Any treatment used on a dog/cat will be too strong for a gerbil.
Most likely you're seeing mites, not fleas. Get some lice/mite spray for
birds in the pet store with the active ingredient pyrethrins at a
0.06%concentration. I take a paper towel and wet it with the spray and wipe
the gerbil down thoroughly, careful to not get any in the eyes, nose,
mouth. Then clean the tank and give that a spray as well- throw out all
infected bedding. Keep an eye on them and you may need to repeat the
treatment in several days, although in some cases once has been enough for
me.
Good luck!
Jill
----------
> From: Spice Gerbil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Eeek, FLEAS!!
> Date: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 10:35 AM
>
> I am NOT sure if this is safe for gerbils but it
> worked better than any flea products on my Dalmation
> puppy two years ago. The vet gave us a shampoo for
> skin condtions. It was basically just a very thick
> shampoo with a lot of iodine in it.
>
> Well, when we used this on her skin lesion it killed
> all of her fleas by instant suffocation. The iodine
> combined with the thick mixture of shampoo was too
> much for them, I think the iodine suffocates them and
> the thickness of the shampoo keeps them from running
> and escaping like they do from most flea shampoos.
>
> When we ran out of this I used a mild shampoo and
> mixed iodine or betadine into it. Though it didn't
> work as fast, it still worked and killed the fleas.
>
> But I am not sure if it is safe to shampoo a gerbil.
> It would be quite difficult , and to rinse it without
> drenching his ears or such. But it might be possible
> with gloves on. Still I WOULD RECOMMEND that you check
> with the mailing list people and possible a vet to see
> if they consider this safe for a gerbil. Johnson's
> Baby Shampoo might be mild enough to be safe for a
> gerbil. Especially unscented. But check with the
> people because a gerbil is so small and I wouldn't
> want it to ingest something potentially toxic.
>
> OR maybe there is a safe flea killing product to use
> on gerbils. I just hope you get it taken care of. It
> seems the pet shop should be liable for this.
>
> Good Luck,
>
> Jade
>
>
> --- "<Ashley> <--!>" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I recently added another two gerbils to my family
> > and I see they both have
> > flea's. I was pickin about 5 or 6 off of just one,
> > and there is more. I can
> > also see little black flakes of what looks like dirt
> > but what I think is flea
> > eggs. I know using dog and cat flea medication is
> > out of the question, along
> > with any flea medicine actually. Someone did tell me
> > though that if I let
> > them roll in chinchilla dust it will smother the
> > flea's..but how do I get the
> > eggs off? And the cage is going to need a good
> > cleaning also.
> >
> > Please help me, this is really importnant. I've had
> > the new gerbils for three
> > days...they don't even do anything but lay and
> > scratch..I'm really worried.
> > Please, dont purchase gerbils from petshops. .These
> > ones looked really
> > healthy but I guess I missed the flea's crawling on
> > them.
> >
>
>
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