Poorly gerbil

Question
Hi there!

I have a brown agouti gerbil about 2 years old. She's been fine
up until now and seemed to get fat about two weeks ago. Then I
noticed she was cleaning herself an awful lot, especially her rear
end and squeaking occasionally. I was really worried so I took
her to the vet yesterday (3 June 06) and he prescribed some
cream saying she had probably got a skin complaint. I have used
it twice around her back end and she's still the same and is now
a bit thinner although she's eating and running round as normal.
I have noticed that her droppings are quite dry and she seems to
be 'visiting the toilet' quite a bit. Does she have a skin complaint
and is she in pain, with the squeaking that happens
occasionally?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Jemima

Answer
I don't think she's in pain. If she is acting normal again the cream must be working. If she gets big again feed her some strawberries this will help her with any digestion problems she may have. Sometimes gerbils balloon up because of constipation. So feeding strawberries helps with that. It seems that you have done everything right by visiting the vet and using the cream. Her droppings being firm is a god thing and her visiting the toilet should be okay as long as she is drinking plently of water and eating enough food she should be back to normal soon. :-). Since she was constantly grooming more than usual she may have had a skin irritation. Do you use ceder or pine bedding? Aspen bedding is the best bedding to use as it doesn't cause as many allergies. :-)