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Post by Sunny&Sandy on May 11, 2005 18:19:31 GMT -8
Some of you may know that my gerbil, Sandy, has been sick for the past few days. We took her to the vet today, and had quite a surprise. One of her front teeth was already gone, and the other one fell out at the vet's office! No wonder she wasn't eating! The vet said it appeared that she had hurt herself somehow, causing her injuries and an infection. He gave her a shot of antibiotics and vitamins, and gave me oral antibiotics for her. I think the injury may be from falling off the cage bars. She's always climbing on them and tends to fall...
But anyway, what do I do? What can she eat? Any ideas? Will they grow back? PLEASE HELP ASAP!!!!
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Post by piffthegerbl on May 11, 2005 18:55:24 GMT -8
This happened to my gerbil, Piff, he lost one of his front teeth from jumping from my hands into his cage  I fed him sonme yoghurt and sugar free applesauce until his teeth grew back. It only took about a week for them to come back. Once they start to grow back in, I fed him some mashed up veggies and some mashed yoghurt drops. Before you knwo it, your gerbil will be up and running around in no-time! |
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Post by AndreaS15 on May 11, 2005 19:23:57 GMT -8
time for mushy foods like Apple sauce, baby food things like that.
Try to get ones with the least amount (or none at all) sugar in them.
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Post by Sunny&Sandy on May 11, 2005 19:55:16 GMT -8
OK, thanks. It's a relief to hear that they'll grow back and quickly. Last thing I want on Sandy's 1st birthday is a toothless gerbil!  |
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Post by doomgerbiluk on May 12, 2005 0:03:14 GMT -8
Poor Sandy
Well now you can help her recover.
make up porridge with water (no sugar or salt), crush seeds so she doesn't have to, grapes and other soft fruit, wholemeal bread crumbs, crushed shaws egg biscuits, really you need to do the hard work for her.
you could supplement with vitamins and when the antibiotics are finished you could give pro-biotics to rebuild her gut flora.
Soem experimentation may be needed so good luck.
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Post by queenofthenile on May 12, 2005 10:39:41 GMT -8
When all of my gerbil Asha's teeth fell out, I used a mortar and pestle to just grind up her regular gerbil food into small pieces that she could chew with her back teeth. She refused applesauce, oatmeal and cat food.
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Post by Sunny&Sandy on May 12, 2005 12:01:55 GMT -8
What are probiotics and what are crushed shaws egg biscuits? Sandy won't eat the porridge or crushed seeds I gave her...she's been eating baby food oatmeal/banana/applesauce and sugarfree yogurt. I'm just worried that all the liquids will be bad for her and give her digestive problems. Gerbils don't need much liquid do they?
Any more food ideas are very welcome!
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Post by meganb52 on May 12, 2005 13:05:13 GMT -8
hey there,
probiotics are "friendly bacteria" like the ones that live in your gut and help you digest your food. One of the best readily available sources of probiotics is yogurt containing live active cultures. It's true that Gerbs don't need a lot of water, but you may just have to deal with a bit of diarrhea until her teeth grow back in and she can eat solid foods again. If you give her some yogurt every day or two and keep her cage nice and clean, I think she should be OK--getting nutrition into her is more important right now. you could also try a little natural peanut butter too to give her a bit of protein, but not too much because it is fatty. I don't know if gerbils would eat hard-boiled eggs, but that would also be a good source of protein as well (breeders and people more experienced at this than myself-feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Sandy probably still has her back molars, so she should be able to chew at least a little in the next few days. Good luck!
Megan
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Post by doomgerbiluk on May 12, 2005 14:03:22 GMT -8
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Post by rainbowmonkey on Jul 27, 2005 12:56:13 GMT -8
that happened to my gerbil to sadly i didnt know what to do until it was to late............ but i think you should try something like those little yogurts things or egg shaws
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Post by firefly on Jul 28, 2005 8:25:56 GMT -8
When I still had my hamster her teeth became very very little, I don't know why, she didn't get very hard food or something - but it happened somehow, and she couldn't eat her regular hamster food, so I used a pestle to make it little. So if Sandy's teeth are grown a bit you can try that. Maybe you can make the very big pieces a bit wet, then they become softer and can she eat it. But then you have the problem that she can't have to much water... I hope it gets allright!!
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I fed him sonme yoghurt and sugar free applesauce until his teeth grew back. It only took about a week for them to come back. Once they start to grow back in, I fed him some mashed up veggies and some mashed yoghurt drops. Before you knwo it, your gerbil will be up and running around in no-time!
