Hello, I found your list while researching what could possibly be wrong with my two gerbils.
They are less than a year old, male (dove grey, dark red eyes), named "Grey" and a female (black), named "Chip". They are normally very active and friendly. They allow my 4 year old and 8 year old children to hold and cuddle them (gently of course!). They have always been healthy in the approx. 6 months we've had them. Then all of a sudden, about a day ago, I noticed they started looking bigger than usual. I especially noticed it in the male "Grey". But we live in FL and the past day or so has been unusually cold here, so I thought they might have been fluffed up to keep warm. They still seemed to be eating fine, and were being active. But they were burrowed under their Aspen litter quite a bit, so I didn't really notice the change until today when I cleaned the tank. When I took the Gerbils out I noticed both were noticably swollen or what looked like swollen. From their faces all throughout their bodies. I was shocked at how they looked! I put food back in the tank when I put them back, and they both ran and ate and also drank, so I don't think the problem is digestive. The things I can tell you that I feel may play a part in this mystery are that I recently changed the food I was giving them. I actually bought a higher priced fancy type food that was specially for "Gerbils" thinking it would be better than the Gerbil/Hamster stuff. But it did seem to have a high percentage of sunflower seeds (which I know are high in fat). But could the fat have caught up to them so fast, and to that extent? The other suspicion I have is the wheel. I was afraid of tail trouble, so I covered my wheel. Thinking they'd chew right through masking tape, I used duct tape (the grey heavy kind), and then put litter over the inside to coat it. Well to my surprise, they had been starting to chew it a bit, but not much. So I left it alone. Then yesterday, I noticed at least 3/4 of the tape was chewed off. I saw no sign of it in the bedding, so either it was mixed in and burried, or they injested it!!! So I'm concerned they injested the adhesive on the tape, plus the tape itself and got some kind of toxic reaction. Is this possible??? Well, if anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate it. Barb __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com
