Dead gerbil - what next?

[Jazzable]

I found one of my gerbils dead this morning. The other two from his tank look okay. I also have another clan in a tank next to theirs. Are there any precautions I need to take? Should I clean out his tank immediately? Clean the other tank too? Anything special I need to do? This is my first lost gerbil so I'm a bit inexperienced (my last pet that died was a hamster and obviously there wasn't the complication of those left behind).

[ninestone]

Sorry to hear your little guy passed. Unless it appears that he died from an infectious disease, I don't think there is any immediate need to clean the tank or do anything particular. How old was he?

Your other two gerbils from his tank will need to adjust to his absence, including figuring out a new pecking order especially if the one that passed was dominant. For this reason, it would be good not to clean the tank for a week or so. Cleaning would add stress, and the familiar smell of the current tank will help prevent a declan while they work out any pecking order changes.

[Jazzable]

Thanks for the information. He was somewhere around 2.5 years. What kind of evidence would suggest it was something infectious (apart from the others seeming ill, in which case it would already be 'too late' anyway)?

[ninestone]

Sept 29, 2015 11:26:48 GMT -8 Jazzable said:

Thanks for the information. He was somewhere around 2.5 years. What kind of evidence would suggest it was something infectious (apart from the others seeming ill, in which case it would already be 'too late' anyway)?

If he was 2.5 it most likely natural causes. Signs of something infectious could be a recent history of mucous around the nose, clicking while breathing, gunk around the eyes, loose stools (but not always), patches of fur falling out and/or lots of scratching (mites). You would likely have noticed he was ill before.

Hope the rest of the clan keeps healthy for a while yet.