weight loss between rats and gerbils was noted, and a tentative explanation of these differences was offered.