That is so awful! Do you have a male baby you could put with him for
company?
It sounds like you are doing a great job with him.
Hilary
-----Original Message-----
From: Ann-Marie L. Roberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 2:24 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Paige's count and a lesson for all of us
Hi Everyone,
(This post gets long, but please read, there is lesson in it for all of us)
I have recently acquired another gerbil. Like I really needed one. :o), but
I will never say no to someone who no longer wants their gerbil, no matter
how many I already have.
He (Chip) was given to me last Friday. He is 3 years old, a spotted black.
His previous owners lost interest in him a long time ago. All they've been
doing lately is feeding him and changing his bedding paying him no
attention.
Originally they had him with another male and female. No surviving pups were
ever produced from this trio. Only once did the owners notice pups, that was
about a year ago (when the mother was close to 2 years of age). About a day
after birth, the pups all disappeared.
(Paige you can use whatever info you want for your count.)
When I went to pick this gerbil up from his previous owners, right away I
noticed that his head is tilted to the right, he has a big lump on the side
of his left cheek, a scab is on top of the lump. The entire lump has no hair
on it. Also his left ear is always in the forward position and his left eye
is wide open but it doesn't look dried out.
The previous owner never noticed the lump, but they knew his head had been
tilted for sometime.
He sleeps alot, and eats very little. I've checked his teeth and from what I
can tell they are fine. He easily opens sunflower seeds. His weight seems
normal. He is definitely not fat, he is slim but not boney. Oh, and it took
him no time at all to destroy an empty tissue box.
For now, I've just been keeping an eye him. He seems to be doing fine and is
a really nice little guy.
**Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should care for him? He is
all alone in his cage.
Here's some more history on him and his deceased cage mates. I'm not sure
when the other male passed away. The female died about a month ago. The
owners noticed that she seemed very fat, maybe pregnant but I doubt it for
as old as they say she was.
They kept the gerbils housed in a ten gallon with a Hartz brand Playcity on
top of the ten gallon. The tube that lead down to the ten gallon was a bit
short and the gerbils really had to jump to get up the tube. The owners said
they never noticed if she could get up the tube (cause she was fat). The
food and water was kept in the upper level and the female, during her last
days of life was never seen in the top level. I believe she was unable to
get up to the top to eat and drink and that's what caused her death. The
previous owners admitted to not really paying any attention to her, and feel
she died of starvation/dehydration.
I was given the tank and Playcity with the male gerbil. When I got him home,
I noticed that he was having a hard time getting up that tube. Of course, I
fixed that, with him not being in the best of health, he now lives in the
Playcity. I don't want him injuring himself anymore trying to get up that
tube.
I just thought I would share this entire story with everyone. It is so sad
that the female died the way she did, and that the males' condition went
un-noticed by the previous owners.
Things like that happen when people loose interest in their pets. I just
hope everyone takes a moment to stop and think about this. Is any of us
going to loose interest in our little friends? I sure hope not. I hate to
see or hear of animals suffer because their owner became uninterested in
them.
Ann-Marie L. Roberts
T&T Gerbils
Escanaba, Michigan
Member of the American Gerbil Society
Pup Count Project creator and maintainer
Pup Count Home page:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Reserve/1928/pupctlist.html
Please visit my website at:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Reserve/1928/
