One of my three week old pups has what they call wet tail in hamsters.
All of the siblings, mom, and dad are doing fine.
I have added Tetracycline to the water of all of my gerbils, just to be
safe. I have not seen the pups drink any water yet. One site also
recommended isolating the sick gerbil, since this is a three week old pup in
the same tank, I have not done it.
Is wet tail the same thing as diarrhea? Yes, I know what diarrhea is,
but the pups bottom is clean looking, just wet.
Wet Tail is a bacterial infection of the intestines, and the main
symptom is the diahrrea. You have to use the antibiotics to clear
up the infection...and make sure the animal gets rehydrated.
They lose a lot fast from diahrrea.
What else can I do for them? I have cleaned the tank and put in clean
aspen and tissue.
Thank you,
Janet and Liz
You need to take the sick one and feed it a drop or so of the
medicated water, and make sure it does get some. Keep a very
close eye on it so it doesn't get dehydrated (if you pinch the skin
over the shoulders it should spring back, not stay pinched up, or
slowly move back to position).
If the rest are looking healthy, and drinking the medicated water,
they should be fine. Any other pups should also be given some
of the medicated water, so you can be sure they got some.
Use an eyedropper or needle-less syringe. Hold the animal
mostly upright, slightly forward, and make sure not to flood
the mouth. Give it time to swallow...and not aspirate the fluid.
For a three week old, a TINY drop or two at a time is plenty.
Repeat every few hours for all of the pups, and more often
for the one with the diahrrea. Remember that an animal that
small doesn't have much in the way of 'reserves' and will
dehydrate and go down quickly if you don't keep an eye on it.
The tetracycline should show improvement in hours if fed;
within 24 hours it should be mostly over it. Do continue the
tetracycline for ten days to knock out and/or prevent the others
from getting it too.
Change the bedding daily, to remove diahrrea soiled material.
Good luck.
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
If it gets really sick ('goes down') and isn't responding to
the antibiotic; email me privately, and I can help you with
the 'last ditch' kaopectate treatment, if you dare to try it.
Odds are even that it will kill the animal rather than help it.
I only do it when it seems the animal is going to pass on,
as the dosing is hard to get right.
