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Post by georgiat on Jun 11, 2023 18:38:06 GMT -8
Hi,
I have a one year old female gerbil, Sausage, who suddenly has injured her leg I think. I noticed her running weirdly so I picked her up and noticed that her back right leg is completely limp and she cannot use it. I do not know when she may have injured her leg, so I am unsure what to do. For now I have put her in our gerbil carrier to prevent her from running around and potentially making things worse. Has anyone had this issue before? I'd appreciate some advice, I'm unsure whether to leave her alone to heal or to take her to the vets (which is at least 4 hours away for a gerbil specialist). Outside of the foot issue she is seemingly completely fine, eating and trying to run around, acting completely normal.
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Post by betty on Jun 12, 2023 11:38:21 GMT -8
Oh dear - poor little lass.
Gerbils don't show their pain - they just try to carry on going whatever unfortunately - so good that you have confined her physically temporarily. What you might want to do though is make sure she stays in contact with her tank mates so that the clan doesn't become unbalanced during her recovery - are there only two together?
It is likely that it is either broken high up or there is something happening with the nerves in that whole leg (possibly due to stroke (which gerbils are very prone to at any age really)). So checking if there is anything where a leg can
fall through or become twisted (like a barred wheel, mesh or bar ledges, hanging or bendy bridges) is a good start - and remove those for now.
If the entire leg is floppy (and she isn't able to hold it up AT ALL) then she will certainly need to see a vet as floppy legs could be damaged enough to become further damaged or infected by being dragged around - and if she has no feeling in it at all she may sit on it at strange angles (or over groom it) causing further damage. Any vet can see her to assess her pain and the injury itself (with an x-ray) - and then refering this information to an exotic specialist for second opinion could save you the initial long drive.
Great that she is still eating - as that is at least a positive short term. Do keep us updated if you can...
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Post by georgiat on Jun 25, 2023 23:15:51 GMT -8
Thank you for your response!
Since she injured herself she has recovered amazingly, I reassessed her leg the next day and saw that she was able to hold it up, and I moved her back in with her sister whilst supervising to make sure they would be okay. I bought a storage container as their new temporary home and put enough bedding and cardboard to keep her busy but not overly active, as well as food and water and of course their coconut. She also came out for a run around every day as usual with limited area and more supervision. Now she is able to sit and stand on that leg, she is still hesitant to use it whilst running but she is getting better every day! Couldn't be happier.
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Post by betty on Jun 26, 2023 12:46:03 GMT -8
That's great news - thank goodness it wasn't anything serious then.
Yippee....
Thanks for the happy update.
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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on Jun 27, 2023 13:12:43 GMT -8
Yay! I'm so glad she's doing so well!
I had a gerbil that actually had something similar, though I knew the cause...
its leg had been broken by a tank mate and was completely limp for a day or two, and then it made a miraculous recovery and hasn't had a problem since!
I'm so glad your girl is doing better, always great when the update is good!
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