Poop in the wheel and pee flying

[squeaksister]

I dont think that they have diarrhea but they always poop alot in their wheel. I just washed it really well before I went to bed and I wake up and its practically coated again Now the poop in their tank is regular poop but in the wheel it is smeared and Im not sure if its just stepped on and smeared or diarrhea but I think its just smeared.
They are also getting pee all over the tank, even on the lid! I think this happens from the wheel also , I think.
Do you think they are just so excited about running they dont stop to pee or poop? Or are they coming down with something, wettail maybe?

[whitmoregirl]

Maybe they just don't stop to poop when they're running ;D .
I think maybe (as I've seen this sometimes... ew..) that they get on the wheel with a "string of poop" hanging out ( ) and run. And for peeing, they may get on it or under it and pee, then run on it.
But I have never given my gerbils wheels, so I've never really had this problem.
I don't think it'd be diarrhea or wet-tail - unless they're not acting themselves, in which case I'm thinking they would feel so unwell they wouldn't run on the wheel.
If its detachable, try taking it out for a few days and seeing where they poo and pee (No, not by scrounging through the sawdust ). Chances are that they just use the wheel or the area around it for a toilet.
Hope this helps.

[GerbilGal]

That is just normal gerbil stuff. They like plastic for some reason. Mine do it all the time and they also go in the pooper also. I just have to change the crittertrail wheel daily. I got extras for this reason. They are mounted outside of the cage which makes it easy to clean. My gerbies would not know what to do with themselves without the wheel.

My little mouse Frankie is the exception. The wheel is always clean.

[lizzy]

yeah, very typical behavior for rodents. My roborovski hamster used to do it all the time, now I rearranged her cage she never does it so I don't have to clean the wheels anymore.. luckily.

[gerbilsrgreat]

Yeah i get poop smeared on the glass next to the wheel, they go while they're running and it gets flung up against the glass. There's always a lot of it under the wheel too.

-Jeremiah