Gerbil suddenly got sick and then better again

[skylion44]

I just made a post in the behavior section about reintroduction but I thought I’d post the actual health bit here because of how odd it was.
Two mornings ago I woke up to find my two younger boys trying to get out of the tank. When I sat next to it to play with them I noticed that their dad was still in the hut and very lethargic. He had one eye stuck half shut and neither me or my mom could get it back open for him using our fingers and a damp washcloth. He was completely limp and puffed up and just laid in my hands and pet him. He was acting very similar to my previous gerbil when he passed. I held him for quite a while before getting a separate tank ready for him so he could have a nice quiet place to be and he barely moved for about two days and would kind of try to eat but stopped halfway through. We believe he’s probably around two now and genuinely thought this was it for him. I did everything in my power to make him feel safe and comfortable when all the sudden last night his stuck eye was open and he was completely back to normal! Running around in my lap, trying to chew my shirt, jumping back out of the tank, and eating several treats. I kept him separate for one more night just in case and he’s still has just as much energy this morning. He’s taking a nap right now, but he was super active all night playing with two tissue boxes. I’m honestly just glad he’s ok now but I am still curious on what might have happened and if anyone else has had a similar experience

[Markpd]

Very odd, no idea myself, replying to see any answers myself.
Although I had 1 thought, after he felt better he then had the energy to clean his gunky eye up.

[skylion44]

I think there definitely was some sort of fight and that maybe his eye got irritated now, I put more info here gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/35807/reintroduction-after-brief-quarantine?page=1#post-310788 because he’s been kicked out of the clan it seems

[Markpd]

Yea unfortunately if you remove a gerbil from it's cage mate(s), the clan might not recognise the removed one as a member in as little as a few hours I've heard. Although apparently it's normally ok for a day.

[tanzanyte]

We had something similar with Little My when she was very young. We took her to the vets and never got to the bottom of what it was but she definitely wasn't right for several days. I do wonder now if it was a seizure or mini stroke and she recovered from it. So whilst it could be a fight that's caused the problems with your older male, it might not mean that there aren't other possibilities at play. I know they tend to have porphyrin build up when they are stressed or unwell and it doesn't always build up in both eyes.

[chocolatecinnamon]

Our 3 yr old Cinnamon is currently like this. However, no eye issue it appears. Vet checked, X-rays on lungs. Nothing. Gave us antibiotics and food supplements. He will eat from the syringe and drink water from it. He is still very limp with shallower breathing. We did remove him from his brother as we weren’t sure if Chocolate was trying to drag him. We just started meds on Cinnamon yesterday. Interestingly, last week, we took Chocolate to the vet for a visible wound of some sort in his scent gland. He is on meds and acting normal. No idea what happened to them.