fallen gerbil

[Max]

Hi,
Today, when I picked my gerbils out of their cage, one of them fell off the stairs. When I brought him back to his cage, there was nothing that seemed wrong, like a broken leg, but suddenly he began to drum. I put my hand in the cage and suddenly, he slowly lies, but at a very strange way. I picked him up and put him in his nest. There, he falls again on his side. I give him some food, he grabs some and eats it. Then, he walks to a little wooden house and enters. All that happened one and a half hour ago, and he still lies in that wooden house.
Does someone know what's wrong with him, and what can I do about this?

Greets, Max

[paws]

Hi! So he was drumming, with his foot? Like a rabbit. It *sounds* like his leg is fine if he could do that, but I don't know...Is he lying flat on his stomach, like he is stretching? My gerbil Phoenix used to do that when he was sick. Is he awake in the house? Is he breathing normally? He may just have been stressed out from the fall.

As for the falling on his side, that doesn't sound good, I think you will need someone else to tell you about that.

Hope I can help! Please reply soon

HAYLEY

[Max]

Hi,
I dont think he has broken anything. He was only acting very strange and it seems he wanted to lie on his left side, but now (I think, because I want to let him have some rest) he is sleeping. And he is breathing normally.

[meganb52]

I would watch him carefully. Some lines of gerbils are prone to seizures (fits) where they lie on their side and convulse or shake rapidly. As long as he's eatign and drinking normally, I would just give him a few days to recouperate.

-Megan

[paws]

Like Megan said, as long as he's eating and drinking normally, he just needs to recuperate, and if he doesn't seem to have broken anything than he's probably just shocked from the fall. Don't worry, but if he seems injured or ill, don't hesitate to ask questions! It is useful to read threads like these, because I alwas learn! Good luck!

HAYLEY

[Max]

Hi,
Sorry for the late post, but yesterday (almost one hour after posting my question), he was already lying in his nest with his buddy (they are two males). When I closed my door, he woke up and seemed to have forgotten all what happened and was perfectly normal. And he still is today. But the weird thing is, that this isn't the first time he falls from a height. For exemple, when I let the two run around out of their cage, put them on a closet of one meter high, leave for two minutes and when I return back, only one gerbil is running around on the closet. The other one (the one that has recently fallen off the stairs), has fallen and is running around in my room (so he never breakes something). Is there something wrong about this gerbil, since he always falls?

Greets, Max

[paws]

Just a little unbalanced probably. Did he lose part of his tail? If so this is probably what is "triggering" this. If you've ever seen a cat climb, it always is relying on its tail to keep balance, the same with gerbils. It's OK if his tail fell off, it is perfectly normal, and is sometimes due to a tank mate or just sometimes gets caught in things. I would make sure that he isn't on high things, as with most pets, Gerbils an survive falls up to five feet, but still, I would be careful.

HAYLEY

[Max]

Hi,
No, he still got his tail. But I will watch him very carefully from now on. Because I dont want that this happens another time.

Greets, Max

[AndreaS15]

Are the gerbils young?
Sometimes when a young gerbil get's over stimulated (like you'r fall, then getting picked back up) that can give them a little seizure, where they just stop moving and ly still, then will come out of it though. The "thumping" is a warning to all the other gerbils, so he was probably affraid. All gerbils do this, it's a way to communicate with one another.
Still you never want to leave your gerbils unattanded, yes they may be ok from a fall today, but in the long run they could seriously hurt themselves. If he was bleeding internally you wouldn't know untill he was dead.. so please be carefull with them. These little guys are so adventerous they can get themselves into a bad situation fast if not supervised.

[Max]

Well actually, they're not so young anymore. They're about 10 months old. And yes, I will be carefull with them, especially with the one I was talking about.
Thanks for your help.

Greets, Max