Post by yeti218 on Dec 19, 2023 8:40:59 GMT -8
My senior gerbil, Chicken, has been acting super weird. He has a vet appointment in 2 days.
His brother, Shark, was put down last week after a long and slow decline. Chicken was pretty skittish for a few days after Shark left, then he seemed a little more normal for a couple days and now he's acting so, so weird.
Yesterday he sat in his sand bath for 6 hours straight. He can move because I tried to pick him up to check his teeth and he scampered away from me and ran around his cage, then back to his sandbath where he remained. I wasn't able to check his teeth properly. In the evening he went underground for an hour or two, then came back out to sit in his sandbath for another 3 hours. He was also awake for an hour in the middle of the night, sitting in his sandbath.
He will sit on my lap and get pets for half an hour or more. He's tolerated a few pets in the past, but nothing like this.
He's always been a very hungry gerbil, but his appetite has seriously decreased. I offer his favourite snacks (peas, cheese, pureed pumpkin) and he'll eat a little and then stop. He will nibble at a nut or eat a few sunflower seeds sometimes when offered.
I got worried that he wasn't drinking water. He can get to his water bowl and water bottle, but he was never leaving the sand bath, so I offered him some water in a syringe and he drank several syringes full of water.
Is he depressed? Is he sick?
His brother, Shark, was put down last week after a long and slow decline. Chicken was pretty skittish for a few days after Shark left, then he seemed a little more normal for a couple days and now he's acting so, so weird.
Yesterday he sat in his sand bath for 6 hours straight. He can move because I tried to pick him up to check his teeth and he scampered away from me and ran around his cage, then back to his sandbath where he remained. I wasn't able to check his teeth properly. In the evening he went underground for an hour or two, then came back out to sit in his sandbath for another 3 hours. He was also awake for an hour in the middle of the night, sitting in his sandbath.
He will sit on my lap and get pets for half an hour or more. He's tolerated a few pets in the past, but nothing like this.
He's always been a very hungry gerbil, but his appetite has seriously decreased. I offer his favourite snacks (peas, cheese, pureed pumpkin) and he'll eat a little and then stop. He will nibble at a nut or eat a few sunflower seeds sometimes when offered.
I got worried that he wasn't drinking water. He can get to his water bowl and water bottle, but he was never leaving the sand bath, so I offered him some water in a syringe and he drank several syringes full of water.
Is he depressed? Is he sick?
.
), late 70s