|
Post by minnesota2121 on Feb 18, 2006 17:31:52 GMT -8
Help! My gerbil is losing all of the hair on his nose! It started about two months ago when i noticed his nose was kind of bleeding a little bit. Then after a few days the hair on his nose started to go away and now it has been two months and the hair and his nose and part of his face is COMPLETELY gone! Could he be overgrooming himself or is it something else??? What should i do???
|
|
|
Post by minnesota2121 on Feb 18, 2006 17:41:49 GMT -8
Here are a couple of pics of Smoky's nose...(sorry about the bad quality)
|
|
|
Post by RyanF on Feb 18, 2006 19:33:41 GMT -8
Same exact problem I have with Burkie. Remove ALL wood products from the tank and use paper as bedding. Also, if you can, goto the vet to get some anti-biotics. That cleared up Burkie's problem quickly. Good luck.
|
|
|
Post by minnesota2121 on Feb 18, 2006 22:03:22 GMT -8
Would that CareFresh (i think its called) work instead of Aspen Bedding?
|
|
caz
Member
Posts: 6,237
|
Post by caz on Feb 19, 2006 5:13:45 GMT -8
Ouch! that looks really sore Hope it gets better soon. I use carefresh atm, and it is pretty soft for their noses, however if anyone in your family has asthma it can make it much worse. Good for gerbils, not so good for humans Caroline
|
|
|
Post by RyanF on Feb 19, 2006 6:16:21 GMT -8
Would that CareFresh (i think its called) work instead of Aspen Bedding? You can try. See if the nose clears up, but clean the cage often and don't use wood.
|
|
|
Post by ashgerbil on Feb 19, 2006 6:26:10 GMT -8
yuppo, Ryan's right! that gerbil has a really bad allergy to something in his tank do as ryan advised and get smokey to the vets asap! i hope he can get better real soon
|
|
|
Post by whitmoregirl on Feb 19, 2006 9:12:38 GMT -8
Wow that looks like a worse version of my Kali's nose problems! Get Smoky to the vets - he / she will give you a cream to apply to the nose daily. (s'what I got for Kali) Put them on Carefresh and keep them on it. Chances are that is it the wood shavings.
|
|
|
Post by AndreaS15 on Feb 19, 2006 14:09:26 GMT -8
I have 2 gerbils allergic to aspen also. Chuck the bedding, get carefresh or corncob. You can put antibactirial cream on the nose 2x a day (play with them for 15 mins so they don't clean it off right away) Polysporn works well. Shoudl start to heal up in a coupel weeks. the red you see is a mucos, not blood. Though if it gets scratched enough the nose can bleed.
If the gerbils is clicking you will need to see a Vet for antibiotics.
|
|
|
Post by minnesota2121 on Feb 21, 2006 19:25:59 GMT -8
Thanks everyone for all of your help so far! I have changed the bedding to carefresh now but as i was playing with my other gerbil, buddy, i noticed that his nose was just starting to show the same signs as smoky's. could this be some sort of bacterial infection that has spread? I dont think they could have been alergic to the bedding either because i have been using aspen bedding with them for almost two years.
|
|
|
Post by AndreaS15 on Feb 21, 2006 19:47:10 GMT -8
Had you put anything new in their tank? Like a new house/toy?
|
|
|
Post by RitzieAnn on Feb 21, 2006 21:31:40 GMT -8
It doesn't always matter how long you've been around something. You can't be allergic to anything that you've never been exposed to! I know it sounds weird, but it's true.
|
|
|
Post by minnesota2121 on Feb 22, 2006 4:44:41 GMT -8
No i have not put anything new in their cage. Just the same old tubes and wood chews.
|
|
|
Post by AndreaS15 on Feb 22, 2006 13:40:31 GMT -8
Well when I had an aspen allergy in a tank of mine, it took over a week to start seeing some improvemnt on their red noses. So it will take some time.
I didn't become allergic to cats will i was about 17, and become allergic to oats overnight too, allergies can pop up any time, and usually do when you are exposed to something on a regular basis.
|
|
|
Post by minnesota2121 on Feb 22, 2006 19:11:03 GMT -8
Oh, thanks. i guess that makes sense. So all i have done so far is changed the bedding. I dont think i can afford to take smoky to the vet. I'm just a kid and i cant afford to pay for a vet visit. Will it probably clear up on its own or should i put something on his nose like VASELINE or something?
|
|