His nose is being irritated by something in the tank.
1: Are your gerbils on a paper based bedding or have paper for nesting
material? Toilet paper makes a very fine, irritating dust, and I'v found
Carefresh to do the same. I can't use paper based bedding at all in my
tanks.
2: If they are on wood shavings what kind are they on. Pine and cedar have
toxic resins that are irritating to the respiratory system. The best bedding
and nesting materials are corn cob and aspen shavings.
3: What do you use to clean the cage with. Cleaning solvents, dish
soap/bleach, can cause irritation if not rinsed THOROUGHLY with VERY hot
water. It is really best to use very hot water only for cleaning their
homes.
Get some Neosporin to apply to the muzzle. A very thin coat is all you need.
Don't want to block the nostrils. This will relieve some of the irritation
and hopefully reduce the constant rubbing.
The red you see is their mucus not blood. The muzzle will swell a bit and
will lose it's hair. This is very temporary. As soon as you find out what
the problem is and correct it, the nose will slowly become less irritated
and the gerbil will begin to leave it alone. Thus giving the nose a chance
to heal. This may take a week or two so don't get worried.
Cinthia A. Dunn-Izquierdo
The Izzy Clan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jessica Pierson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 5:30 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Bloody Nose =(
> Me again,
> Just to add as a sidenote, he also seems to be cleaning his nose a
lot,
> pawing at it a lot more than usual. Thanks for any response, I'm worried
about
> my little guy =/
>
> -Jessica
>
>
> > Hi Everyone,
> > I posted this concern a couple days ago, and didn't get any
responces
> > =( Nape's nose is still pretty red, but I can't tell if there's any
fresh
> > blood or not. But I know they aren't fighting, and Nape seems in great
health
> > -- he runs around, plays in the wheel, is eating and drinking. I
have no clue
> > what could be causing this. Please, any suggestions would be very much
> > appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jessica
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------
>
