Meet rescue gerbil ‘Nosey’

[anngela601]

Hi everyone, I have just joined the forums!

I’ve always had a love of gerbils ever since I was a little girl, and now as a 40 year old (tired😂) mum of seven I have passed my love of these little creatures on to my older kids.

We have three boys in one tank (Biscuit, Tango and Sealey), two boys in another tank (Lenny and Dusty) and I’ve just picked up a single rescue girl today who will stay on her own.

She was with two other girls and handed in by her owner a few weeks ago as they were fighting, the owners said they couldn’t keep them anyway as moving house.  
They were kept in a shallow wire cage and poor Nosey was covered in lots of wounds and bite marks 😓
From the description of her I do wonder if the fighting had been going on for longer than they said.   I suspect her fur loss around her nose is from rubbing the wires or stress poor little thing.  I wonder if it will grow back? Hence why we called her Nosey❤️

Hopefully my photos show, first time I’ve done this! 

[Markpd]

Welcome to the forum!
And nice that you've taken in a rescue gerbil too , why will you be keeping her single? Is she old?

Anyway, I'm sure the poor girl will have a much better life with you

7 kids!? Wow, no wonder you're tired , my hat off to you!

[southeastus]

Hi! I have two solitary gerbils, although I may introduce them to each other some day. For now, I'm observing for signs that they need the change. Maybe you'll end up with another unpaired one too. Mine aren't exactly rescues, but they had been living alone in 2 different pet stores for a long time.

Gerbils can be very charming, can't they? They're kind of like funny little dogs, without the barking.

[stellamaris]

Angela:
That's great that you rescued "Nosey". She's pretty cute, nose and all!

(Southeastus, Loved your comment:
"Gerbils can be very charming, can't they? They're kind of like funny little dogs, without the barking." So true!)

[Markpd]

Yea I liked that comment too

[tanzanyte]

Welcome to the forum Aangela!
Nosey is so lovely! I'm so pleased you've rescued her, what an awful situation for her to be stuck in. It makes me so sad that animals are treated like this, but at least now she has her forever home.
Fingers crossed the fur does grow back. Whenever Vanilla had a sneaky nibble on the bars and rubbed a little crescent shape, it came back quite quickly.

Totally agree with the dog comment, they have so much character.

[stellamaris]

How is Nosey doing?

I just read this in the Merck Veterinary Manual. Don't know if it's appropriate to your situation, but useful info perhaps...

"Infections in Gerbils
“Facial eczema,” “sore nose,” and nasal dermatitis all describe the same common skin condition in gerbils, caused by increased secretion of porphyrins. The porphyrins are thought to act as a primary skin irritant, because gerbils that have their Harderian glands surgically removed do not develop sore nose. Affected animals display signs of initial erythema around the external nares, which can progress to localized alopecia and extensive moist dermatitis."

It's treatable.