Post by Emmers1 on Jan 28, 2014 15:39:45 GMT -8
Hello, I signed up for an account to post about my recent experience and it seems that it may take a while for admin approval of my account so I am going ahead of the game and posting here. Since this concerns injury of a pet due to poor cage construction I thought it may be of an important nature. I have owned mice since I was in high school (I am 24) but gerbils are new to me. I have only had my two for around a week now. This happened only three days after purchasing them.
This post will deal with graphic depictions of animal harm, please keep this in mind when reading.
This past Friday I purchased the Petco Premium High Rise Extender for 10 gallon tanks. I did so at the recommendation of others and positive reviews on the internet (not just on the Petco site). I set it up with no trouble and there was no indication of anything amiss.
Saturday afternoon I found Atlas, one of my two male gerbils, with his back right leg stuck between the top right corner of the cage walls, where the small side wall meets the longer one. He was covered in blood and struggling to free himself. My boyfriend managed to pull the wire walls apart far enough for Atlas to free his leg and hobble down to the tank. Atlas was badly limping and bleeding, I was terrified he’d have to be put down or lose his entire foot.
I am really lucky that there’s a vet nearby that has experience with small pets and exotics and was able to see Atlas that afternoon.
We where told that Atlas had broken one of his toes, it was completely bent upwards and half hanging off, and had pulled out one of his toenails-which was where most of the blood was from. Atlas had to be put under anesthesia and the vet clipped off the broken toe at the joint and cauterized the wound where the nail had been ripped out. Since gerbils are just too small for stitches in such a location the doctor had to grind down the remaining bone enough that his skin will heal over properly. The vet had to cauterize the wound where his nail was ripped out, I do not think it will ever grow back. Atlas is now on antibiotics and pain medication at least until the check up this Saturday.
Luckily he's doing very well and has not had any problems. His cage-mate, P-body, had been taking very good care of him.
The doctor was extremely kind and we where told he’d waived several things from our bill. Even with the waived fee’s the total cost for Atlas was just short of $200.
The wire cage was $50.
The cost to Atlas was a broken bone and what must have been terrible pain.
Here is the result of his injury:
I understand it may be difficult to see, the toe closest to his body is missing half way with a small 'flap' of skin left to heal over the wound. His swollen toe is visibly missing the nail.
I've marked on this image where the gap in the cage walls was:
There was just enough of a gap that when Atlas (the one at the water-bottle) was climbing the cage his foot somehow slipped into the opening. I discovered it while packing the cage up for return. Many people have used this cage with no problems, and I am sure many more will safely be able to do so. Maybe I got a defective cage? Maybe it was a one in a million chance that would never happen again? When it comes to the safety of my pets, all I care about is keeping them free from harm and happy.
I wanted to put this experience out there as a consideration to future buyers, and I hope everyone's pets stay happy and healthy.
[If anyone is curious; we've purchased a new tank. The 10 gallon was used with the intention of buying the expander top but I no longer feel comfortable doing so (obviously) so we've upgraded Atlas and P-body to a 29 gallon. We will be making our own play levels for them out of suitable material. In the meantime they both are enjoying the new tank.]
This post will deal with graphic depictions of animal harm, please keep this in mind when reading.
This past Friday I purchased the Petco Premium High Rise Extender for 10 gallon tanks. I did so at the recommendation of others and positive reviews on the internet (not just on the Petco site). I set it up with no trouble and there was no indication of anything amiss.
Saturday afternoon I found Atlas, one of my two male gerbils, with his back right leg stuck between the top right corner of the cage walls, where the small side wall meets the longer one. He was covered in blood and struggling to free himself. My boyfriend managed to pull the wire walls apart far enough for Atlas to free his leg and hobble down to the tank. Atlas was badly limping and bleeding, I was terrified he’d have to be put down or lose his entire foot.
I am really lucky that there’s a vet nearby that has experience with small pets and exotics and was able to see Atlas that afternoon.
We where told that Atlas had broken one of his toes, it was completely bent upwards and half hanging off, and had pulled out one of his toenails-which was where most of the blood was from. Atlas had to be put under anesthesia and the vet clipped off the broken toe at the joint and cauterized the wound where the nail had been ripped out. Since gerbils are just too small for stitches in such a location the doctor had to grind down the remaining bone enough that his skin will heal over properly. The vet had to cauterize the wound where his nail was ripped out, I do not think it will ever grow back. Atlas is now on antibiotics and pain medication at least until the check up this Saturday.
Luckily he's doing very well and has not had any problems. His cage-mate, P-body, had been taking very good care of him.
The doctor was extremely kind and we where told he’d waived several things from our bill. Even with the waived fee’s the total cost for Atlas was just short of $200.
The wire cage was $50.
The cost to Atlas was a broken bone and what must have been terrible pain.
Here is the result of his injury:
I understand it may be difficult to see, the toe closest to his body is missing half way with a small 'flap' of skin left to heal over the wound. His swollen toe is visibly missing the nail.
I've marked on this image where the gap in the cage walls was:
There was just enough of a gap that when Atlas (the one at the water-bottle) was climbing the cage his foot somehow slipped into the opening. I discovered it while packing the cage up for return. Many people have used this cage with no problems, and I am sure many more will safely be able to do so. Maybe I got a defective cage? Maybe it was a one in a million chance that would never happen again? When it comes to the safety of my pets, all I care about is keeping them free from harm and happy.
I wanted to put this experience out there as a consideration to future buyers, and I hope everyone's pets stay happy and healthy.
[If anyone is curious; we've purchased a new tank. The 10 gallon was used with the intention of buying the expander top but I no longer feel comfortable doing so (obviously) so we've upgraded Atlas and P-body to a 29 gallon. We will be making our own play levels for them out of suitable material. In the meantime they both are enjoying the new tank.]
and what kind of topper do you use? it would help others not buy them as they are dangerous. i wish the best of luck to you and Atlas and hope he feels better soon i know how tramatic it can be for the owner too speak from personal experience - 
i cant belive that in the description they said "The High Rise Habitat Expander features safe and comfortable mesh shelves and easy-to-climb mesh ramps" ha thats so pathetic
