>I had a pair of female gerbs, one one year old, the other one
>older (exact age unknown). Both died late last night. I found
>them curled up together in the tank when I came home from
>school. The black was quite dead and the DEH was nearly
>dead. She died very shortly after I found her. The black may
>have been old enough to die of old age (she was a rescue),
>but the DEH just turned a year this month. I haven't done
>anything new with them--same food, toys, bedding. They
>were fine yesterday playing and running in the wheel. I'd
>like to get another pair (the cats really miss watching them
>run) but I'm a bit concerned since I don't know why they died.
>Any ideas?
Without having seen them (especially as you discovered them,
when you discovered them) and without your taking one or
both to a veternarian for a necropsy (animal autopsy) it can
be difficult.
Here is a long list that might help pin it down.
1. When you found them, was the one still alive cold and curled
up near/with the dead one. The alive one was ice cold feeling
to the touch and stayed that way?
2. Did you try to warm up the still alive one or do anything?
3. How long did the DEH survive after you found her?
4. Did either one feel light (not solid), or did both feel light?
5. Does your water bottle work? [you would be surprised how
a bottle can get jammed and not work and you don't notice it]
6. Did either show a discharge of red at the nose or around
the mouth (it looks like blood but is really mucus)?
7. Did either or both (especially the DEH) have 'sticky eye'?
[eyes glued shut and/or rimmed with gummy stuff]
8. Are you sure that the black died last night, or could it
have been that day before you came home? Did you check
on them in the morning before going to school and if so, what
were they doing/acting like?
9. What sort of bedding do you use? Do you use anything
that looks like fibers, cotton waste, polyfill (i.e., fluffy bedding)
[I hope not!]
10. Has anyone cleaned the carpets, sprayed bug or tick/flea
spray or painted in the house in the last two days in that room?
11. When was the last time you can remember seeing one or
both eat, and drink?
>From what you described, it sounds like either a masked illness
and/or dehydration. [conjecture without further information and/or
having seen the animals].
An animal when it gets ill, will often still be active, but quits eating
and drinking; for the first 8-24 hours. After that it seems to want
to sleep a lot, but may still get up if you are there and/or feed it.
This lasts another 8-12 hours. Then it goes into final decline, gets
cold, and dies. It may happen within 24 hours, or as long as three
days. And it isn't always noticeable until you find the animal down,
then it is a hard fight to bring it back around.
Please, if you can answer some of the questions I posted, it might
help me or others help you figure out what happened. With both
going down, it sounds like dehydration from either a water bottle
malfuction or illness, with dehydration setting in afterwards.
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
