injured gerbil

Question
We have two-year-old gerbils (sisters).  They had no problems for two years.  Then about a month ago we found them both (on the same morning) missing the ends of their tails.  I took them to a vet because one still had the bone protruding.  How they were injured was a complete mystery.  (The rungs of their exercise wheel are covered; they never fight; etc.)  The tails have healed up without a problem.  But three days ago, again on the same morning, we found them with bloody noses.  One nose is injured, and the other is just wet and red but intact.  We also found evidence of some animal, larger than a mouse, in our pantry.  Maybe a rat (horrors!) got into the house somehow, and attacked the gerbils through the cage bars as they poked their noses out??  It's the only theory we can come up with, as they are such peaceable siblings.  We have set rat traps and are now keeping the gerbils upstairs at night.  Meanwhile, today the one with the visibly injured nose is sleeping most of the time and not chewing any cardboard.  I can't tell if she's eating; if so, not very much.  She is still drinking water.  I've managed to dab antibiotic ointment on her snout once or twice but she resists it and rubs it off immediately.  I cannot find a vet who specializes in small animals and can give us an appointment before the end of the week.  I could take her to the vet we saw before, but he seemed to know nothing about gerbils and made some very implausible comments, so I doubt he'd have very good advice.  Have you ever heard of such a thing, and do you have any advice for us?  Thanks VERY much in advance.  

Answer
Hi Marya,

I have not heard of this before, but if you do have a rat in the house and it is managing to reach the gerbils it is likely to attack them, and out of curiosity the gerbils will approach it. Are you sure they haven't begun fighting between themselves, as this can happen?
Maybe try moving them in with you at night so you can hear if they fight or something approaches them. Also if you have a wire cage, maybe change it to a glass tank for a while as that will let you know if it is something else harming them as nothing would be able to get in.
With regards to the treatment keep trying with the ointment as without a vet there is not much more you can do. Also try putting the ointment on her fur behind herneck as when she rubs this off it will rub onto her nose from her paws!!
If she is not eating or drinking you can hand feed her human baby food made into a paste. This is tricky but will do wonders for her. Cow and Gate Sunshine Bananna (the powder form is best) mix this with water until runny and syringe feed it until she wont take any more. You can also leave this in a bowl in the cage.
I hope this helps in some way and if there is anything else i can do for you please ask!! Let me know what happens.

Charlie
xx