>>>From: "Strawberry" >>>even know it until I saw the blood coming from her finger. He didn't >>>take off any skin, just gave her a nice puncture wound. I stopped the >>>bleeding and peroxided the wound. Is there anything I should be >>>concerned about? I know children, and adults, can get nasty things >>>from cats and rats. Is there anything humans can catch from gerbils? >>>My daughter seems to be doing fine. No fever, but the finger is a >>>little red. But I'd thought I'd check, just in case. ****** >>From: Reese Haworth >>I am concerned that your daughter received a 'puncture wound' >>from a gerbil or for that matter, any animal. I too, once received >>a puncture wound from a gerbil(totally my fault, not the gerbil's) >>and my doctor insisted that a tetanus shot and a week on >>antibiotics was necessary. After all, it is the bacteria on an >>animal's teeth which is the cause for concern even if the animal >>itself is in good health. I would suggest that you call your family >>doctor or clinic to see what they would recommend. ***** >>I have received several gerbil "puncture wounds" and never once >>has a tetnus shot or antibiotics and I was just fine! I just used >>neosporin and a bandaid. I even had once really awful bite that >>I never had treated that way and it is fine~ didnt even scar! My >>advice is to just make sure that you dont let it get infected. >>Neosporin and a bandaid would do since you already washed >>it out! >~Kt Rotunda~ The worst bites to get in descending order: Human Rat Pig Cat All of these can be very very bad because of the extended and varied diet of all of the above. [or so I was told by a doctor] One thing I never worry about is tetanus, because of what I do for a living I get a booster every year period. [I do stained glass, jewelry, and some woodworking, so I stomp and ram all sorts of things into my feet and hands, so I get the shot every fall] I have raised hundreds hamsters and gerbils and gotten a LOT of bites (I pack an average of two sets of fangs and a few stray punctures from the hamsters all the time) and the big thing is to clean the wound out and pay attention to any sign of swelling or redness. I make sure that it bleeds (to backwash stuff out of the puncture), treat it with peroxide if needed, and use neosporin and a bandaid. If it is in a touchy place (in or near a joint) or a rather deep one, then I go to get further treatment, or if it's a slash (hamster) that needs stitching (twice, both syrian hamster fangings when trying to separate a male and female during breeding attempts). I keep a 'first aid' kit right with the cages, so that I can stop and take care of myself immediately (and I can and do use some of the supplies on the animals too if needed). I have lost count of the bites and punctures I have received. Gerbil fangings are much rarer, but usually deeper and hurt more because the teeth are larger and the gerbil bites with more force. Even my doctor has told me that complications from a small rodent bite are many times less likely than from the slightest cat bite. In the one case above, the doctor was being prudent and covering all bases (concerning a tetanus shot and antibiotics). Or he had an indication of something more serious happening. That is certainly not the norm. I mentioned in another post if there seems to be more than a slight bit of redness and swelling; if you feel hot, if the area around it feels hot, and you see red 'streaking' from the point of the puncture; go in immediately. I have had wounds infect (not a hamster or gerbil puncture) and it takes just a few hours for it to show up. The swelling will seem excessive, bright redness, and that streaking seeming to run back towards the heart. Unless you are in the habit of feeding your gerbils raw flesh from other creatures, you should not have to worry about them packing anything overly dangerous. It seems omnivores and carnivores are more likely to cause problems with their bite. Herbivores like our gerbils are a lot less of a worry. Deb Rebel's Rodent Ranch
