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Post by foodalishous on Jun 12, 2021 9:09:12 GMT -8
My gerbil has been acting different for a while but I finally found it to be something wrong with his mouth. I think it started when he would chew on the metal support bars of his detolf for hours. He would put his entire mouth around it, teeth in the front. He would do this to try to get under his wooden hide in his digging area so it stopped when I finally had the idea of cutting a hole in the hide for him to get through. Since then he hasnt been chewing on cardboard tubes wooden chews, and recently has been having issues eating. He will eat small amounts, but cant break the shell open of his favorite foods; sunflower seeds, and his favorite treat. I gave him his favorite treat yesterday to see if he could eat it. It is larg and round but he hasnt had issues picking it up in the past. It took him a while to be able to take it to where he hoards is food and when he did, he couldn't break the soft shell open. (I used my nail to cut a hole for him to get started and he ate the shell of it, not the peanut inside.) I also gave him an apple last night. He took a couple bites I think his teeth have become overgrown and maybe even slightly displaced from the metal bar. I plan on calling the vet today to see if theres anything else I can do while at home before I can get an appointment.
Does anyone have any advice on what to do for now?
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Post by foodalishous on Jun 12, 2021 11:58:01 GMT -8
The vet is closed already so I emailed them. I watered down Joeys old tombow food to make it softer, gave him teeny pieces of carrots that he can eat whenever, opening up his sunflower seeds for him, a pinecone is in the freezer for him, and I dampened a cardboard tube to make it softer hoping that he would chew it. Im giving him as much food as he needs right now because the vet wont be open until monday.
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Post by betty on Jun 12, 2021 16:16:24 GMT -8
Yes, soft and/or moist food (small, frequently changed quantities), and suckable/lickable moisture in some form - and just wait.
If he starts pawing at his face though, it becomes swollen, red and/or hot or he starts excessively bleeding - he may need an out-of-hours call for pain killers at least until he can be seen and assessed properly. Also, have you seen who your vet's referal vet is? Often smaller surgeries refer over to bigger ones with longer opening hours for out of hours care - and most of these larger vets are open for a few hours weekends at the normal consultation rate too. You have to sometimes dig around for these details, nobody ever just tells you anything useful like this!
Possibly as well, a local animal sanctuary/wildlife rehabber may well be able to check his teeth for you - it if so much easier when you have done it before - or you have two people helping.
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Post by tanzanyte on Jun 15, 2021 14:03:58 GMT -8
That explains your post on a different thread. I hope you manage to get something sorted with a local vet.
I know it's tricky when they have teeth problems as my previous gerbil lost her top teeth and was in pain with it, constantly pawing at her face.
Let us know how it is going?
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Post by foodalishous on Jun 29, 2021 19:31:02 GMT -8
I a little bit completely forgot about this thread. Joey ended up being fine. He healed on his own after giving him plenty of soft food for a few days. We could have gotten an appointment but by the time the vet got back to us, he was already doing fine. Woohoo no at least $100 bill!
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