ANDREA SPIEGLE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
> OK, I realize I'm probably just being paranoid, but I'm relatively new
>to gerbil-owning and I'm constantly coming across info of ailments I
>never knew existed. So now I think I might be getting a little over
>cautious. I've noticed my gerbils a few times scratching themselves, and
>sometimes their coats (mostly around the scruff of the neck) will seem a
>little mussed up, kind of like bedhead. It's not like that all the time
>though.
Gerbils often have the hair on their necks sticking up. A dust bath can
help the appearance. As for the scratching, that is normal but you may
want to check for mites.
> And tonight when I had them in their exercise ball, after I took
>them out I was cleaning out the droppings and noticed they were a little
>soft, not dry and hard pellets. The droppings in their tank seem to be
>normal, unless that's just because they were in there a while and had
>time to dry out. They don't have stained bottoms, everything seems clean
>in that department.
Are you feeding any veg etc?
>
> Also (and this isn't a health worry, I just thought it rather curious)
>my one gerbil seems to love to jump around, especially after handling.
>She'll jump up and down to the top of the tank, and she'll also get up
>on her Coconut Cabana and launch herself either upwards or towards
>another area of the tank. Twice just tonight I saw her leap up off the
>Coconut and latch onto the screen at the top of the tank. She would just
>hang there for a few seconds until she fell. It's the weirdest thing
>I've ever seen. I know it's most likely nothing that unusual, but I was
>wondering if anyopne else had gerbils that love to jump around that
>much?
Yep!
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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