Silver Maple Gerbilry: Health

Gerbils are quite hardy little rodents, but what happens if they do get sick?

Well, you don't need to take a gerbil annually to the vet as you might for a cat, but depending on the sickness, you may have to take a visit. Here is a list of gerbil diseases and what to do about them (note: not everything that gerbils can get is on this list):

Name:	Symptoms:	Treatment:	Other info:
Respiratory infection	Puffed fur, gentle clicking noises, lethargy	To the vet as soon as possible.	Some people advice using Ornacycline, but this rarely works.
Scent gland tumor	Hard lump on the scent gland	Vet care. Is fatal without surgery.	Fast growing. Is painful. Most common in males, but females can get it too.
Broken limbs	Limping, not using a limb	Give gerbil lots of soft bedding and un-shelled seeds. Vets generally can’t do much about this.
De-gloving	Tail is pulled off, bones showing	Leave gerbil be. Only go to the vet if it’s infected.	This will have happened because of the tail getting caught in something, or being picked up by the tail.
Strokes	Lethargy, wobbling, circling	Give gerbil lots of soft bedding and try to relieve stress as much as possible.	Symptoms are similar to an inner ear infection.
Inner ear infection	Lethargy, wobbling, circling, bloody ears	Is fatal if vet help is not administered.	Symptoms are similar to a stroke.
Seizures	Gerbil frozen in place, sometimes shaking	Put gerbil back in its home and leave it be.	Is most common in young gerbils.
Diarrhea	Erm, well, like human diarrhea	Remove veggies in diet if diet is heavy in veggies.	If you don’t feed you gerbil many veggies, this may be something worse (see Tyzzers)
Tyzzers	Wasting away, diarrhea	Go immediately to the vet! Will kill in 24 hours!	Treat whole clan with antibiotics.
Mites	Slow moving back and red dots on the tank, bedding, and gerbil	Go to vet to get mite spray.	Wash out tank completely and get rid of all wooden toys. To check for mites, wrap gerbil in a tissue, than unwrap tissue and look for black and red dots on the tissue.
Overgrown teeth	Weight loss, trouble eating	Go to vet to get teeth trimmed.	A healthy gerbil will have yellow teeth (not white!)
Allergies	Red crust around the nose	Change bedding to a different kind. If problem persists, go to the vet.	The red crust will look like blood, but it’s really mucus. Sometimes this is just caused by some dust in the air, and will go away in a few hours.
Head injuries	Rolling uncontrollably	Go to the vet immediately!
Heat stroke	Panting, stretching out on a smooth surface, unconsciousness	If your gerbil is only panting or stretching, moving the tank to a cool place and give lots of cold water. If gerbil is unconscious, put gerbil on a hot water bottle filled with cold water. Go to the vet as soon as possible if gerbil was unconscious.
Hypothermia	Cold, huddling in a ball, no responsiveness to you	Put a hot water bottle in the tank. Call your vet.	If you give your gerbil at least 8in of bedding, this should never be a problem.
Kinked tail	Bend or lump on the tail	This is a genetic defect. It will not do anything to your gerbil.	Do not breed a gerbil who has a kinked tail, as they may pass that trait on to their kids.
Fixed wrist	Bent wrist	See above	See above
Ovarian cyst	Lump on the tummy	This is sometimes life-threatening, but it can’t be operated on. Give the gerbil the best life you can till she passes.	Sometimes looks like the gerbil has eaten a golf ball. Only happens in females.
Poisoning	Shaking	Emergency visit to the vet!	Not very common.
E. coli	Tiredness, lethargy, diarrhea, dehydration, death	Important visit to the vet! You’ll need antibiotics.	This is a very serious disease in gerbils. Please quarantine all possibly infected gerbils immediately.
Salmonella	Depression, dehydration, rough hair coat, distended abdomen, diarrhea, weight loss, miscarriages (in pregnant gerbils)	As serious in gerbils as in humans! Vet visit!	Passed through contact with other gerbils’ bedding and toys, unwashed fruits and veggies, and any other animal or human infected. There is very small odds that once a gerbil has serious salmonella, that he will recover. However, if it’s caught soon, there is a chance.