I am new to this list.
Welcome - happy gerbiling!
I noticed this afternoon that my son's female gerbil suddenly had lots of blood on the left side of her face under her ear. We washed her off as best we could, but it still seems to be bleeding and bothering her (she scratches it a lot) Also, her back left leg now appears to be dragging.
She has been the victim of an aggressive mate - the key is separate her from that mate as soon possible! After the female recovers, contact me or the LISTSERV and I can describe the split cage method of [re]introduction and hope that they get along this time - if the male is overly aggressive by nature - he may not be a good mate for anyone.
How were her and her mate introduced - did they come from different sources? Were they relatively older when introduced.
The vet wants $55 for an appt and the gerbil was bought at a pet store for $6 a bit over a year ago. I really hesitate to spend that much money when her lifespan is probably only 2-3 years anyway (right?)
No problem. I had a Gray Agouti named Rain Cloud that had all your gerbil's problems, plus it was so bad he was near death. I nursed him back to health, introduced him to a female Honey Cream named Painted Desert instead of that other male - who is now serving solitary confinement for the rest of his nature life. He was still limping from his apparent club foot, but once that healed, they mated. It only took two to three weeks for Rain Cloud to get back into shape.
So, the female is being kept in a separate cage from their mate. Goat's milk [I bought it in a can from my grocery store] is a wonderful supplement to help give a gerbil who is trying to heal. The gerbil has wonderful restorative self-healing that you won't need a vet.
Keep her properly fed. Make sure that she has a good safe exercise wheel to help strengthen her injured leg. Take her out of the cage to play - that is good exercise, too. The scabs will heal in time in a week or two on their own.
is there anything I should look for or do??
Hope this helps! If not, or you have any questions, write back - I will home most of the day today except a run out to BJ's Discount Warehouse Club.
God bless you and your injured gerbil,
Larry Capuder
GerbilStrong Kennels
Strongsville, OH - suburban Cleveland
American Gerbil Society member
