Sick, possibly dying gerbil :(

[Jinxxy]

i had three gerbils. Jay(he passed away last night ;c) Jinxx, his brother, and their younger sister Brink.

this morning, i was poking around the tank for Jinxx and found him cold in his bedding. i thought he passed away too. to my amazement, he was still breathing. i thought he was just iin a deep sleep or dreaming. but he moved very slowly and wouldnt open his eyes.

i put him under the heat lamp in a container. i put new bedding in it too. sprinkled more food in it, and he attempted to eat a corn. faileed, so i picked him up and gave him water. he drank a little.


8:30 am-8:50 am
hes a lot more responsive since above. I held him for a few minutes with a cloth and he slept for about a minute before attempting to move out of my hand. He ate a seed i gave him too. He pooped, but it was weird because it was dry and not wet. it also seemed larger than usual.(kinda weird, but it thought it was helpful xD)



*earlier, he could barely walk. and his back legs seemed very weak.

I have thought that he was dehydrated. is that possible? hes eating a lot, which is good. i'm assuming he hasn't ate for a long time. i am giving him water every 10 minutes or so. gave him a piece of lettuce. 

8:56 am
going to put him back under the lamp now.

[crittercrazy]

I'm so sorry about Jay!
Did you check Jinxx's teeth? Do you know how old he is? And what Jay died from? (Something contagious?)

[Jinxxy]

He seems almost perfect now~
the only problem is his body heat. I've been keeping him in the container under the lamp. But I don't know how long I can do that.


Also, since Jinxx is alone now, when should i get a new male?(Really hoping it isn't soon...i'm not too keen on getting one of his new brothers(my brother breeds his gerbils/my gerbils parents every month) and theres no new gerbils at any pet shop. except for his brothers and sisters at one shop.)

[Jinxxy]

I havent checked his teeth yet D:
they are both 7 months old. No idea how Jay died. He had no wounds or anything, he teeth looked normal, and he showed no signs two days ago. same with Jinxx. He was fine last night and was sick this morning.

(BTW, my above post i was writing before you posted. lol)


EDIT
His teeth look fine and he is eating a lot better.

[crittercrazy]

Are you able to take him to a vet? If you can, that's always a good idea.
Otherwise, if he is eating and drinking now, there isn't much else to do, other then keeping him warm. If you can't do the lamp, you could try using a hot water bottle or a heating pad of some sort and put it next to his cage, near wherever he sleeps.

As far as when to get another gerbil, definitely not any time too soon! You need to wait until he is fully recovered, then after that, go by whether or not he seems lonely as well as when you're able to manage another gerbil.

Hope he gets better soon!

[johanne]

Sometimes gerbils do that. It's called torpor. You did everything right. He'll be fine. It's remarkable how fast they recover after being nearly dead.

[Jinxxy]

Hes perfect now. If i attempt to pick him up he gets very skittish, but as soon as i hold him like i always do, hes calm and falls asleep in my hand.

Vets are never an option. Too expensive D:

when will i know if hes fully recovered?
The only hint of loneliness i get is how skittish he is now. he used to be extremely calm when with his brother. Brink hasn't had a mate since we took her from my brother(back in august) so shes also very skittish. we were gonna take one of her sisters, only we wouldn't be able to tell whose who.(all the litters were black) the only way we could tell the boys apart was because of their tails. Both crooked differently.

i was thinking when gerbils that aren't his kin are put in the store, to get another male for his sister, Brink(whos normal and everything) and after they have their second or third litter, i was going to pick one of the male pups for him.

[johanne]

He's already fine. No worries

Sounds like they would benefit from company. With gerbils that look alike they usually have different personalities and behaviours. Once you get to know them you should be able to tell them apart. Blacks usually have a bit of white on their chins or paws, generally a bit different on each gerbil. That's another way to tell them apart.

Generally you don't want to breed gerbils that are skittish, even if they're calmer when they have company. Temperament is largely genetic and you really shouldn't be breeding anything but the best. Also keep in mind it can be difficult to find homes for black gerbils and those with pink eyes.

[Jinxxy]

personality was how i told the boys apart at first. and the white on their chests, but once they got older they looked exactly the same. then Jinxx established the dominance and he came a bit more aggressive(unless I picked him up. he still fell asleep in my hands) so i kept assuming he was Jay(he was the more energetic one). Then my mom ignored me on the hamster wheel and got them one anyways. she put it in the tank without my permission while i was at school and i came home to their crooked tails

The paw thing has never worked. even upon one of my brothers last litters, looking at all their front paws wouldn't help.(that was when i was choosing one in august. i chose a boy, but its a different story that y'all probably don't care about xD)

Finding homes for them really can't be a problem here though. My brother and a few other breeders are the only people you can get gerbils. the gerbils in the pet shops are from them.(They won't ship gerbils to my town anymore) so quite possibly, most of the black gerbils are related to his female in some way unless brought in from somewhere else. i don't even think theres any red/ruby/pink/etc eyed gerbs here.