Could my daughter's gerbil's death today been prevented?

Question

My daughter recently (about a week ago) changed the gerbil's diet from dry cat food to fresh fruits and veggies.(Cut carrots; lettuce, grapes) And, she just recently cleaned out all the shaved cardboard. This morning he was acting lethargic; perked up for a shortly while but by noon was dead.
We purchased him about 3 - 5 months ago. Any ideas?

Answer 1

The fruits and vegetables although good for him, were not enough to sustain him. The prepared food you can buy in a store is specially made and includes all supplements the gerbil and any other small animal needs in their diet. Many small animals can not produce certain vitamins or minerals within their body, therefore they need to get it from an outside source. (Ex. Guinea pigs can't produce vitamin c, therefore all guinea pig foods are packed with vitamin c). As with humans, certain diseases and conditions occur if they do not get all of the needed vitamins and minerals. The cage cleaning should not have been an aspect in the gerbils death unless it was really dirty for a long period of time. Rodents get sick easily and when they do it's sometimes nearly impossible to nurse them back to health.

Answer 2

I would say it was the food. Neither cat food nor fresh vegetables are a compete diet. Gerbils should be fed on a prepackaged food made specifically for gerbils (not for hamsters; they have different dietary needs!), with the occasional fresh fruit/veg added in. Cat food is added for young pups and lactating females because it is so high in protein, but it has far too much protein to be used as a staple food. Veggies are added in from time to time for water and fiber content, but too many vegetables will cause diarrhea. Fruits and vegetables are basically water, fructose, and roughage (fiber). Not enough to sustain the gerbil for any length of time as the only source of nutrients.

I'm sorry for your loss, but I strongly suggest doing more research before getting another pet.

Answer 3

Could have been anything but the drastic diet change may have triggered something. They are dessert creatures with v. efficient kidneys and do not require a lot of water. So I am wondering about all the fruit.

My daughter's gerbil lived 3 years - about the maximum. We changed Errol Flynn's (gerbil) food every day to make sure it was fresh. This consisted of dry food from the pet store, clean litter material and bit of hard veg.

Answer 4

Sorry. I've never heard of cat food for gerbils, this wasn't good for him to eat, Not the right mixture of fiber, minerals and vitamins. I was reading the raw foods you gave the gerbil. Everything looked OK except, the grapes and the lettuce if it was any other type then romaine. Romaine is the only lettuce good for them. If the grapes had seeds this was bad for them too, the seeds are toxic. I used the exotic pets.com site and they never mentioned grapes were alright for them, however, they did say in one of their postings that the seeds from apples, cherries, grapes and other food with seeds or pits were harmful to the gerbils. Most foods that hamsters eat are the same and my raw hamster food list mentions only feeding seedless grapes. Also only Romaine lettuce is OK to give small animals of any kind. For future reference I've provided a site that outlines the foods good and bad for small animals and what some are good for such as helping diarrhea.

Answer 5

I'm not to sure. but I've heard of this happening before. Not to just Gerbils. But Dogs and Cats and other animals as well. There use to be a pet store in the mall in my area that kept the animals PUMPED with vitamins. When you purchased the dog/cat and took it home. The animal didn't get those vitamins it was use to for so long. Becomes sick, and dies (Usually withing a couple to 6 months). After this was exposed. That animal store closed down. This could of happened to your Gerbil. Maybe not. But before buying another animal from a pet store. Make sure you ask first if they Pump there animals full of vitamins.

Answer 6

Just so you know, gerbils are actually omnivores like us. Not herbivores like many people think. The foods you gave him/her are very high in water and not much fibre, which is very important. Cat food is for cats, not gerbils. They will eat meal worms though.

If you decide to get another, get a good book about what diet to follow and watch out for cedar shavings...they can be toxic.

Sorry for your loss. These little pocket pets can be pretty unpredictable, I sure hope mine lasts a while, my son would take it very hard.

Answer 7

Well,,Iv never owned a gerbil altho Ive had a hamster when I was younger & fed it hamster food & lettuce sometimes if I remember correctly.I do own dogs & have had many.I can tell you that its not a good idea to change a pets diet so quickly,,more gradually probably would have been better but,,I believe that it may have been the grapes.Grapes are toxic to dogs as are raisins.Im so sorry for your loss.You didnt know~(if that was the reason.)

Answer 8

, If you used Lysol to clean his area it could easily have killed him .Any spray around him(of any kind) can settle in his lungs and cause a pneumonia like death.The food should not have hurt him unless some type of spray had been used by the grower.They can kill us too with the poisons they use.Did you use a flea spray in your house, in the rugs they linger and can even kill a cat if the animal licks his paws.Do use a special bedding for your next gerbil it is cheap at the pet store.Sometimes people give a gerbil a can to live in, in side the cage it can get very contaminated,and cause food poisoning,remember your pet should be really changed often and kept clean!

Answer 9

i agree it more than likely was the diet . they need gerbil food not people food. the fruits and veggies were ok as treats,but not as it's sole food intake. prepackaged gerbil food has nutrients and vitamins that are essential to the well being of the animal
exoticpets.com had a good article on the diet of gerbils

Answer 10

lmao.....nicely my brother had a gerbil, the damn element escaped from it is cage. After hours attempting to capture it, I had a mind hurricane. I grabbed a bucket, positioned the bucket over the gerbil, nicely enable's merely say it doing bypass how i wanted it to. I felt so undesirable, we not in any respect offered yet another gerbil back.