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Post by moonlight7wolf on Mar 8, 2015 11:58:34 GMT -8
Hi, I went on a 4 day conference thing for school, and I filled my gerbils water bottle up, and I instructed my room mate to just make sure that they had water and that the sawdust wasn't leaking out all the water. However. I was too worried, so I lifted the water bottle further above the sawdust by tilting it more (so the top would still fit on).
Apparently I tipped it too much and it wasn't distributing water when I got home today. I tilted it back down to it's usual angle and they drank for a fairly long time at the water bottle. They didn't seem lethargic even though they may have been deprived of water. T
It's possible they got some water out of the water bottle, but I don't know and I don't want to keep my hopes on that.
Well so obviously they're not dead and don't even seem to be bothered. They were running around and crawled up my arm even before I fixed their water.
But I'm wondering if this could have caused any damage to them. I feel extremely bad, I was worried about the water situation, and my room mate didn't think to check to see if the water was distributing water.
So basically do you think they could have suffered any permanent damage from this? If they hadn't managed to get water out of the water bottle?
I feel so worried and so terrible about it.
Thanks.
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erin
Member
mom to two gerbils <3
Posts: 80
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Post by erin on Mar 8, 2015 12:13:02 GMT -8
They should be fine! If they drank water when you got back and are acting normal there's nothing to worry about. They are desert animals after all! They're built to not need water as often as other animals. I wouldn't worry about it.
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Post by moonlight7wolf on Mar 8, 2015 20:03:02 GMT -8
Thanks, They seem to still be doing well and are up to their same antics. And they've both taken various drinks from the bottle, so I am certain that they are now hydrated. I was just worried that they could possibly have internal organ damage or something (someone tell me if this is a possibility). I just worry for my babies Luckily I am not going away any other time that I know of, so I'll be able to make sure they always have water.
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erin
Member
mom to two gerbils <3
Posts: 80
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Post by erin on Mar 8, 2015 20:23:15 GMT -8
I don't think it's possible for them to have internal organ damage from lack of water. They should be fine from now on Thank you for caring so much! They're super lucky to have a mum as great as you
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Post by Shooting Star on Mar 9, 2015 5:31:24 GMT -8
Yes, severe dehydration can cause kidney damage. But if your gerbils are looking and acting okay, you likely caught it before there was any serious harm done.
While gerbils are desert animals and do not drink much water in the wild, they do get moisture from their food, like insects and fresh vegetation. The typical pet gerbil diet contains very little moisture aside from treats. So if you're away, you definitely need to provide a water source!
I know this was a bottle malfunction, but people need to remember that just because gerbils are "desert animals", it doesn't mean they can go without moisture for an extended period of time. Overnight, sure. Longer than a mouse or rat can, absolutely. But having lost gerbils to bottle malfunctions in the past, my advice is to check that bottles are flowing correctly on a regular basis, and make sure your pet sitter does the same!
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Post by qtoffer on Mar 9, 2015 6:14:14 GMT -8
I'd like to add that I have TWO water bottles available at all times to each group of gerbils. If one leaks empty or fails to dispense at all, there's always a backup.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Eowyn (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper Goldberry (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper -------------------------------------------------------------- RIP Maire 11/6/2008 - 4/6/2011; Eithne 11/6/2008 - 10/10/2011 Lori 5/2/2011 - 7/24/2013; Mo 5/2/2011 - 1/14/2014; Carly 5/2/2011 - 5/21/2014 Arwen 11/12/2011 - 2/8/2015
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Post by crittercrazy on Mar 9, 2015 9:59:27 GMT -8
Yes, severe dehydration can cause kidney damage. But if your gerbils are looking and acting okay, you likely caught it before there was any serious harm done. While gerbils are desert animals and do not drink much water in the wild, they do get moisture from their food, like insects and fresh vegetation. The typical pet gerbil diet contains very little moisture aside from treats. So if you're away, you definitely need to provide a water source! I know this was a bottle malfunction, but people need to remember that just because gerbils are "desert animals", it doesn't mean they can go without moisture for an extended period of time. Overnight, sure. Longer than a mouse or rat can, absolutely. But having lost gerbils to bottle malfunctions in the past, my advice is to check that bottles are flowing correctly on a regular basis, and make sure your pet sitter does the same! I second that. . . and what Qtoffer said about two water bottles. Though I've never had a gerbil get sick or die from dehydration, I have had multiple water bottle malfunctions (I don't think there is such a thing as a water bottle that never leaks/doesn't work at some point). Definitely something to watch out for- I try to check my water bottles every time I'm in the cage, so almost every day.
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Post by moonlight7wolf on Mar 9, 2015 10:26:57 GMT -8
Yeah, I'm probably going to get another smaller water bottle that fits better in their cage anyways. Especially because I am going to be paranoid now.
But I do check the bottle daily to see if it's working when I am around, my room mate just didn't think to do that.
And even if they are undamaged now, I still hate the thought of them suffering from feeling very thirsty. I still hope that they were able to get some liquid from the bottle, but that it was just *harder* to get for them. But I don't know if that was the case. I tilted the bottle at the same angle to check, and I seemed to be able to get some water out of it, so I wish I had tried harder to get water out of the bottle when I realized it wasn't flowing, so then I could see if they actually did get water, but it was just more of a struggle. Because what happened, was that the tip was angled slightly upward so the metal ball had fallen back a little bit, but when I tested it again it seemed to be dispensing water if I was a little more persistent, but I don't know if that's how it was over the weekend for them.
But they seem to still be acting fine and they are urinating normally (i know so because I sometimes obsessively watch them, and I have a jar in which they both seem to be peeing.
But yeah, I wouldn't want something like that to happen again. And even though they seem fine, I still am concerned that I somehow permanently damaged them and that it's all my fault.
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Post by moonlight7wolf on Mar 10, 2015 11:04:41 GMT -8
UPDATE: The gerbils are still doing great, and I bought two new water bottles which are both in the cage, I bought two because the one that was in their cage was obviously too big to fit properly, so I decided to get two smaller ones.
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