Gerbil life span

[londongerbils]

Hello there,

I recently read in a leaflet that gerbils live an average of 4 years as a pet. Is this really the average in your experiences? In my experience, 2 to 3 years seems more of an average. Have I had gerbils who have been very unlucky with their health? Any thoughts on this based on your experiences would be really interesting.

[catnut]

2-3 years does seem more realistic, esp. if they are from a pet store- i did have one pet store gerbil that made it to almost 4 1/2 years old, his brother was 3 years 8 months when he passed away. We just have to enjoy each day and do the best we can for them, knowing it's out of our control when they will get ill/pass.

[betty]

Yes, I think leaflets often do say 4 for gerbils - and although I have had a few gerbils live over 4 years - I would say you were right with the feeling that it is more 2-3 as an average based on comments online.

However, I kept a record of all my gerbil ages - both my own, those I homed in and some of those I homed out who I kept in touch with. It is a pretty even spread to be honest - across from 2 years old to the oldest at 2 months shy of 5. I only recorded 4 deaths of mine under 24 months - and all were females between 18-22 months.

I worked out the average of all these and it is 38.1 months (just under 3 and a quarter years old) with the median being literally the same at 38 months (although I only recorded deaths on this chart from the age of 2 years old). There is no mode - it is almost totally equal across the range - with just the top end stretched out a bit.

So perhaps a range of 2-4 is more reasonable based on my stats at least?

There are so many reasons for losing gerbils - that although 2 seems very soon to lose a gerbil - it is not something that people are often concerned about - it is generally 'accepted'.

I do often wonder what the results would be if people got a post mortem on their gerbils if they passed before 2 and a half years old - as it could well be a common factor that may be treatable or preventable in some way. I know that a lot of vets won't do them - and they cost around £50 for the basic anatomy check (more with tests) - enough to stop most people getting them even if they wanted to - so I guess we will never really know why there is such a difference out there?

[mygerbilprince]

Yes I agree. I think in general gerbil lifespan is about 1-2 years because a lot of uneducated people who don't know about gerbil tumors and other health issues don't know how to help their pet. I heard somewhere that 50% of gerbils that are purchased from the pet store end up with scent gland tumors.

I do believe most people on this forum's gerbils have an average lifespan of 3-5 years. Whether they are from the pet store or not.

[londongerbils]

Thanks for your replies. This is a really interesting topic, and we seem to have a general consensus that the average is a little lower than 4 years. It will be interesting to see the results of your survey mygerbilprince.

[betty]

Should we be more bothered though? Is it fair to expect more?

Rather than just agreeing that they 'usually die between the age of between 2 and 4' becasue that is what has happened in the past - should be be setting that bar higher? No judging of course for what has already happened - but should we from now on be saying - 'gerbils SHOULD be living to between 3 and 4'?

That way what could happen is that - when gerbils die younger than that window - it becomes generally accepted that they 'died young'.

Over time would this make people aware that better breeding (or better choices from buying) and better husbandry could have extended that life? Is that even true? Should it even be strived for?

I suppose it all hinges on the actual facts (that hopefully that something like this thread/the new survey can highlight)

Do we actually think that it is possible for well-sourced and well cared for gerbils to live that bit longer than the 2-3 bracket? I am assuming we would exclude premature deaths from things like untreated SGTs as they aren't stricty avoidable - or accidents (as although they are all technically avoidable - in the real world that doesn't happen).

I would certainly be interested in hearing from more big breeders as well - as obviously they have larger numbers of gerbils over longer periods of time AND are all striving for better care overall. I mean if they are all like my results - maybe we can't aim higher without some serious science to lead the way?

Just throwing these comments in to create discussion - so please do pull these things apart to see where it gets us. Sometimes until you actually put some effort into discussing and researching something - you don't know for sure whether something is possible or not.

[Markpd]

Seeing as quite a few achieve ~4yrs old, I think it is reasonable to expect more than 2yrs (at least), from gerbils as a breed overall.
I'm not pointing the finger at owners if some individual gerbils only achieves ~2yrs though.
But if bad genes are generally responsible for sub 3yr life, how can we avoid gerbils with 'bad' genes? Is it simply to avoid petshops who get their gerbils from farms?
Is their any data to show that breeder gerbils typically live longer? Do you see this amongst your gerbils betty? (rescues excluded).

I would also like to hear from more big breeders.
I wonder if it would be possible to get Clare to post here?? Or whether you could ask her betty?

[betty]

Good questions - and that is why I love these chats.

I am not sure if you could easily say that anything was directly responsible for early passing - but if it were 'expected' by buyers that a gerbil had died young at 2 years, perhaps it would be talked about more as such and therefore people would start to see if better health care, husbandry and veterinary treatments could help in any way?

Another thing to consider is how long someone needs to be breeding/keeping for before any patterns could even be spotted? And you have to set your own bar. For example if, say, boomunchers (a new breed of dog) all lived to around 6 years old - we know that dogs can live over 10 easily and up into the teens - so breeders and buyers of boomunchers would know that there was something to be improved on. It is easy to spot - and so who would accept that breed of dog always dying so young without trying to find out why?

With gerbils it is harder as not only do they only live short lives anyway - there is only one type of mongolian gerbil, so where is the base line set? Can we even choose it?

It might not be bad genes - it could be husbandry - or both. How can we think of ways to test these things overall with the hope that we can extend their life span - and most importantly - would it be something easy - and deemed essential - to do so that owners would actually do it? (like no sugar for chinchillas). I have already mentioned some breeders who swear that certain foods produce tumours in rats - but people still feed those foods and rats still get tumours - so why can't/won't/don't rat owners look into this? Sometimes a great idea isn't always practical or achieveable - no matter how much you want it to be.

Definitely the cooperation of breeders and keepers is essential to finding things out - and I will certainly ask Clare - but another old breeder friend of mine said that the stats were the same for their gerbils as mine - seemingly a steady balance of ages over the 2 year mark up to near 5. But I imagine that many breeders don't really keep individual records or stay in contact with any of their buyers so a lot of the past data could have been lost already.

I wonder if at least here on the forum with the breeders stil active here - that we had an ongoing thread maybe for gerbil deaths under 2 and a half years, so that we can see a) how common it is, and b) what the main causes are (if identified). Only if there is a pattern and a curable or potentialy curable cause would we be able to confidently start saying that gerbils 'could' and therefore - as one voice of the fancy: should - live longer.

Just looking back at mine - out of the 8 youngest (from 2 years) there was: (M#:F#)

3 - no symptoms at all/sudden (1:2)
2 - found in respiratory distress (1:1)
1 - lost weight rapidly (0:1)
1 - possible kidney failure (1:0)
1 - unknown but indicated with a droopy head (0:1)


None of them were in specific family clusters - apart from two who had the same parents - but their other littermates I kept track of all lived past 3 years - and the male parent here is my third longest living gerbil ever (49 months) - his sister was the second oldest (52 months). So how would we interpret that in terms of a breeding plan going forward?

It won't be easy - but I am sure if it worked it would be worth it - and I think the right thing to do?

[Thelodar]

I think it's hard to extend lifespan without better vet care. Small rodent saavy vets are few and far between. I have taken several gerbils to various vets for respiratory distress and in only one case did I feel the vet had some idea of what he was talking about (and he felt it was likely heart failure). In the other cases I got "hmmm it's hard to say what's going on. Here are some antibiotics in case it's a respiratory infection". If it was a dog there would be x-rays, blood work, and likely an overnight stay on oxygen. I've been offered x-rays twice but it was discouraged because it required anesthesia and wouldn't change the treatment plan. The least capable vet I went to couldn't even hear the lungs with his stethoscope and didn't think the breathing really looked fast but took my word for it. Every gerbil I've taken to the vet for breathing difficulty has died, which makes me not want to bring them.


I think breeding for longevity is a good goal but difficult to achieve as gerbils are really most fit for breeding quite young. You could use old males, but I suspect fertility declines. Plus you have to wonder if it's taxing on older dads to raise pups. Not sure. You might instead breed young knowing you may need to consider ending a whole line if the founders start dieing younger than you'd like.


There are also a ton of anecdotes in gerbil care but little research being cited which makes husbandry improvement hard. I'd love more research but it's not really a money maker. There is some out there though, if love to start compiling it all. A lot of recommendations are stated as facts when there is nothing to back them up or only one small study.

I've started to wonder why I've lost so many gerbils to sudden breathing difficulties but I'd have to have had necropsies to get any real answers. Could be heart failure (likely genetic) or actual respiratory infections which could be effected by bedding type, cleaning frequency, wet bedding, stress, exposure to certain chemicals or particulates, etc. Could also be that the heavy breathing was not actually a breathing problem but a pain response. Who knows.

[Markpd]

betty
Re my 3yr marker, that was under the assumption of good care.
But yea, if theirs something that some, or all of us are doing that impacts the life of the gerbils, it would certainly be good to know.
I think autopsies on gerbils that have died at 2.5 yrs or less would be a major help, but I appreciate that would be a hard sell!

All tricky stuff!

[londongerbils]

I agree Betty that we shouldn’t accept 2 years as a normal lifespan when we know many gerbils greatly exceed this. This is why I was surprised to see 4 cited as a gerbil lifespan; so many caring and fastidious owners on here say their gerbils are passing away at 2 or 3.

I think vet care, husbandry and breeding all contribute. But with regards to husbandry, I was thinking about how many different diet foods, medicine, etc are available for dogs and cats but not for small pets. I think there should be more options to suit different types of gerbils, eg, food suited for pregnant gerbils, pups, senior gerbils, etc. I know Rodipet sell food specific for senior gerbils, but this is not widely sold, in fact it may just be online. The reason I think diet etc is key Is because my first rescue gerbil who passed away at 2 was a stand-out gerbil, very strong and athletic. But she died of an ovarian cyst and I’ve heard this is common in females that haven’t had pups, but the risk can be lowered if they don’t have a diet high in protein. Therefore perhaps non breeding females should have lower protein diets, and treats such as mealworms should be avoided. Perhaps education is also key here. The gerbil husbandry book i bought is great for beginners, but doesn’t have any of this more detailed information about how different gerbils may have different needs.

[Thelodar]

To add to the diet point, we know cat and dog foods have nutritional requirements laid out by the AAFCO (in usa), is there any guidelines for small pets or are companies just winging it?

[Markpd]

londongerbils
but the risk can be lowered if they don’t have a diet high in protein

How do you know this? I'm not saying you're wrong, just interested to know the source of that info