Geronimo The Gerbil

Question
Dear Dawn,
I have a young gerbil called Geronimo. He is skinny, fast and shy, with unusual colours. Recently he's been having problems with his eyes, which are sticky, sometimes closing without opening, and have a lining of blood all the way underneath the eye. Is he in need of a vet? What can I do?
Thanks,
BECKY

Answer
Thank you for using all experts and being patient as I got to your concerns.

Their is eye issue with gerbils since they tend to burrow and play digging in sand and bedding. Many times a piece of material will get stuck in the nictitating membrane, also known as the third eye lid. This eye lid is found in the inner corner of the gerbils eyes and is there to allow them to close for protection  but without loosing their  sight. If something does happen to get behind there you can get infections or scratching of the eye. This will need to be addressed by a vet for medicine to be prescribed.

There is also a condition called Cherry Eye with this you will see the corner of the eye swollen and red. This again is in need of a vet.

Things you can do for home treatment till you get to a vet are:

-Eye drops. Just a single drop in each eye to help with irritation. You can use Visine or any over the counter eye drops.

-You can also need to keep it clean and just using a damp warm rag can make some relief for your gerbil.

I found some websites that also cover this and other eye condition in gerbils so you can do some research. Thank you again :)

http://petdoc.com/story/common-health-problems-with-gerbils

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nictitating_membrane

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=18+1803&aid=1596