Gerbil randomly died after only a year?

[guyontheinternet]

My brother's gerbil died yesterday, we believe she was only a year and a half old, and we can't figure out why. I have searched for reasons why she died but she showed no previous or recent signs of any respiratory issues illness, seizures or swelling and she was eating, drinking and running on her wheel, basically acting completely normal.

The only thing we could think of is that his gerbils were bought from our local Pets at Home and we now know they have a terrible reputation for rodent care and inbreeding, but still not sure why no signs of anything came up until now?



Her sister is still alive and well and we've cleaned out the cage and refreshed food and water bottles. Her sister is acting perfectly healthy and normal but I'm still a little worried as we saw no signs of the first gerbil's random death.


Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Mygerbiliscute]

That can happen with a pet-shop gerbil. Gerbils from pet shops can make excellent pets, but their life span may be shorter than average.
My first two gerbils came from Petsmart. SnowFlake died very suddenly after 14 months; RainDrop lived for another ten months after that.

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear about her death, it's always hard to lose them.
Yes, as Mygerbiliscute said, pet-shop gerbils often have a much shorter life span, due to the fact that they do inbreed quite a bit, and keep their gerbils in very poor condition at a young age, which can leave traces that can come back in older age. There are also several different ailments in gerbils that can be like this. Appearing as if there was no problem, and then the next day you find them dying. Did you find her clearly at the end, or did you find her after she had already passed?

This all depends on if it was something that was new in their environment or something contagious that might have set it off, versus something genetic that struck from a trigger that was specific to her. Your other gerbil should be okay, since if she didn't show any sign whatsoever of illness, it was most likely something that struck quickly and specifically to her. Either way, make sure you keep the tank clean, and change the water every two to three or so days to make sure it stays clean.
I find simply out of grief you could say, they will decide to just pass after their buddy has passed. I've seen this quite often, but more in gerbils around two or three years so you may not have to worry about it. It usually happens within a month or so, and does have signs of illness so it won't be a surprise if this does happen.

I hope it works out well and she is alright. Good luck to you guys!

[LilyandDaisy]

Hi,

I'm so sorry you lost one of your gerbils so young. I know how painful that is, especially when you don't know why it happened.

Like humans, even young gerbils can occasionally get serious illnesses and sometimes these don't have any obvious symptoms until it's too late. They can also have sudden heart attacks, strokes etc which wouldn't necessarily have any symptoms until it happened. Potentially a pet shop background might contribute to some premature deaths but it can happen with any gerbil really. Personally I've never noticed any difference in health or lifespan between gerbils from pet shops and gerbils from any other source.

I hope your other gerbil is ok. It's relatively unlikely to be a contagious disease if you haven't recently brought any new animals into the home or taken your gerbils anywhere. So sorry again for such a distressing loss.

[guyontheinternet]

Aug 27, 2023 22:21:21 GMT -8 TJ's Rodent Ranch said:

Did you find her clearly at the end, or did you find her after she had already passed?

We found her in the morning after she had already passed. I'll keep an eye on the other one, she's been fine and active so far so hopefully she's alright. Thank you for your help.