Gerbil injury

[jackandblu]

I’m looking for some advice.. my black gerbil Jack came up with this wound on the back of his neck. It happened either yesterday or this morning. I did not witness a fight between him and his brother Blu nor have I seen any aggressive behavior between the two. The wound looks more like a chafing wound or rub than a bite but I can’t tell for certain. No other wounds on him or Blu, and they are both eating and drinking and moving around fine although Jack seems a bit slower than usual. I’m sure he’s uncomfortable. They are older boys at 3.5 years old.

I’m prepared to split their tank (they live in a 40 gallon glass tank) and I think that would help Jack heal as I’ve witnessed Blu grooming Jack and pulling the scab off. But if they didn’t actually declan, I would hate to separate them indefinitely. They’ve been napping together in the same nest most of today. I’m thinking I will use chicken wire to split the cage so they can still see each other and not be completely isolated.

I haven’t figured out how to add photos to this thread but once I figure it out I will post some. I’m open to any advice or opinions. I know the safest thing is to separate them.

[KatnissUna]

Hmm, I’m not an expert so hopefully someone else can chip in, but what kind of wound is it? If it’s a puncture wound, sorry but I have no idea. If it’s more of a scrape or a scratch, maybe there is something he hurt himself on in his tank. For example my Oakley is always getting bald spots from hopping on top of his water bottle and trying to chew the top of the tank.
Like I said I’m not an expert, but if they are sleeping together, and don’t appear to be fighting at all, I wouldn’t separate them unless you’re sure they were fighting. Or, like you said about Blu pulling the scab off, if it’s necessary for healing properly, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.
I myself have had a few bad experiences with dividers, we have tried making our own and we weren’t super careful with making sure they were totally safe, so I ended up with 2 gerbils who lost parts of their tails… anyways be careful with dividers for sure.
Hopefully someone can give better advice, but I thought I’d say something that could be of help.

[jackandblu]

I can’t figure out how to attach photos here.. it’s a round wound about the size of his ear, right in between his ears in the back of his neck. The fur looks kind of rubbed off around it. If someone can direct me how to attach photos I will do that.

[KatnissUna]

I use Imgur. You can upload a photo to Imgur and then copy the link and paste it here, and it should work

[jackandblu]

ibb.co/tX9myVK
ibb.co/xjm1JS9
ibb.co/p3VvmpF

See if this works. Links for images of jacks injury

[KatnissUna]

Yes that does work. It doesn’t look like a bite mark to me.
It’s in a spot where if you were to put something on it to help it heal, that he wouldn’t be able to lick it, but like I said, I’m not the best when it comes to gerbil injuries.

if Blu would leave him alone, I bet it would heal up just fine. I’d say if you feel like you should split them until he’s better, then that’s probably what someone else would say. At least if you split them, they’ll still be used to each other enough that when it’s healed, they can go on being buddies
     If you’re not sure if this was maybe caused due to a fight, you could always sit near their tank and see if they show any signs of aggression towards each other. If you question it at all, maybe they are declanning.
     Like I said, it does really look like a bite mark, more of an irritation from rubbing something. 
         I hope I’ve been of some help, and I hope someone can give better advice soon. If they don’t in a few days I will try tagging them if I can figure out how.

[LilyandDaisy]

I agree, it doesn't look like a bite wound and I wouldn't consider splitting them at this point unless you noticed any signs of aggression.

Could he be rubbing his head against something, for example while gnawing?

[jackandblu]

The only thing in the tank that he possibly could have rubbed on are the flexible wood log bridges, but I’m not sure I’m convinced about that being the cause.

I watched the two of them together for most of the day and I noticed Jack go into their nest and Blu going in after him and disturb him enough to chase him out a couple times. They settled and took a nap together after that. Jack used to be the boss and he has definitely slowed down over the last month or two while Blu still has plenty of zip left in him, so maybe they got into a tussle to sort out whose the boss now?

Since I couldn’t for sure rule out a fight I put a chicken wire divider in the cage. I hate separating them without knowing for sure but thats the option that definitely keeps them both not killing each other and will allow jacks wound to heal without Blu picking at it. They have completely ignored each other since putting the divider in.

I’m giving Jack a heating pad under the tank a couple times a day. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack passes in a month or so, he’s really been moving slow the last couple months and not interested in chewing on tubes or sticks anymore. Best I can do is keep them both safe, comfortable and happy as possible.

[KatnissUna]

I’m sorry to hear that! I know declanning gerbils usually wouldn’t sleep with each other though, but I have no clue. I still don’t think that the injury was caused from a fight, as it definitely didn’t look like it. Hopefully things go well from here though

[betty]

Hey - how is Jack now? Is the wound healing up nicely?

It certainly did look like a rubbing injury - they are always central and on the spine line - but if you say he isn't chewing a lot - that would seem strange indeed.

Have you checked his teeth are still ok? I know some very older gerbils gradually stop chewing wood - but they go on with toilet rolls until the day they die for sure.

Anyway - any updates would be appreciated when/if you have time so we can hopefully hear that they are boh find and back together as friends.

[jackandblu]

Sadly Jack passed away this evening. He was an old boy and I could tell this was coming. His teeth were fine and he was eating and drinking normally but sleeping a lot, only coming out to eat or drink and completely ignored a toilet paper tube I had put in there for him. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, Blu had been chasing him out of the nest repeatedly so I felt okay about my decision to separate them, Jack could sleep as much as he needed without being disturbed. I still have no idea what could have caused that injury unless it was an extreme case of barbering.

Since Blu is alone now and I’m not planning on continuing with more gerbils I will be spoiling him rotten with all the toys, treats and chewing things he desires (not that I didn’t before!).

[catnut]

oh no, sorry to hear about Jack, may he RIP. Sometimes mainly sleeping is the only sign they aren't well. Take care and know you gave him a good life, may Blu do okay.

[KatnissUna]

So sorry to hear that! And yes, may he definitely Rest In Peace <3

[betty]

Oh no - how sad.

Often an illness is the cause of a mild declan as the one who is ill doens't act normally anymore and the other gerbil can get confused - or bold. This can cause what appears to be a declan and so the poorly one will appear to be kicked out.

Bless him.

[Markpd]

Sorry to hear Jack passed away , btw he passed away on the same day my Blake did, RIP our little boys.

Feb 11, 2023 15:04:47 GMT -8 jackandblu said:

I can’t figure out how to attach photos here.. it’s a round wound about the size of his ear, right in between his ears in the back of his neck. The fur looks kind of rubbed off around it. If someone can direct me how to attach photos I will do that.

I see you managed to post links, but if you want to post photos directly here, see the link in my sig (which btw is a pinned thread in all forum sections).

Feb 12, 2023 9:15:17 GMT -8 KatnissUna said:

....I hope I’ve been of some help, and I hope someone can give better advice soon. If they don’t in a few days I will try tagging them if I can figure out how.

Re tagging, 2 ways to do this.

1. Hover your mouse pointer over the members name in the thread until it shows you their @name, then just type that in here (note, sometimes their @name is different to their displayed name, this is where they've changed it at a later point).

2. In the post window, of the 3 sets of buttons/icons, in the right hand set, click the one showing an @ and a body, then type in their displayed name, click the member you want and it will automatically put the right @name in your message.

(Hmm think I should add this to the forum use section)