OK, I realize I'm probably just being paranoid, but I'm relatively new
to gerbil-owning and I'm constantly coming across info of ailments I
never knew existed. So now I think I might be getting a little over
cautious. I've noticed my gerbils a few times scratching themselves, and
sometimes their coats (mostly around the scruff of the neck) will seem a
little mussed up, kind of like bedhead. It's not like that all the time
though. And tonight when I had them in their exercise ball, after I took
them out I was cleaning out the droppings and noticed they were a little
soft, not dry and hard pellets. The droppings in their tank seem to be
normal, unless that's just because they were in there a while and had
time to dry out. They don't have stained bottoms, everything seems clean
in that department.
Also (and this isn't a health worry, I just thought it rather curious)
my one gerbil seems to love to jump around, especially after handling.
She'll jump up and down to the top of the tank, and she'll also get up
on her Coconut Cabana and launch herself either upwards or towards
another area of the tank. Twice just tonight I saw her leap up off the
Coconut and latch onto the screen at the top of the tank. She would just
hang there for a few seconds until she fell. It's the weirdest thing
I've ever seen. I know it's most likely nothing that unusual, but I was
wondering if anyopne else had gerbils that love to jump around that
much?
