gerbil pup respiratory infection! help?

Question

i have a pair of gerbils ( male and female) with pups that are 3 weeks old today. i have picked one that i want to keep ( male). but i think he has a respiratory infection because he clicks , his hair is ruffled all the time unless i fix it for him , and he acts as active as i kid with bad asthma , and he sneases ( sorry for the bad spelling).
But i cant find and oracycline( the medication for it.... again sorry for the bad spelling). i dont know wat to do for him. i handle him
many times a day , i swiched the pine bedding i had to corn cob ,
and i study his behovior constantly. also he seems to be acting a little better now that i swiched to corn cob :3. but i am scared he might die or something!..... wait is respiratory in infections deadly?

someone plz tell me what to do <:(



p.s i named him Sniffles for odvious reasons ;-)






































oh and dont suggest i chose another one! >:\

i am sure its not serious because his hair isnt ruffled much , he is generally active , he is warm all the time , he eats fine , ect.
but i want to know if there is an alternative cure besides ornacycline and if its possible for him to live with it?

Answer 1

Yes, respiratory infections are deadly. Since he is so young and so small, I really don't think that you can do anything else about it. Any medication that you did get that is safe for gerbils wouldn't be safe for him since he is still growing and developing. If you are really set on keeping him, I would take him to a vet that knows about gerbils and ask if they can do anything. The problem is that they are so small anyway, there's not much that a vet can do.

Sorry!

Answer 2

Look for ornacycline for birds and mix it up half strength and put it in the water bottle. just put 1/4 to 1/3 cup in the bottle and change it every day. At 3 weeks, the pup is learning to drink from the bottle. Trying to use a dropper would drown the pup. If he's not too sick already, this should take care of it. Keep him warm - put a heating pad under the tank or set a lamp next to the tank - but not too close that it overheats the tank. You'll know in a week if he's going to make it.

Oh - and it's perfectly fine to handle gerbils after they are a week old. This is how they become hand-tamed. If you wait till 4 weeks or so, they will already be skittish. Best thing is to rest your hand palm up on the bedding and let them explore it. When they start eating solid food, put a little dry oatmeal in your hand for a treat. Eventually, you'll be able to pick them up or they will crawl up your arm and perch on your shoulder.

Good luck!

Janice
George's Gerbils Kennel
Louisville KY
member, AGS Gerbils

Answer 3

Those are definitely symptoms of a respiratory infection, and R.I.'s can be deadly, especially in young pups. You did the right thing by switching off of the pine bedding; pine and cedar shavings are notorious for causing/worsening respiratory distress. I would recommend keeping all of your gerbils on aspen shavings or a corncob/aspen mix.

You should keep the pup warm and make sure he's eating and drinking properly. Keep looking for medication with Tetracycline Hydrochloride (aka Chlortetracycline) as the active ingredient (it's marketed as Ornacycline for birds). This *can* be used in young pups.

Your best bet though would be to find a vet knowledgeable in rodent care, who can prescribe a stronger medication than what you can buy over-the-counter, such as Baytril, as well as instruct you in how to treat the pup (and any siblings that may be showing the same symptoms).

Answer 4

He does sound like he has a respiratory infection. Can you take him to the vet? The vet can prescribe antibiotics better than ornacycline anyway.

If you can't find ornacycline in a store, order it online from Petco.com. Rush order it if you can. In the meantime, keep his tank in a warm place. If you have a lizard heating pad or heat lamp, you can warm one corner of the tank. Only one corner, so he can escape to a cooler spot if he needs to.

Respiratory infections can be fatal and yours sounds moderate to severe if he's all ruffled up. I would go to the vet if you hope to save the little guy.

By the way, make sure he gets to live with a brother or father. Gerbils don't like to live alone.

Answer 5

The best you can do at this point is just keep him as warm as possible and keep your fingers crossed. Put a blanket over the cage, this will keep the drafts away from it but still let in enough air for them to breath. You were right to change the bedding, pine and cedar chips contain resin that can cause respiratory infections. But also in the future when you have more pups, don't handle them as much. We pick up a lot of germs on our hands over the course of the day, and even the fragrances in the soaps and lotions we use can be detrimental to little developing lungs. I know they're cute and you want to love on them, but it's better to wait before handling them...

Answer 6

properly it is common in doggies, yet to understand for particular, seem at their noses. if their noses commence bleeding, you recognize for particular...and convinced, you in all likelihood ought to sparkling the cage. i sparkling my gerbil's cage once a week, so i recognize that once you wait longer, it is undesirable for his or her wellbeing...