My poor little gerbil....

Question
Hi, and first of all thank-you for taking the time to read this.  My gerbil's name is Freak and is absolutely the sweetest little girl you want to meet, but she's had a ruff start.  I work in a tiny pet shop and we had a litter of 4 gerbils there.  They are all quite healthy, but the big 3 picked on the runt all the time.  They bit at her and pulled her hair out until we finally had to put the little girl in her own cage.  Long story short, the beat up critter got to me and I brought her home for some TLC.  She's gotten much better and bigger now, shes about 11 weeks old or so and all her hair has grown back and shes very happy.  Here are the problems though- she got a bad wound on her leg from the others which thankfully has healed giving her only a limp.  Also she was bit right around her left eye.  The wound has healed, but I worry she may have an infection or something.  It gets crust and dried blood over her eye, closing it at times.  And there is a grayish/blue film over the eye itself.  I've been using a warm cloth to wipe it gently away, but there is no stopping it so far.  Also she gets a tiny bit of redish discharge from it too.  I'm worried its blood or pus maybe.  On top of all this she also has nosebleeds.  I haven't seen her having one but there is always dried blood around her little nose when I take her out. (See why we named the poor thing Freak?)  I just don't know what to do to help her or even what's wrong.  I'm worried she may not be able to see out of the eye anymore, but I'm not sure how to tell.  She has never been dropped or abused in any way either, we're all very gentle with her so I'm assuming her problems must all stem from when she was attacked by her litter mates.  I love my Freak very much and any or all info on her problems would really help.  I just need to know what's wrong and how I can help her.  If she needs medicine, or if she has internal bleeding, or if I should let her eye just close up?  PLEASE HELP.  I hope you have some answers for me because I'm just lost :( .  Thank-you again for your time and thought.

Falon

Answer
Hello Falon,

Poor little thing, she sounds like she has had a tough time!! I do think she will be okay, and i think she can probably live a happy life, and there may be some things you can do for her!

As for the eye i would probably get a vet to have a look at it if you can as it maybe that it has become slightly infected and so a course of antibiotics would clear this up best. Gerbils do get 'red' tears that look very much like blood but are not, but it can suggest she is feeling a bit ill. So i would recommend to have that one checked out!! It sounds like the film would probably affect her sight, but again that maybe part of an infection or something! Keep using the warm cloth to wipe it away until a vet can see it!

I think the leg will be ok, unfortunately she may have a limp for her life, but as long as she seems happy enough and can cope then she should be ok with it!!

Nosebleeds are common, my male gerbil gets them every so often. I know that a lack of greens causes nose bleeds, although i don't know why some gerbils get the nosebleeds and others don't. Try offering her small amounts of fresh fruit/veg. Don't give lettuce or cabbage, but try a bit of grass/dandelion/cucumber/grape (washed). Offer these twice a week for her!!

I hope some of these things work, and i hope her eye gets better!!! Let me know how she gets on and ask if you want any further help!!

Thanks,
Charlie.