Balding Gerbil

Question
I have been searching for answers for a while. I bought my first gerbils a little over a month and a half ago. Well two things went wrong they sex the pair I got wrong(i got one male and one female). The second thing is that the female was pregnant and had four babies a week later. So I have been researching. Unfortunately 2 has died. I am thinking that they had some genetic problems from being inbred or it could have been a stroke. Now to my question I have not noticed any mites. Although I did treat them for it and their bedding is changed on a regular basis but the one baby is scratching all time and now just around her bottom area she has no hair. It is just the one baby that has this issue that is why I am a little confused. Any insight would be helpful. By the way their bedding is aspen I changed it after I learned how hard pine and cedar is on their little systems. Thanks so much.

Answer
Hi Stephanie

I'm sorry to hear about your gerbils.  It is difficult to know why they died - there could be a number of reasons.

Regarding the one who is scratching - this could still be mites or a parasitic problem or some sort of allergy.  You say that you have treated her for mites - did you use a drug called Ivermectin?  If not it would be worth trying this.  Beaphar make an anti parasitic medication that contains ivermectin and this is applied externally to the back of the neck.  This is repeated a few weeks later.  Make sure it is definitely the one sold for hamsters/gerbils.  It would also be worth treating the others too.

It would also be worth removing all their bedding for a while.  You don't really need to give them any bedding as such - if you thoroughly clean the cage out, then instead of putting in any woodchip, just put in kitchen paper (torn into strips) and also lots of cardboard tubes they will shred their own bedding.  See if this makes any difference.

If this doesn't work then you might need to get this gerbil checked out by a vet - they can develop allergies which cause skin problems and these can be difficult to treat - it really is a case of doing some detective work and remove any offending item.  Does the skin look sore/dry?  You can buy a natural antiseptic in the pet shop called Teatree cream and this could be applied, however you might want to put a tiny amount on the others too.  This way they all smell the same as you don't want to just single out one of them otherwise the others can turn on them.  You can also use Aloe Vera for skin conditions (make sure it is safe for animals - there are some brands that are specifically designed for animals).

I hope this helps - if the situation gets worse then I would definitely be tempted to take her to the vet.  At which time it would be a good idea to get them all checked out.

Regards
Sheila