Should I give my skitsy gerbil a wheel?

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Hi there, any thoughts on this would be helpful. 

I have a VERY skittish gerbil who I'm slowly working with so she can be more trusting of humans. She's always been this way. She was the runt of her litter (a litter I bred) and always seemed to have an odd development issue. Later I learned that it affects her hearing, and I believe she's almost, if not completely deaf. After learning this I obviously chose not to sell her with the rest of the litter (though several people wanted her, with her giant ears, pointy face and long tail) I wanted to ensure she had a good home that knew how to care for a disabled gerbil. She is I believe, a 'ghost gerbil' if those exist. She never moves in a fluid motion, always jerky and quick, when she's stressed or scared, she's fast as a ping pong ball. I really never see her, so I sometimes have to wiggle my finger inside her house entrance so she will come out and I know she's alive.
Anyway, about the wheel.
Today, when I was refilling her water, I had to adjust something in her enclosure, which envolved moving her house. She freaked out, as usual when something like this happens. Of course I moved very, very slowly but it just doesn't help. She'll come up to my hand very cautiously and smell it before ping-ponging away. I'm still working on it, and she's getting better, but I don't think she'll ever fully be able to overcome it. Anyway, when she gets stressed she comes out and runs on her wheel, which I always make sure is clean and un-buried for her, but today she got so very stressed with me moving things around that she jumped in her wheel and started running, really, really fast. I was a little worried that she would hurt herself so I took my hand out and released the pressure on her... but she didn't stop. She kept running and running and running until she tripped and was flung out of the wheel. 
She seems fine, but I think she was lucky and I'm worried she'll hurt herself. (Her stress level is always high, so I don't think running like this is unusual for her). 
Running on her wheel is how she handles stress, but should I allow her to have it? 

Any advice is welcome... thanks so much, and sorry for the long post!

[LilyandDaisy]

I think I would leave the wheel in permanently unless she's using it really excessively (many hours a day and for very long stretches). Wheels can be a great form of stress relief for gerbils which it sounds like she really needs.

I suppose it's possible that the deafness alone might cause this kind of skittishness. I've only known one deaf gerbil (an extreme white), but he wasn't stressed like this (a little hyperactive at most). It's also possible that she also has a neurological problem, of which the deafness is only one part, which causes hyperalertness.

I'd love to see a photo of her if you're willing to share one!

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Okay, thank you. I thought that it was a good stress reliever but I was just worried she'd hurt herself on it. No, it's not hours at a time, it's short sharp bursts when she feels like she can't handle her stress levels, at which point she dashes to the wheel. I took it out temporarily while I waited for a reply (which by the way, thank you for such a quick reply!) but I'll put it back in her tank now for her to use.

Yes... that's what I thought. Her mother was brazenly outgoing, never running at anything and just waiting it out, while her father was like an uncaring rock, who would sit there and be adorable no matter what happened, whether you were petting him, picking him up, or he was just sunbathing, his favorite hobby was sitting, he was incredibly friendly and loved to be held. I figured the lack of such an important sense probably makes her very nervous since she's unable to hear something approaching. She also has a very severe head tilt. If she stands still her head will slowly but very noticeably tilt to one side (usually the left).

Oh, sure. I only have one or two comprehensible ones of her, since she's always moving, but I'll check.

[LilyandDaisy]

If I had to guess, I would suspect that her behaviour is probably more directly caused by a neurological issue rather than the lack of hearing. She is missing a sense but presumably she doesn't know that herself. She doesn't realise that she's supposed to hear things approaching. For the most part, gerbils with disabilities just get on with life because they don't know any different. If she's regularly experiencing things just appearing out of nowhere with no warning, I suppose that could cause some nervousness but stress to this extent seems quite pathological. That's just my speculation, anyway.

The combination of deafness, head tilt and behavioural disturbances is associated with the extreme white gerbils found in Europe, although that gene isn't thought to be present in the US. But that doesn't mean she couldn't have a condition which acts in a similar way on her brain.

How does she behave with her tankmate, if she has one?

[TJ's Rodent Ranch]

Hmm, very interesting. I'm sure you're right.

She doesn't currently have one. I tried to pair her with a female her age but when the female would get close to her (not aggressively) she became extremely afraid. She jumped clear of the tub they were in to get away from the other female, and we had to go on a hunt to get her back, since she was loose in the house (we did within a few minutes, but it gave us a good scare). Since then I haven't tried to pair her with another female. However, she once was in a clan of four for a short time. she was very confident and friendly with the other gerbils, clearly much happier. The skittish-ness almost completely dissapeared.