My new gerbil is nervous and some weird looking tails?

Question
QUESTION: Hi Shawntiah! :) Thank you very much for helping me!  I love my 2 new gerbil girls, but am very worried for them...

I live in MI, US.  I just bought 2 small gerbils ("both female", says Pet Supplies Plus).  They look very young, probably about 2-3 months old, but I have never owned gerbils before.  I bought a crittertrail 2 despite what I have heard and love them.  Anyways, I have owned these little gerbils for a week now, so don't know their entire background story/personality, but they are usually playing around in the cages, on their wheels, taking naps throughout the day.  Today, though, they seem to be sleeping ALL DAY, and very lazy.  And, whenever I go anywhere near the cage, they get really nervous and run away.  I put them in their "play-pen" on the floor, and I simply move my 5 fingers and they run as fast as they can into a hole.  

I looked at their tails today, too.  One of their tails is worse than the other, but both show signs.  (BTW, I got them from 2 different PSP, but believe they *could* be from the same liter, I don't know for sure).  Their tails have little spots all over them, only on the underside of the tails, and I don't think any hair is growing there either.  It can't be from recent bite marks, as they are not bloody at all, and there is no blood around the cages.  Please look at these links for pictures, some are more clear than others.  I put them in order of clarity, I think.  Please have a look:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/fillerup/CIMG2858.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/fillerup/CIMG2856.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/fillerup/CIMG2857.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/fillerup/CIMG2855-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/fillerup/CIMG2854.jpg


As a side note, one of the gerbils had, in the past, a bloody nose as there was blood on their nose when I bought her.  It has since cleared up and gotten very better.  I think the store was using Cedar, I am using Aspen now.  Another side note: I just switched to a new water bottle a couple of days ago, the one with a metal ball.  I have seen only one gerbil drink from it, so I don't even know if they are getting water, or eating all of their food except the yellow dried up fruit and sunflower seeds :/  

Thank you very much for taking the time in reading my concern.  I thank you also for giving me any insight on any of the things I have mentioned above.
ANSWER: Hello Philip, it doesn't seem to be mange mites or anything. I couldn't see any scaley or red skin, just baldness. It looks like a lot of fur is missing on the tail. When gerbils shed they will often lose fur on their tails and stress can cause them to lose fur on their tails as well. I'm glad you switched from ceeder to aspen as aspen is a better bedding.
I would personally take them to a vet since they are acting scared and sleeping a lot more. It sounds like they are sick. I've been looking around and seeing what would cause a gerbil to lose it's fur on the bottom part of its tail, but since they are acting out of the normal for you and are sleeping more, I think the vet is the best person to take them to since they don't seem to be feeling well.
Good luck and keep me posted.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your suggestions.  I have called a vet and even in more detail described my gerbils.  They said not to worry not, but if the tails worsen, or show any other signs of being sick as they have described, I should bring them to the special exotic animals vet around here.  Their noses are a lot better.  The tails might be getting worse, I don't know, I will keep a close eye on them.  And their behavior seems to be better.  The vet said they are still probably adapting to their new environment and sleep cycles.  Any comments on what they said?

I do have another question, though.  Regarding cleaning the cages.  I have one of those crittertrail cages and bought a bunch of other tubes for it, too.  Can I just clean the sticky pee/poop off with hot water?  I heard from some people to use soap, others say NO SOAP!  Another website says easiest, quickest, most efficient way is to use clorox or lysol wipes, and let it air dry, others say NO WIPES.  So, in conclusion, I'm very confused :)

Thanks again! :)

Answer
Hello again I am glad you called the vet. Since they are acting normal again they were probably still adjusting like the vet said. I agree with the vets. They are probably still stressed out from their ordeal and it may take a while for the fur to grow back. Ceder can cause animals to lose fur and so they probably lost the fur as a result of the ceder being in their cages. Also, never use clorox or lysol unless you have to disenfect it because they had a contagious disease or something. I have a critter trail cage as well and I just rinse the poop and pee off with hot water actually. I never use soap though since I'm too worried that I won't wash off all the soap. I just use very hot water and a sponge to clean it all. They do have a small animal cleaning solution called Super Pet Clean Cage Deodorizer you can buy and I use that as well since it leaves the cage smelling nice and fresh. :-) In my opinion I'd use hot water and the cage cleaning solution I mentioned above. It's the safest way to clean a cage. :)