Lethargic Gerbil with Sore Nose

[Sunny&Sandy]

One of my gerbils, Sandy, seems to be sick. She will hardly come out of her little house, isn't eating or drinking, and her nose has dried blood on it. She lives alone, so there's no chance of fighting, although I suppose she could've ran into something. Could it be an allergy? The only things I can think of that have changed are that I switched to the "generic" aka cheaper brand of potty litter and there are also 2 new gerbils in an aquarium about 5 ft away from hers. They are using Aspen bedding, but Sandy uses Carefresh Ultra.
Could either of these things be causing the problem?

[lizzy]

Ive never heard of allergies affecting whether gerbils eat and drink. she could have a respiratory infection which would explain it. Is her breathing rough/sounding funny? I'd advise you to ring your vet and make an appointment if necessary. meanwhile introduce her to lots of treats and see if you can get something down her. gerbils go downhill very quickly without food.

[Sunny&Sandy]

I haven't noticed her breathing sounding funny, but I will call the vet as soon as my parents get home so I can OK it by them first. Treats are a good idea, and she has been eating some. I also gave her some baby food today, for the liquids and nutrition.

[gerbilsrgreat]

Hope your gerbie is doing alright! Keep us posted.

-Jeremiah

[meganb52]

Gerbils can get a condition called sore nose, which can be caused by several things: If you keep her in a cage with bars, the bars may be too narrow and she's injuring her nose when she sticks it through, or if she has any chew toys, etc that she sticks her head into that may be too narrow. They can also have nasal issues if the humidity is too high in their environment (>50%) or have encountered other sudden stresses in their life/environment. I also say take her to the vet, but what usually happens is they get an inflamed little nose and then through grooming, etc, they get a secondary bacterial infection that can be even more irritating. I'm guessing your vet will prescribe tetracycline for her water and/or a topical antibiotic (like neosporin) for her to help with the irritation while the inflammation subsides. Make sure to clean her cage well and change all her bedding so she has a nice, clean environment in which to heal. Supportive care with eating and drinking will probably be needed until she starts felling better too. Just so you know I'm not some crazy random newbie giving you advice, I'm a 3rd year vet student and everything I'm telling you is coming straight from my Gerbil care and medicine notes... Hope Sandy feels better soon!

-Megan

[Sunny&Sandy]

Thanks so much for the advice, Megan. I've always dreamed of being a vet, but don't think I could because I'm not good in math or science.
I think Sandy is doing slightly better today. I completely cleaned her cage yesterday, and have been feeding her as many treats as she'll take from me. She is in a cage with bars, so that could be the problem. I can't think of anything that could have been stressful for her lately, but there has been a lot of commotion lately with the new gerbils. Just in case, I relocated her cage to a quieter part of the house.
Unfortunately, I can't take her to the vet until I get my paycheck (middle of June, I'm a summer babysitter). I just spent my birythday money on 2 new gerbies and all the accessories. My parents will only pay for the "emergency" situations...they've never been the type that will spend $50 on a $8 animal without being very sure it's a serious problem.
Is it safe to use Neosporin or Polysporin on her nose or is there a special kind for animals and is the tetracycline available at pet stores or only thru a vet? I think I've seen it somewhere before, but I could be thinking of something else.

[Sunny&Sandy]

:'(Sandy has gotten worse. Tonight she was just laying on her side and breathing pretty heavy. We tried to find an emergency vet, but the only one we found doesn't take gerbils. We'll take her in the morning. Please pray for Sandy tonight.

[ecoa]

OH! i do hope your gerbil gets better soon!

[meganb52]

I also hope Sandy gets better. the best thing you can do for her tonight is to keep her warm and quiet (use a heating pad set on low and put a folded towel over it) and try and keep getting nutrition into her. Natural applesauce is good I've heard, because of its sugar and water content. I'd get her in to se a vet as soon as possible. I hope she's ok! BTW-on the antibiotics-you can use neosporin or other over-the-counter antibiotics on pets, just be careful with gerbils that you try not to get it in their eyes (not made for that part of their body!) or over their nostrils so they can't breathe(basically, use it sparingly). At this point, I don't think topicals would do you much good; she probably needs oral antibiotics, either baytril or tetracycline, which you can only get from your vet.

-Megan

[doomgerbiluk]

I hope Sandy makes it. I found a favourite gerbil of mine collapsed last night. Depiste attempts to warm and revive him he died during the night.
RIP Darth Vader.

[meganb52]

So sorry to hear that

[Sunny&Sandy]

Sorry to hear about Darth, doomger.

We have 3 vet appointments made...we keep trying to get a better one... One is at 5 pm tonight, but it's an hour long drive and we think that might be too stressful for her. Our regular vet offered to see her tonight around 9 pm when he's up at the office doing paperwork b/c there were no appointments available during regular hours today. We think we are going to do that. The other one is tomorrow, but we're pretty sure we are going to take one today.