I think it depends on why/how the gerbil loses its teeth. In my case it was
a traumatic injury both times from falls. She was seen by a vet and the
soft tissue inside her mouth was purple and severely swollen. He even
brought up the option of having her put to sleep because it looked really
bad. There was also the possibility of a broken jaw. In any case, the
syringe feeding *was* necessary as she couldn't open her mouth to eat or
drink. It took nearly the full 10 days or so when the teeth started to come
back for her mouth to get back to normal, at which point I did give her
soft foods that she ate by herself.
I responded to the question based on my experience which did necessitate
syringe feeding. If the circumstances are different, as Sue pointed out,
and the gerbil simply loses its teeth and is not otherwise injured, then a
simple soft diet would be appropriate.
Jill
----------
> From: Susan Green <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Gerbil lost her teeth !!!
> Date: Friday, June 23, 2000 6:13 AM
>
>
>
> ----------
> > From: Jill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >
> > I have a gerbil who has lost her teeth top front teeth several times.
You
> > will need to syringe feed her baby food/baby cereal or oatmeal. I got
> very
> > creative trying to give her some variety in her diet by crushing graham
> > crackers and mixing with water to make a mush and chopping nuts *very*
> > finely so she could eat those. You will also need to syringe feed the
> water
> > for sure.
> >
> > ---
>
> Your dedication is commendable Jill but actually there is no need for
> syringe feeeding with lost teeth. Syringe feeding is only necessary when
> the gerbil cannot feed itself e.g. babies or gerbils that are immobile
> after a stroke or injury. It should only be used when absolutely
> necessaryt as there is always the danger of liquid getting into the
lungs.
>
> Remember it is usually only the incisors (biting teeth), where the
problem
> lies. Gerbils have back teeth (chewing teeth) too. All the gerbil needs
> is a soft diet. They can eat it from a normal food bowl. As the food is
> more messy than normal food, jusy make sure the food bowl is washed
> thoroughly every day. Baby food is good because it is nutritious but it
is
> also expensive. If you do feed baby food, I find gerbils prefer it a
> thicker consistency thasn for babies. Use about half the amount of water
> recommended.
>
> You can also make a dry mix of things like crumbled weetabix, fine
oatmeal,
> poppy seeds, sesame seeds, plain biscuit etc. Easy to chew fruit and
veg
> like banana and thawed out frozen peas are good too. Just use your
> imagination. I have lots of gerbils and always have 1 or 2 on this sort
of
> diet and any time. They do fine. The only thing you sometimes end up
with
> is podgy partners who eat the soft food and the other food too!
>
> As for water. Having no teeth is no barrier to using a normal water
bottle
>
>
> Good luck
>
> Sue
>
>
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