Ill gerbil help

[luciussirius]

We found my gerbil Sirius on Friday afternoon really cold and inactive, he fell asleap on top of me, which he never does, we thought it was hypothermia so we put him next to the radiator. Later he was eating seeds (or hoarding them) which I think is a good sign. The next day he was still a bit slow and kept stopping, he also had a bit of diarrea. He hoarded sunflower seeds that day. i am not sure if he ate. i am wondering if it could be tyzzer's, I read a bit about it, and some symptoms are being lethargic and diarrea. This morning he was still alive in bed, if he dies before tommorow I am assuming it is tyzzer's, so my other gerbil will probably die to. What should I do?

[luciussirius]

Today he was much better, we usually keep them in a balcony, since we live in spain and it is quite hot and we take them in at night, we had them outside for an hour. He was much more active though spent more time sitting still than usual. He is eating lots but takes ages, my father thinks he might have had a stroke, but seems better now.

[betty]

Yes, gerbils will go cold when they are really ill - but there are many examples on here and in my own collection who look really quite ill and cold in their normal setting - but with a temperature boost and more accessible food - turn things around.

Sometimes it is just for a few days, or months - but sometimes it has lasting effects - mainly due to the illness being something like a stroke where they are recovereable after the event.

The loose stools are more of a worry - especially if you mean so soft that they are mishapen? Or are they just softer than usual?

[Markpd]

Apr 24, 2022 9:08:46 GMT -8 luciussirius said:

Today he was much better, we usually keep them in a balcony, since we live in Spain and it is quite hot and we take them in at night, we had them outside for an hour. He was much more active though spent more time sitting still than usual. He is eating lots but takes ages, my father thinks he might have had a stroke, but seems better now.

I'm not sure what temperatures you are getting in Spain atm, but just be careful they don't get too hot there during the day. Although they are semi-desert animals, in the wild in high temperatures they will mostly hide out down deep cool burrows.

Obviously something they can't do in our cages. With no direct sunlight, their upper temperature threshold is somewhere in the high 20s, although my boys were ok at ~30C for a short time in the summer of 2020.

Anyway, hope he continues to get better!

Btw, welcome to the forum

[luciussirius]

Like 20degrees at least except winter

[Markpd]

I was wondering more about the upper end of temperatures.

[luciussirius]

40 degrees in summer but they have shade

[Markpd]

Hmm, I think that would be too hot for them and you ought to bring them inside before it gets to that temperature (assuming it's cooler inside), and probably from about 30C upwards (unless you have direct experience with gerbils being fine, at say between 30-35C, I can't see it over that temperature though).

Anyway, going back to your current issue, when they are outside during the day, what is the temperature range? You mentioned 20C, is that upto 20C? If so, what's the minimum?
Another factor is the cage design, if it's an open cage the gerbils would be much more exposed to breezes etc (especially on a balcony) and wouldn't be able to tolerate as low temperatures, not to mention bedding depth and the amount of nesting material they have.
In a tank with deep bedding and lots of nesting material, they'd be much better insulated and be able to handle lower temperatures, almost certainly down to 15C, and quite possibly a little lower.

Maybe your gerbil wasn't cold due to temperatures at all, but an illness, temporary or otherwise, I'm just checking for that possibility.

How's he doing btw?