>From: Ellen Ross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >What should I put in a gerbil first aid kit and what is each item for and >should i change the items in it every month and put newer things in >(medicines) I would suggest: 1. a small packet of powdered esbilac milk replacer for puppies. Purchase replacement according to the expiration date stamped on the package. This is important to have onhand in case you have abandoned babies that need to be hand reared, as well as to feed to sick animals to give them liquids with concentrated nutrients at the same time. 2. Needless Syringes. You can buy these via vet catalogues such as KVvet or through your local vet. They are marked by cc's so you can measure how much an animal is intaking of fluids, liquid foods or medicine. The tips are small so fit easily into their mouths. The syringes are disposable and cheep (like 10 to 25 cents depending on design) so buy several so that you use a new one each time (and reduce risk of reinfection). 3. Eyedropper, glass. Not as good as the needless syringes, but being glass you can disinfect itand reuse it easily in case you run out of syringes. Also use for applying saline drops to a rodent's eyes (rare occurance, but a tumour or abscess behind the eye can occure soemtimes (delt with it here) which pushes the eye out and makes it impossible for them to blink and lubricateit). 4. Neomycin (generic, if buying from a catalogue) or "Dry Tail" medication sold in petshops. For diahrea caused by stress, particularily in animals recently moved to new homes. We use it more with hamsters then gerbils, but still good to have on hand just in case. Replace according to stamp on label. 5. Tetracycline (generic if bought via catalogue) or if from a petshop, Tetracycline caplets sold for fish (the bird ones, ornacyn, cost more for a less concentrated drug. The fish ones are easier to do math for figuring doses, has more meds per caplet for a cheeper price, and thus can treat more gerbils at a time. Replace according to stamp on label. STORE IN DARKNESS, light will break it down making it ineffective). Good for common communicable illnesses in gerbils. Apply a note to the bottle reminding yourself NO DAIRY PRODUCTS OR ITEMS CONTAINING CALCIUM TO BE GIVEN WITH THIS DRUG (calcium will bind to it and deactivate it). Read all labels especiall pet multi-vitamins which contain calcium, remove any mineral wheels, etc. 6. A paper or cardboard "roll" to fit over waterbottles if you put tetracyclien int heir water (to keep out light which can destroy the medicine). 7. Acidopholis Pills (bought in a health store or most drug store). This is excellent to give along with tetracycline, which sometimes may kill off natural, good florain the gut. When this flora is killed off, the animal may suffer diahrea or gas. Acidopholis helps the animal maintain a healthy level of good gut flora. Replenish supply according to date on label. 8. Clean Rags and towels. For cleaning up with disinfectants, wrapping around animals while treating them, using to line a nesting box for babies you are hand rearing etc. 9. A Small "Kritter Keeper" or a small 2 or 5 gallon tank with secure lid. This is a "hospital room". Use it to keep a litter you are hand rearing in, or to seperate out and give special care to a ill or injured adult- especially if they are NOT suppoed to be running around or otherwise being active while their injury heals. 10. if you can afford this, its super- look int he reptile section for an "adhesive heating pad". Its a small pad that sticks to the side of the tank (the one discussed in point 9). Its much safer then using a heating pad or blanket (much much less risk of fire so you can leave it on if you arent int he room) and provides direct heat to the side of the wall, not the floor, so an animal can choose to be near the warmest part or move to the cooler side of the cage for their comfort. The best models permit you to set an ideal temperature that it will not go over. if you cant afford this, have a heating pad and a towel. To use it, put the towel on the table top, then the heating pad, then fold the towel over the heating pad and set the tank on it. Cautions: never leave the heatign pad on if you will be out of the room for a while or leave the house, as this is a fire hasard. Also you need to keep an eye on the pet inside and monitor the temperature of the bottom of the cage (the actual floor surface, not just hte inside of the tank) to be sure they dont burn their feet! 11. A "sticker" thermometer to apply to the cage in #9 so you can monitor the temp inside the cage so it doesnt drop too cool or get too hot. 12. Anti-Stress herbal formula for pets (many brands) or just some "tension tamer tea" or other tea containing rosehips, chamomile, etc.. This is in case an animal is in a situation where they are caused to severely panic, especially if their panicking is causing them to do self-harming behaviors (biting themselves, running repeatedly into a wall etc.), interfearing with your treating them or with their staying still if they are suppored to be kept still to heal etc.. Administer either in their waterbottle or with the syringe/eyedropper. 13. steril gauze (find in 1st aide section of a pharmacy). Use to cover a wound while you apply pressure to stop it bleeding. 14. This is useful to have incase another animal is injured or incaseyou have a very very "calm" gerbil who wont care if it has soemthign on it. Most gerbils will try chewing applications off so it becomes a moot point and we usually skip trying to put a perminent application on. But, there is if you want to get it incase, self-sticking bandage wrap in petshops int he health section for cats/dogs. its usually brightly coloured and comes in a roll. You just apply the gauze (#13) and then wrap this bangage over it. Not the whole roll of course, you cut just as much as you need. 15. Sharp, steril sissors. To cut bandages, or flaps of dead skin that wont come off etc. (though you SHOULD SEE A VET for such serious injuries, but just in case of an emergancy, sometimes you need to). 16. Parvosol or other hand disinfectant. You cna find it sold for cats/dogs in larger petshops or via catalogues or ask your vet for some. Use this on your hands when you need to handle contagious ill animals and later need to handle healthy animals since soem illnesses can be transfered by your hands. Call me weird too, but i have a strangly high tolerance for this for soem reason, so if I am out of somethign like parvosol, I actually wipe my hands with a towel that has bleach on it. I really don't recommend others do it though :) Thoguh you should have bleach around anyway to dilute with water and use for disinfecting cages. 17. Ivermectin: this isnt that necissary. i use it for treating most cases of worms, mites, lice and fleas in animals. Ive used it on rodents inc gerbils. You should verify how to dose this with a vet before using it on your own. Afterwhich, you can buy it through vet catalgues without prescription. Note, it is toxic to fish and should not be used near fish tanks or items used in them, and should be disposed (including the "empty" containers whcih have a residue on them)of in in biohazard recepticals. I keep the stuff on hand so i can treat my animals at the first signs of any parasite as well as preventively before and after shows and "flea season". If you just have a few pet gerbils and don't regularily breed or have other pets that go out doors or bring in new animals (rescues etc.) periodically, you probably will never need this anyway. 18. Small container of gatoraide (drinks sold in food stores) or pedialyte (sold for human babies in grocery stores). Replace according to expiration stamped on bottle. This is useful if you have a sick animal that is dehydrated, such as due to "wettail" or heatstroke. Get them to drink as much as possible as often as possible until they perk up and start eating on their own, then continue giving them a little through out the day to keep them from relapsing. If you run out of this, use a cup (8oz) of water with a "pinch of salt" and a "touch" of cornsyrup. But pedialtye or gatoraid is better as it has electrolytes too. 19. Glass jar HALF full of water in the fridge at all times (if not several jars if you have more then one pet). Use GLASS becase rodents will chew and detroy bottles of plastic etc. Use HALF water because water expands when it freezes and filling it full will cause the bottle to crack and break. Use this if an animal displays signs of heatstroke (drooling on self, heavy or labored breathing, laying on its side stretch out, lethargic, vacant stare or loss of blinking reflex, etc. Skin pinched returns to position slowly instead of "snapping back" like normal skin). Wrap bottle on a paper towel and place beside animal so animal is touching it. As animal comes too, get it to take some pedialye (Above). 20. Perminent Marker. If you are handrearing babies and they all look alike, use the marker to colour patterns on their tails and/or feet to identify them. 21. Card with yoru vets contact info, especially contact info in case of emergancy (eg: 2 am or sunday calls). Also include contact info for other experienced gerbil fanciers to call if you cant contact a vet. 22. Steril saline solution or steril baby drinking water from a grocery store if the vet wont give you the vet solution (presc. only) for flushing deep wounds (tap water can contain bacteria!). 23. Topical antiseptic. Eg: betadine is very good. use to disinfect wounds and also instuments/objects etc. Caution it stains!. If you cant get that you can use hydrogen peroxide though its not as good and you can use rubbing alcohol in very MINOR scratches and to disinfect objects but do NOT use it on any other kind of wounds as it can damage the healthy tissue around the wound and cause severe pain and physical trauma to a lil critter. 24. if possible, a scale. You can get them sold for weighing foods or for postal packages. They go up to 2 lbs and weigh oz's and grams. This is good for weighing sick animals or hand rearing babies to be sure they are mainting or increasing weight and not loosing weight (even a loss of an oz in a rodent in one day is SERIOUS and needs vet attention). Also good to weigh animals to figure out dosing of medicines. 25. Empty icecube tray. This sounds weird huh? If you need to use esbilac or gatoraide or pedialye, whiel those have a long shelf life- once opened they only last a week at most in the fridge, soemtimes less. You may need whats int he package longer then that with handrearign litter or very sick animal. So what you do, is poor some of the liquidinto ice cube trays and freeze them. Then, as needed, remove one cube, and warm it up till it melts and you have a liquid. (If giving to a heatstroke animal, you can leave it "chilled". If for a baby or other sick animal, you need to warm it up just a little warmer then room temp first. These will last a few weeks when frozen liek this. okey, Thats all i can think of off the top of my head for right now, lol! hope that helped! a.g. /myomorpha http://www.rodentfancy.com ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
