Gerbil Allergy Scare - Note the SYMPTOMS

[Die Fledermaus]

Had a big scare recently.

Symptoms: rumpled puffy fur; lethargy; red "stuff" around the eyes and nose. No change in anything in the habitat of this long-term resident.

Remembered: after about five seconds of fear, I recalled these are the precise symptoms of BEDDING ALLERGY, which they can suddenly develop despite already living on aspen. The red "stuff" is mucous (mine is chartreuse!).

Solution: remove gerbils; wash all toys; dump aspen; wash tank; replace with ripped-up plain unscented toilet tissue and paper towels; replace gerbils and toys. Within less than 36 hours significant improvement was seen, and it took barely two days for almost totally improvement.

Long-term solution for allergic gerbils: corncob bedding, but keep it dry.

Problem solved. Everyone happy!

(I will eventually move this into the Care Sticky thread above).

[jeannie]

Glad to hear it - the corncob is great stuff. How many tanks had the problem - just one?

[dosergirl]

I like the corncob. I used it when i first got Lola as Petco was out of carefresh. I sometimes put corncob under carefresh so when the hams dig they then hit another layer and they seem to have fun with that.

[calvinator1]

The girls really seem to like the corncob. I had them on some carefresh initially but they seem to enjoy digging in the corncob more. And man, can they dig!

[Die Fledermaus]

Jeannie said:

Glad to hear it - the corncob is great stuff. How many tanks had the problem - just one?

Just one tank; just one gerbil (Crystal, my fav). She looks 90%+ right now. I had changed the regular aspen brand to Kayee aspen, but who knows. Janet Morrow of AGS told me it can just suddenly happen - an allergy. I outgrew all my myriad of allergies as a kid.

The breeder I got Crystal and Chrissie, and the Gang of Four (Tommy, Dill, Phil, and Cliffy), from in July of '02, always recommended corncob. Well, the girls get that, while Sam and Dave (red nose on aspen), and Phoenix (my rescued fellow) and Rudolf (obvious red nose, and another rescue), stay on Carefresh.

And that is that.

[Die Fledermaus]

Just saw a dog allergy piece on WABC TV news.

Over a grand for allergy shots (what I used to get) per year - better than cortisone (about $13 per month) that merely masks the symptoms.

These dogs are allergic to "the environment".

At least no one here is allergic to me.

[adara]

The red stuff is called porphyrin, it can also come from their nose and saliva glands.. You'll see it a lot more in rats than gerbils, but yeah if they show those symptoms then something's usually up with the bedding [usually people housing them on pine!]

Good advice

[Die Fledermaus]

It's pretty scary at first sight! Red stuff around the eyes and nose in humans means trouble. I once saw someone's mother collapse with red stuff coming out the eyes and ears (a stroke).

Crystal is 100% normal now.