Gerbil Eye Squinting

Question
Hello. We recently got 2 gerbils and one had an accident about 6 days ago: my daughter grabbed her wrong and 1/2 of her tail was "degloved". The bleeding was such that the vet had to remove the stump and gave us pain medication to use for 5 days. We finished it up yesterday, but during the 5 days she looked (understandibly!) tired and her eyes were very squinty. However, she seems to have been improving except that yesterday one eye looked very closed up so we carefully wiped it with sterile water on a soft cloth. A few bits of red "stuff" came out so I assumed it was bits of the red plastic they've been gnawing off the cage. However, today both eyes are very squinty and the skin near the front of the eye openings looks very red. One looks like it has a scratch on the skin. I don't really know whether or not it is just a scratch, an allergy, or if I should be concerned. Her fur is not as shiny as it was either and is a bit scruffy. We are away from home and taking her back in to our vet is not possible for a few more days. She was semi-quarantined from her cage-mate for a few days, but we have been letting them "visit" for many hours each day. I pulled her back out into a separate cage when I noticed her eyes. The other gerbil looks fine and healthy.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Tara.

I'm sorry you are having such troubles with your gerbils.

I'd suspect that your gerbil may have an infection.  Upper respiratory infections in gerbils lead to a reddish eye and nose discharge.  It may be that her immune system was overwhelmed with everything that was going on and she caught something.  Or it may be that she has a systemic infection from the wound to her tail.

I'm not sure, and I'm not a veterinarian, so I am just guessing here.  I'd say make an appointment as soon as you can with the vet and see what's up.

I hope she's okay!