Gerbil fell and had seizure, does he need the vet?

[eiididenrjrid]

I have a young gerbil, I forget how old but I think maybe a monthish old. I was holding him right outside the cage with my hands totally open and I turned my head around because of a noise. He took his opportunity to jump face first off of my hand and fall 5 feet down onto a wooden floor, I don’t know if he landed face first or not. He had a seizure and it lasted like 30 seconds but I don’t think he got injured badly. They have fallen and had seizures twice before when I was a new gerbil owner, and I’ve been overly cautious since then, but my guard slipped up. Their seizures only lasted like 5 seconds though, and the new one just KEPT going. He now looks kind of unbalanced, and will slowly fall to the side when he’s sitting in the cage. He can walk and everything, but he looks kinda out of it. He is also breathing super fast and keeps like scratching his head like a dog (idk if it’s scratching their head but you get the point). Anyways he keeps doing that, and he doesn’t do that much normally. That’s all I’ve noticed. So are any of these symptoms signs I should take immediate action or should I wait and see if he’s just a little shaken up?

[Markpd]

Hmm, I'm not sure a vet could do much if it is a fall injury, but perhaps you should at least ring them to see what they say.
Seizures aren't uncommon in young gerbils, but the fact he had a long one with extra side effects afterwards is concerning.

I see you posted 9hrs ago, is he ok now?
Gerbils do have the ability to right themselves as they fall, using their tail the same way as a cat, they tend to land on all four's, so there is hope, but a wooden floor is obviously quite hard.

[The guy who made the thread]

He does look pretty okay. Although I haven’t seen him awake since I woke up, he was just walking a little slow last night, and may have still had some balance issues, but I am guessing he’ll be fine when he wakes up and I check on him.

[betty]

I am late in on this one - but breathing fast and scratching at the face would usually indicate that they are in pain - possibly in the head or mouth.

If you did check on them in that last day - if he is still breathing heavily or pawwing at their face - I think they need some pain meds (ideally an anti inflammatory) as soon as you can really.

Idealy also (while waiting or after the vet visit) - have them in a tub with just flat kitchen roll on the bottom so you can see that they are pooping and peeing ok and that their movement has improved. Also, add a small pile of sunflower seeds (or similar) in shells so that you can check they can use their teeth properly to eat.

Fingers crossed it was more of the shock than of an injury.