Hi Tasha,
Since I am not an expert I had to do a little research. The closest thing
that I could find to what you had described was on the NGS Homepage, Julian
Baker's site:
http://www.rodent.demon.co.uk/gerbils/ailments.htm
You may want to book mark this sites for future reference.
This is what was said:
*****
"Some gerbils are prone to fitting. In most cases this is due to stress, for
example, being in strange surroundings or excessive handling and generally
occurs in younger gerbils. The gerbil starts to twitch, the ears go back and
the gerbil may drool at the mouth. If this should happen replace the gerbil
back in its cage immediately and remove the cage to a quite area. Within a
few minutes the gerbil will compose itself and go about its business. The
gerbil generally grows out of these fits and the frequency becomes less as
time goes by. If you are aiming to breed gerbils then it is not advised to
breed from affected individuals as it can be passed down from generation to
generation. It can be distressing for owners to witness these fits, however
provided you follow the above instructions your gerbil will recover fully."
*****
I hope that this is of some help to you. Does this sound at all like what
happened to your pup? Since I am not an expert, and did not see the pups,
this is my best bet. I have read on another site that gerbils can have
seizure. I would assume, correct me if I'm wrong Julian, that a fit is the
same or similar to a seizure.
I'm glad that he is now OK.
Janet & Elizabeth Morrow
Mountain Ash's Gerbils
Save the GML!
Members of the American Gerbil Society
http://home.maine.rr.com/mountainash
