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Post by nachong5 on May 1, 2023 7:30:27 GMT -8
Hi everyone,
I’m a first time Gerbil owner, and I’m just looking for a little advice on some of the noise a gerbil can make.. So on Friday evening my girl Nacho started making a strange noise while she was sleeping.. So to me, it sounded like her little chest was weezing, with this, when she was awake, she was just very lethargic, and I knew straight away she wasn’t herself. So I removed her from her cage and kept her in a box by my bed all night to keep an eye on her.. she was eating but wasn’t drinking.. I googled “weezing noise from my gerbil” and long story short it said she could possibly have an RI.. so reading this, it broke my heart that something bad was going to happen, she made it through the night and was active here and there, but slept mostly, I took her to the vets Saturday to get her checked, but the vet said her breathing was fine and her eyes where still nice and bright, and she had no signs of a runny noise. We was sent away with some medicine to help with inflammation.
When we got home Saturday I put her in a cage with just her sister, (they definitely missed each other, it’s the first time they’ve been apart).. before she was sharing with Oi and 4 baby girls (8 weeks old).. Since being in the cage with just Oi, I’ve only heard the noise from Nacho twice since Saturday, both times, she was sleeping.. before the vet visit, it was while she was sleeping and while she was awake..
I’m just wondering, was she maybe stressed because she was with 5 other gerbil?.. it used to be just her and Oi, but then both girls had babies at the same time, Nacho had 3 and Oi had 6, so for a long time there was 11 of them in a big cage, but then we separated the boys, but kept the girls with their mum’s.. I tried to do as much research as I could, but everything on the internet contradicts itself, I was reading that the babies need to be away from their parent, then I was reading that it’s okay to keep the girls with the mum, but then someone saying they need to be separated.. So I took a risk and thought the baby girls would be fine with their mum’s..
Is the weezing kind of sound anything that I should be worried about?. It’s just I’ve never heard her do this before, and I hate the thought of my baby being sick or sad, so I want to make her feel better..
She also has the run of the house for a few hours everyday, so she’s not always caged up, and gets plenty of exercise and attention from me.
Any advice would be most welcome.
Sorry for the long post. And thank you in advance for any help given ❤️
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 2, 2023 2:48:05 GMT -8
Hello,
How is Nacho now?
Is it probably reassuring that the vet found her eyes were bright and she didn't seem obviously ill. With a severe respiratory infection, the gerbil will usually have a dull, disheveled, will be lethargic with a hunched posture and may feel cold to the touch. But in the early stages of an infection, they may still look well.
Aside from a respiratory infection, breathing noises can be from allergies or an irritation of the respiratory tract. Some gerbils seem more prone to this than others and sometimes it can cause a gerbil to be mildly lethargic or "not quite themselves" for a few hours. Sometimes it can be a new bedding or new sand that triggers it. I had a gerbil named Tilly who used to have episodes of noisy breathing and I eventually realised they happened every time I gave her fresh sand. I switched to a different brand of sand and it stopped.
Some gerbils are more vocal than others and sometimes normal vocalisations can be mistaken for breathing noises.
In general intermittent breathing noises are less worrying than noises that you can hear with every breath.
Female gerbils at 8 weeks old are fine to live with their mums, but as females do much better in pairs than in larger groups, ideally you would start to pair them off from around 8-10 weeks old. So at this point you can either keep Nacho and Oi together and split the four baby girls into two pairs, or use the split tank method to introduce each mum to one of the pups (whether her own daughter or not) and then have one pair of pups remaining.
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Post by nachong5 on May 2, 2023 13:03:07 GMT -8
Hi, Thank you so much for replying, Nacho is doing lots better, although as I’m sitting writing this, she is making the noise again but she’s fast asleep.. I’ve uploaded a video on my YouTube so people can hear her, I’m not the greatest at explaining things. I tend to worry a lot and it would break my heart if anything would happen to her. The vet didn’t seem concerned, and maybe I am just overthinking it.. I am beginning to think that maybe it could be the bedding we’re using as it’s the only thing that we’ve change recently.. I’ve just ordered some bedding that we’ve used before and that we know she is okay with, we used hay before, but this time we ordered a bale of straw as it worked out a little cheaper and we have a few (16 in total) gerbils, to keep clean. So we thought bulk would be better. Everyone else seems perfectly fine with the straw, it’s just my little drama Queen that is making this noise. Thank you so much again for taking the time out of your day to reply to my thread, I really do appreciate any sort of advice. Please see the link to Nacho’s video… youtube.com/shorts/uN7DtW15ZTI?feature=share |
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Post by catnut on May 2, 2023 13:34:33 GMT -8
did the vet check Nachos' ears? I had a gerbil Zippy who had a bad ear infection, which i got treated right away, and even after, she'd get a burst eardrum, make a strange noise in her sleep, and would get ear drainage on and off- i tried many drops but nothing helped- she was a happy girl despite that and i took her back and forth to the vets when it got bad so she'd get antibiotics/pain meds. or some kind of drops. If it's only in her sleep, she could be dreaming or her ears could have an issue.
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Post by catnut on May 2, 2023 13:37:15 GMT -8
i just saw your post about the bedding, Hay could be dusty so that could cause issues and straw can be hard so may not be the best to use, and could be dusty, too. I use aspen bedding but know some like paper, and both can be dusty depending on the brand.
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Post by catnut on May 2, 2023 13:42:20 GMT -8
i just had the video come up, that noise could be due to the bedding or due to a medical issue, did you show the vet this? that may help her figure it out. I would maybe put her on paper towel bedding- layer it and shred it, and put some large cardboard pieces on the bottom of the cage, change it daily to see if that helps for a week or two, then find a very low dust bedding and don't use hay or straw.
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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on May 2, 2023 20:15:11 GMT -8
I saw your post with the video.
I've never heard a gerbil make sounds like that. It could have been dust from the bedding, I wouldn't be surprised if that were it.
It doesn't seem to be every breath and the sound seems irregular, not always the same pitch/volume/rhythm, so as long as it's getting better I think Nacho should be okay.
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Post by nachong5 on May 3, 2023 0:23:57 GMT -8
I saw your post with the video. I've never heard a gerbil make sounds like that. It could have been dust from the bedding, I wouldn't be surprised if that were it. It doesn't seem to be every breath and the sound seems irregular, not always the same pitch/volume/rhythm, so as long as it's getting better I think Nacho should be okay. Thank you so much for your words, Nacho seemed a lot more vocal last night, and the same this morning, so I’ve put her in a box again with lots of paper bedding and she’s sleeping but she’s quiet, so I’m convinced that it’s the straw we bought, I’ve ordered the same bedding that we’ve used since we got her, but it’s not coming until Thursday, so I’m nipping out to get her a small pack of some other bedding I know she’s okay with, I don’t want her to be suffering any longer.. I will keep everyone posted in the next few days on how she is being. I’ve also been recording her so if I do need to take her back to the vet, I can show them how she has been. I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to reply and give me advice and trying to put my mind at ease. Thank you so much everyone, stay blessed and save :-) Nacho sends love to everyone ❤️ |
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Post by nachong5 on May 3, 2023 0:28:25 GMT -8
i just had the video come up, that noise could be due to the bedding or due to a medical issue, did you show the vet this? that may help her figure it out. I would maybe put her on paper towel bedding- layer it and shred it, and put some large cardboard pieces on the bottom of the cage, change it daily to see if that helps for a week or two, then find a very low dust bedding and don't use hay or straw. Hiya, I didn’t show the vet the video as I only did that last night to show people on here, but I’ve been keeping track of her just incase I do need to take her back. I’m changing her bedding today with some stuff that we’ve used before and that I know she’s okay with. Thank you for taking the time out to send me some advice. I’ll post in a few days and let everyone know how my little girl is getting on. 🫶🏻 |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 3, 2023 4:32:01 GMT -8
It sounds a lot like the noises my gerbil Tilly used to make.
In these situations it can be helpful to strip the enclosure back to shredded paper towels (not toilet paper as it's dusty) for bedding, and no sand or hay or any other substrates, and see if the noises stop. If they don't, it could be a medical issue unrelated to bedding. If they do, you can start gradually adding different substrates back in to see if any trigger the noises again.
If it seems to be a medical issue, a trial of antibiotics may be worthwhile in case it's some kind of chronic infection. A vet may also consider a trial of a steroid in case there is some inflammation of the respiratory tract.
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Post by nachong5 on May 5, 2023 7:21:44 GMT -8
NACHO UPDATE: She’s doing absolutely fine. Since changing her bedding back to the one we used before, ive not heard a peep out of her.. I can finally stop stressing about her now..
Thank you from myself and from Nacho to all of you who took the time out to read our post and for replying.. You’re all amazing and we appreciate your help and support.. Send lots of fur baby cuddles to everyone ❤️❤️❤️
Emz & Nacho
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 5, 2023 7:34:07 GMT -8
That's so good to hear! It sounds like she has a sensitivity to the bedding you were using. What kind of straw was it, out of interest?
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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on May 5, 2023 13:00:14 GMT -8
I'm so glad that she's better!
What a relief! It's always great when something just clears itself up. (With the bedding change, of course)
As LilyandDaisy said, she must have been sensitive to the bedding you were using.
Take note of the brand! 😅
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Post by nachong5 on May 8, 2023 7:02:34 GMT -8
That's so good to hear! It sounds like she has a sensitivity to the bedding you were using. What kind of straw was it, out of interest? Hiya, So because of how many gerbils we have now, we decided it maybe cheaper to get a bale of strew, so we found a farm that sells it on eBay, so it didn’t come in branded packaging.. All the other gerbils are perfectly fine with it, it’s just my little princess that isn’t good with it. So Nacho & Oi are now sleeping in hay that we know Nach was okay with. She’s back to her mischievous self, she’s currently free roaming and won’t go back to bed lol she keeps hiding when she sees me, and then comes and sits on my foot and then runs off when I try to get her 😂 her sister has been back in bed for hours. |
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Post by Markpd on May 13, 2023 15:48:27 GMT -8
What a cheeky fun character!  Glad she's ok now btw.
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