gerbil chewing its hind leg off

Question
Recently a 7 yr old got one of our 2 female gerbils out of the cage and threw her up in the air and let her fall hard on the ground.  We think she broke her hind leg. She has been eating and drinking just fine. She began chewing her claws off and now the foot. Blood and bone is showing.No infection. The other gerbil is just fine and they still snuggle together at night. The injured one cannot climb and mostly sleeps except to eat and drink.

Answer
Hi Becky

Sorry to hear about your gerbil.  In the wild if they injure their tails/legs, they will chew them off if they think that part of the body isn't of any use to them.  The problem with her chewing it is if there is any infection - so it would be worth bathing the leg in warm salt water to try to prevent any infection.  Also, if she has dust/woodchip in her cage it would be good to remove this just for a while and just give her paper bedding/cardboard so that there is less likelihood of tiny fragments getting into the wound.  Also, if the leg is causing her that much trouble she might actually need the whole limb amputated.  Losing a leg in captivity shouldn't be a problem - the cage might need to be modified to accommodate it.  However, I would be tempted to closely monitor the situation and possibly get a vet to have a look.  Check that the vet specialises in small animals, and double check their fee - most vets will charge a much reduced amount for a hamster/gerbil.  If she broke her leg, often fractures heal in their own time (can take a few weeks) providing the animal doesn't over-use it, but occasionally there can be problems with circulation.  Where there is a stump this can become raw if the creature is using it, putting weight on it etc.  If they have a wheel in their cage I would suggest removing this permanently as any repetitive exercise will aggravate her limb.  Instead, give them loads of cardboard to chew to keep them busy.  

If you have any doubts please get her to a vet.  When I have more than one hamster/gerbil in a cage if I need to take one to a vet I tend to take them all - this way the vet can put his scent on all of them so that one doesn't smell different from the others.  I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila