ill gerbil

Question
We have an albino gerbil who will be 2yrs this Nov.   We notice a decrease in his activity over the past 18 hours.  He has been sitting/sleeping in the upper part of his cage  (with no bedding), has not touched his food or drink as far as we can tell.  He doesn't take interest in finishing chewing his toliet paper roll and sits in your hand and tends to sleep. We sat him down and he didn't run around as much.(He is a good gerbil, very use to being held ) We can't think of any tangible reasons for this.  What do you think? We are very concerned.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Debbie

Thanks for your question.  I'm sorry to hear about your gerbil.

It is difficult to know what is wrong with him without seeing him.  It could be that he is behaving like this because of his age, although he isn't terribly old.

Have you checked his teeth?  If not it would be worth checking that he hasn't broken one or there is one missing that is preventing him from eating.  Has he lost any weight recently? Is there any possibility that he has fallen in his cage and winded himself?

What is his balance like?  When he walks can he walking in a straight line or is he going in circles?

Gerbils can develop tumors which are often difficult to diagnose or see.  They can also suffer from illnesses that affect their balance and make them very ill.

If he isn't eating/drinking you might want to try and syringe feed him.  If you get a dropper and use baby food, or watered down pelleted food, or pureed vegetables you could try and get him to take some of this.  It might also be worth buying a packet of oral rehydration powders, the type that you take if you have diarrhoea/sickness - you buy them from the chemist.  Mix a sachet according to the instructions as you need to get the dilution correct, then put some of the solution in his water bottle, also try and get him to take a little with a dropper.  If he isn't eating/drinking then he will dehydrate and if you manage to rehydrate him he might feel a bit better. It would be worth using this for a couple of days.

Is he just sitting, with eyes half shut not wanting to move?  If so, then he does sound very sick and I would definitely be tempted to get someone to have a look at him.

Do you have a local vet that you know?  If not I think it would be worth phoning one or two to see if they have anyone who specialises in small animals who could examine him.  If you take him to a vet do check beforehand what their charges are - most charge a much reduced fee for a small animal, but it is always worth establishing this before you go so that you don't end up with a huge bill.  

If you don't have a local vet who can help - do you know of any small animal rescues near you as they might be happy to have a look at him for a small donation, even if they can't treat him they might be able to help diagnose the problem.

It is really important to make sure that he isn't in any pain.

I hope you get on  OK.

Regards
Sheila