Post by anna on May 11, 2006 9:17:41 GMT -8
Hi Guys,
I think I've just caused my youngest gerbil Earl to fit
I had put them both into the playpen and let them run around for a while, I'd had my hands in the pen with them and been giving them sunflower seeds and then thought I'd have a go at picking them up and handling them a little - Ozzie was fairly receptive although a little wriggly and I got he hang of letting him walk from hand to hand, in fact he was happy to sit on my hand in the end. So then I thought I'd try the same with Earl, he wasn't keen and with hindsight I should have let him be but I kept trying and suceeded in scoopping him up. He seemed to be very uncomfortable with being held and suddenly I noticed he was screwing his face up repeatedly, I put him down straight away and he started thumping the floor with his back leg, at least that's what I thought he was doing but I wonder now if he was fitting - he then went really still and sat hunched over - I decided it best to return them to their tank and scooped Earl up very easily - he was almost limp really - I got them back into the tank and Ozzie ran off down into the burrows but Earl just stayed where I'd put him frozen in place - I was so worried I left my husband to watch over him and ran through to look on the forum for clues of what it could be and found the link to the excellent "Seizures in Gerbils" by Julian Barker on the NGS site - after reading this I realised what had happened. My husband then came through and told me Earl had suddenly sat up, rubbed his face with his paws and then run down into the nest area and snuggled down to go to sleep. I've just been to check on him now and he's stretched, scratched and groomed himself a little and then settled down again. Now I think about it I've noticed Earl screwing his face up before when I've had my hand in the tank offering sunflower seeds, I had assumed that maybe there was something on my hands he didn't like the smell of (I always wash and rinse them well before) but maybe it was a small fit?
Anyway, my point of the above long drawl (sorry ) is to ask what's best now - I assume it's best to leave them be for a while and build up their trust again - putting my hand in the tank every so often and offering treats but not forcing them if they are not interested. I was so worried I'd scared him near to death or something, I just had to share my experience on here.....
thanks for listening
Anna
I think I've just caused my youngest gerbil Earl to fit
I had put them both into the playpen and let them run around for a while, I'd had my hands in the pen with them and been giving them sunflower seeds and then thought I'd have a go at picking them up and handling them a little - Ozzie was fairly receptive although a little wriggly and I got he hang of letting him walk from hand to hand, in fact he was happy to sit on my hand in the end. So then I thought I'd try the same with Earl, he wasn't keen and with hindsight I should have let him be but I kept trying and suceeded in scoopping him up. He seemed to be very uncomfortable with being held and suddenly I noticed he was screwing his face up repeatedly, I put him down straight away and he started thumping the floor with his back leg, at least that's what I thought he was doing but I wonder now if he was fitting - he then went really still and sat hunched over - I decided it best to return them to their tank and scooped Earl up very easily - he was almost limp really - I got them back into the tank and Ozzie ran off down into the burrows but Earl just stayed where I'd put him frozen in place - I was so worried I left my husband to watch over him and ran through to look on the forum for clues of what it could be and found the link to the excellent "Seizures in Gerbils" by Julian Barker on the NGS site - after reading this I realised what had happened. My husband then came through and told me Earl had suddenly sat up, rubbed his face with his paws and then run down into the nest area and snuggled down to go to sleep. I've just been to check on him now and he's stretched, scratched and groomed himself a little and then settled down again. Now I think about it I've noticed Earl screwing his face up before when I've had my hand in the tank offering sunflower seeds, I had assumed that maybe there was something on my hands he didn't like the smell of (I always wash and rinse them well before) but maybe it was a small fit?
Anyway, my point of the above long drawl (sorry ) is to ask what's best now - I assume it's best to leave them be for a while and build up their trust again - putting my hand in the tank every so often and offering treats but not forcing them if they are not interested. I was so worried I'd scared him near to death or something, I just had to share my experience on here.....
thanks for listening
Anna