|
|
Post by mewsuicide on Sept 3, 2015 18:07:25 GMT -8
So my gerbil Chippy who's about three years old suddenly went to sleep and has been kinda sluggish and stuff today. He was running around just a second before that and then he went into a corner in his cage (where he never sleeps), laid down and semt like he's gonna sleep there. I tried to touch him to see if he'll react and he didn't react other than moveing slightly so i offered him a cricket which he immidiatel grabbed and started eating. but when he was eating it he kept on kinda dropping it which didn't happen before. After he ate it he just went back to sleep. I left him be for a while and then checked up on him. I was worried so i picked him up and he was just laying on my hand and didn't move. I put him back where he was resting and after a couple of hours when i came back to check up on him he was sitting on top of one of his hideouts looking kinda tired. I picked him up and he was moving around a bit but he was kinda slugish and not as vivid as usual. After i put him back in the cage he ate something from his food bowl and then just crawled into his nest to sleep. Also, when i picked him up after i saw him sitting on his hideout he had something that looked like a little bit of dried blood on his nose. I know he's not exacly young and it's why i'm so worried. Should i take him to a vet?
|
|
|
|
Post by johanne on Sept 4, 2015 1:32:32 GMT -8
They do slow down and get sluggish when they get old like that. There isn't much that can be done for them at that age. He could live a long time like that, or not. If it would make you feel better to take him to the vet, you can, but it's likely to be quite stressful for him and the stress might kill him.
I find mine really like fresh vegetables once they get into older age. Elderly gerbils will do best on a low protein diet. I wouldn't give him any more crickets. He might like them but they're just too rich for him now.
|
|
|
|
Post by mewsuicide on Sept 4, 2015 3:30:01 GMT -8
Well after sleeping all night and morning he's up and running around the cage. He just ate something and is now drinking. He seems almost as normal just still slightly sluggish and he fell over when he was cleaning himself (he rolled into a ball trying to clean his tummy and fell over, he use to do this when he was a cub). He still looks like he does when he's sleepy.
|
|
|
|
Post by johanne on Sept 4, 2015 22:53:12 GMT -8
I'm glad Chippy is feeling a little better. He's likely to have some ups and downs with age.
|
|
|
|
Post by betty on Sept 5, 2015 4:17:49 GMT -8
I've got one of these at the moment too - poor little Poppy. She's over 3 now...
She is still lively and inquisitive, but sometimes you see her in the nest just sighing a bit there with her eyes half closed. Sometimes she falls asleep in the food - but generally she is getting cuddles off her younger tank mate.
So cute...
|
|
