Why did my gerbil (3months) died???

[joseramos]

Hello. First of all sorry for my english but I'm portuguese.

My girlfriend bought me a gerbil from a petshop on the 15th march for my birthday, with wire cage included (deep plastic bottom), food container, watter container, a substance which is used to cover the bottom of the cage and adsorb urine and dejections, another substance wich we call "feno" (it like different kinds of grass) that they eat and use as nest, and a packet of food (Vitakraft Menu Vital).

I was extremely happy with this present and so I wandered through the net to get all the info I could about gerbils. Then I discovered that they don't like to live alone so I went to the same shop the next day to buy its brother and introduce it in the cage. Since it was is brother, there were no probblems in accepting its presence by the original gerbil.


Meanwhile, 2 days ago the original gerbil got progressively apathic, astenic, showing little activity and curiosity, until he died today..... Today, before I left home at 13pm, I watched the gerbil and he looked very tired with slow breathing, and wouldn't run away from me when I tried to grab him. Later, when I arrive by 17pm he was dead. His body was stiff and cold and it looked like its skin had lost all its tonus, like if he got wrinkled or like if the water in his body had been sucked out of him. (well, this is the classic description of any dead living creature....)

I'm absolutely desolate with this loss and I feel totaly impotent to do something about it. Could anyone please help me understanding what happened to the gerbil?

Now I'm extremely worried with the other one, as it may be some kind of infectious virus or something like that. I've thouroughly cleaned all the cage and put the alive gerbil on it. He is now a bit apathic but is breathing seems fast. I hope he doesn't also die...

Both of them are (well, one of them "were"...) males and 3 months old.

Ah, são ambos machos e têm 3 meses.

And now should I reintroduce another gerbil? I don't want this gerbil to be unhappy alone, providing he is going to survive...

Thanks for your feedback
Best regards - José Ramos

[doomgerbiluk]

I think your gerbil shoudl see a vet asap
I wouldnt even think of introducing another gerbil till your SURE this oen wont pass any nasty disease on

[joseramos]

Yes, I do also think that it won't be a good idea to introduce another gerbil before knowing if this one's healthy. I'll phone to the vet tomorrow but I think that the vets in here know little about gerbils.

What do you think of waiting to see how these gerbil goes? I noticed, when I first brought it home, that it was more active than its brother (my 1st gerbil), so perhaps the 1st gerbil was already developing some disease accquired in the petshop.


Another thing, I made a 300km trip yesterday with the gerbils to my house. They were in the cage and they had some pillows around the cage to minimize movement, but even tough I bet they felt all the lumps in the road as well as me... Apart from that, I made the mistake, because I was misled by the pet shop attendant, of grabbing the gerbil three times by its tail, till I read I shouldn't. I also made a very rushed "socialization" not giving him time to get used to me, I almost forced him to get used to me. Could this be a cause of death?


Right now the 2nd gerbil is asleep. How much do they sleep each time? I'm so so afraid that I wake up tomorrow and he is in the same state as the first gerbil....


As medicine student almost graduating, it's an awful sensation being impotent to help such a little criature.....


Best regards
José Ramos

[sandy]

Hi Jose,
I feel for you! How sad! One thing to check is that the water tube is feeding adequately, I think a lot of people lose gerbils because the water bottle malfunctions. And make sure the food is adequate, bird seed or hay is not enough, they need proper gerbil food. Then, if the environment is perfect, and they are still sick, you could try some bird antibiotic in their water (I don't know what you have available there for small animals, you might have to get a vet prescription) because it could be some kind of respiratory infection. I agree with doomgerbils that you should not introduce a new gerbil until the first gerbil is well again.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the way you handled the gerbils at the beginning, if they were not physically harmed and did not fight each other. You might want to make sure the surviving gerbil has no open sores that you can't see right away (for example, underneath the neck). Good Luck!

[joseramos]

Well, the second one died.... When I woke up there he was....

I can't express how sad I am.... I'll just barry him and try to forget this rodent stuff for a long time...

I'd just like to know what killed them.... How much water does a gerbil drink per day?

Thanks for your time

[RW]

Jose, I'm so sorry. You haven't had a very good introduction to gerbils.

I think that your gerbils probably were ill when they were purchased. I had a similar experience with a 6-week-old pup I got at a local pet store. I had him only six days before he died, the only time I've ever had something like that happen.

I don't believe that anything you did caused the problem. The only possible factor might have been the stress of the trip and/or change in environment, but if this triggered their illness, they were already sick before you got them. I brought my one pair of boys over 700 (1150km) miles to live with me and they did just fine.

RW

[doomgerbiluk]

jose gerbils drink very little water (unless they want to)
Your gerbils where sick and you should contact the shop/breeder and let them know. A good supplier will offer you a refund or replacement (I wouldnt accept the replacement though).
This was not your fault in any way
What you must do is thoroughly clean the cages with a 10% bleach solution , allow to dry rinse a few times and leave the cages for a few weeks before use
If possible when you do feel ready for more gerbils find a reputable breeder in your area.

[crazycritter]

Aww, I'm sorry I'm sure it wasn't your fault...I've had problems with petstore gerbils in the past. I think you should continue keeping gerbils! They're so great, everyone should have some. where abouts do you live? Is there a breeder nearby?

[joseramos]

I don't know if there are any breeders here around but the pet shop owner said they came from a breeder which was a friend of his.

I think you might be right, they were probably ill when I bought them.

I'll call the shop today or tomorrow. I'd like to personally go there but I'll away from the shop city for 2 weeks.


This was definitely a bad introduction to gerbils. I have been very stressed out with my med school exams and the gerbils were offered to me as a way to soothe my study days in the company of these adorable criatures. Now I'm even more stressed out with all this but I hope I'll succeed.


As such, I think I'll be keeping myself away from rodents for a long time.


Thanks for all your support!