eye mucous?

[coldsolderjoint]

Hi,

Silvia will be 1 year old in about 25 days. She is quite fat but seems to be in good health. Shes curious and eats and drinks regularly. Recently, I moved her and princess into a much bigger cage. They seem to like it. Silvia has been up later then princess now being in the bigger cage. She seems to just be checking things out.

Once in a while, she will wake up and one eye lid will be "stuck closed". It doesnt seem to drive her nuts, but when I can take her out.. ill gently pull it open for her. The goo in her eye is usually clear-ish in color.

Today, I looked at her, and it seems like red mucous coming all around her left eye and a small streak down her face, Her nose is also red.

My girls have had red noses before and they seem to usually go away on their own. I tried to "clean her up" with a damp tissue, but you can guess how that went. Just seeemed to aggrivate her.

She still acts normal, except she looks sad when she looks at you. She will still attack a paper towel tube as soon as you put it in the cage though.

What do you think might be going on with her? Red nose and Red Eye? Do you think she has a cold?

If it's something she should get antibiodics for, I wont be able to get to the vet untill monday.

[coldsolderjoint]

i used a small flashlight to check silvia's pupils and it appears that both eyes work normally however, the "injured" eye's pupil seems to be a bit more sluggish then the normal one.

I really hope her eye is ok.

[topaz]

Sounds like a possible allergy, what bedding do you use? How is her breathing?

[coldsolderjoint]

I use aspen. The cage was built, cleaned, and filled with clean bedding on easter, (one week ago). The cage is a 40 gallon tank with untreated pine and plywood floors and the top has hardware cloth (metal mesh).

Her breathing seems fine although I didnt put her right up to my ear. I let her out on my desk and she runs around like normal. She doesn't seem to be affected by the eye/nose at all except her "facial expression" is a bit sadder then normal.

I would take her out for another look, but shes sleeping in their house at the moment.

[maxthegerbil]

Gerbils can produce a substance called Porphyrin. This is secreted from the harderian gland behind the eye and can trickle down through the nose. In rats, it`s usually a sign of allergy, or that they are slightly under the weather. However, rats suffer greatly from mycoplasma in the upper respiratory tract. Gerbils don`t suffer from this.

I`ve had a gerbil who`s eye looked `stuck` together, but the gerbil usually cleans this himself. If it becomes a common thing, you can wipe the eye gently (from front to back) with water on a cotton pad which has first been boiled and allowed to cool to room temperature. The water, not the pad!

If your gerbil is acting normally otherwise, I would`nt worry about it too much. If the gerbil starts to show signs of lethargy, not eating, drinking or feels cold to the touch, then a vets advice should be sought. But he sounds fine otherwise. Just keep an eye on the amount of red tears (Porphyrin) he`s producing because he `might` be over producing this because of an eye problem.

Good luck. x

[ashgerbil]

in addition to what max has said...
a gerbil that produces porphyrin in the eyes/nose is often a sign that the gerbil is stressed in some way, either because of illness or because the gerbil is stressed because of the environment that s/he is in.
i'd watch your gerbil carefully for signs of illness or stress and if she is ill, seek veterinary advice and treatment

[maxthegerbil]

Thanks for adding that ash! Yes, stress can also be a factor. Reduce anything you may feel would cause your gerbil stress (if anything) and see if this makes a difference. These can include: Waking the gerbil when it`s sleeping, music or TV played too loud, Overhandling a gerbil that may be insecure, or it may be none of these.

Gerbils can catch colds and chills, but if their cage/tank is`nt in a drafty area and they have plenty of bedding, I would`nt think this is the cause either. Just a few things to consider.

[coldsolderjoint]

Thanks for the replies.

Silvia looks much better today. The red is almost all gone except for a tiny bit under her eye and her nose looks normal. Maybe princess cleaned her off before they went to sleep?

Right now, they are their normal selfs, working together at disintgrating a paper towel tube.

[ashgerbil]

hehe good good, i'm glad to hear that she's looking better today ;D
just keep a close eye on her and she'll be fine