ANDREA SPIEGLE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>I was just at a website that said that gerbils should be fed every 1-2
>weeks and that's also when you should check their water. I hope there
>aren't a bunch of people taking this seriously. I don't have the address
>but the site's not too hard to find. It also said that jirds carry the
>plague. I don't know if that's true or not, but you would think any
>rodent with fleas could carry the plague. I guess you have to be careful
>what info you believe.
In the wild, many species of gerbil carry plague and other flea borne
diseases.
There is a real danger from handling imported animals that they could
carry dangerous parasites. Fortunately, by the time pet keepers get
access to these animals these problems have been resolved.
As for feeding intervals, I would not recommend normally leaving the
animals for more than 48 hours without attention. Although,
theoretically, if given large amounts of dry food and access to water it
would be possible to leave them. But of course, if you do not check on
them every day you will never know if something goes wrong until it is
too late.
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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