Boz
Well-Known Member
Okay not entirely toothless, but you'll see as you read! lol
Meet Gimli (named after the dwarf in the Lord of The Rings):
He came from a pet store. He was all by himself in a tank with cedar bedding. I almost got him but ended up walking out of the pet store without him. I wasn't sure if I should get a gerbil from a pet store... But he was all alone and hand-shy and needed someone who could work with him and I had been looking for a gerbils for months. So that night, about 5 minutes before the store was closing I was like "Okay I'll get him!" I went back and got him. I wasn't sure if I should have gotten a pet store gerbil but he's turned out to be a fun little guy. Plus after today, if it wasn't for me, he probably would have died within the next week. Why? I'll tell you why...
Last week Wed I went out of town till today. I did the normal, cleaned all tanks and cages. Stocked up the hamsters and gerbils with food and water and gave Gimli tons of cardboard and hay to chew and keep him happy. I had someone coming to take care of the bunnies daily while I was gone so they were to check to make sure the hamsters and gerbil had water (they had plenty of food!). Well I came back today and did my normal check- all hamsters and rabbits alive and not looking sick. I looked in Gimli's tank and I noticed that the hay and the cardboard had never been chewed up. And if your a gerbil owner you know that's just bizarre. And the toilet paper for nesting material was only pulled down into his little hut, not shredded. Then I noticed, heck his food looked untouched! I thought, oh no, he's dead. I tapped on the glass. Nothing. Tapped some more, and saw movement in his hut! He poked his little nose out and then came out. He did not look so good. He was a little "puffy".
He went over and drank some water. Okay good, he's drinking. I offered him some sunflower seeds. He kinda fumbled with it then dropped it. I gave him more. Nothing. Then I thought... are his teeth over grown or something? So I got some baby rice cereal and KMR (got some extra from when I had the baby hamsters) and mixed that up and gave him a little. He licked that right up no problem!
So I looked at his teeth. You're not going to believe what I saw. Or better yet, you're not going to believe what I did not see- top teeth!! His top incisors are gone. Not broken, not chipped, gone.
I talked to a friend of mine who is like a gerbil-goddess and she had this happen several years ago and she said to basically do what I was doing. I have to grind up all his food and mix a little water with it enough to make it stick together. I asked her if the teeth ever grew back, she said no.
He's actually a lot better looking then he was this afternoon. He's much more alert and no longer puffy looking after eating a few times! And he is pooping and peeing.
Poor little guy though. I feel so bad for him!! He can't chew anything anymore. But at least he won't lose his life. If the pet store still had him they probably would have never noticed anything because they even said they don't handle their animals.
How he lost his teeth is beyond me. Bad breeding maybe? Genetics? I can't imagine he did something while chewing. Gerbils have been known to chew the metal water bottle guards and still have their teeth!
Meet Gimli (named after the dwarf in the Lord of The Rings):
He came from a pet store. He was all by himself in a tank with cedar bedding. I almost got him but ended up walking out of the pet store without him. I wasn't sure if I should get a gerbil from a pet store... But he was all alone and hand-shy and needed someone who could work with him and I had been looking for a gerbils for months. So that night, about 5 minutes before the store was closing I was like "Okay I'll get him!" I went back and got him. I wasn't sure if I should have gotten a pet store gerbil but he's turned out to be a fun little guy. Plus after today, if it wasn't for me, he probably would have died within the next week. Why? I'll tell you why...
Last week Wed I went out of town till today. I did the normal, cleaned all tanks and cages. Stocked up the hamsters and gerbils with food and water and gave Gimli tons of cardboard and hay to chew and keep him happy. I had someone coming to take care of the bunnies daily while I was gone so they were to check to make sure the hamsters and gerbil had water (they had plenty of food!). Well I came back today and did my normal check- all hamsters and rabbits alive and not looking sick. I looked in Gimli's tank and I noticed that the hay and the cardboard had never been chewed up. And if your a gerbil owner you know that's just bizarre. And the toilet paper for nesting material was only pulled down into his little hut, not shredded. Then I noticed, heck his food looked untouched! I thought, oh no, he's dead. I tapped on the glass. Nothing. Tapped some more, and saw movement in his hut! He poked his little nose out and then came out. He did not look so good. He was a little "puffy".
He went over and drank some water. Okay good, he's drinking. I offered him some sunflower seeds. He kinda fumbled with it then dropped it. I gave him more. Nothing. Then I thought... are his teeth over grown or something? So I got some baby rice cereal and KMR (got some extra from when I had the baby hamsters) and mixed that up and gave him a little. He licked that right up no problem!
So I looked at his teeth. You're not going to believe what I saw. Or better yet, you're not going to believe what I did not see- top teeth!! His top incisors are gone. Not broken, not chipped, gone.
I talked to a friend of mine who is like a gerbil-goddess and she had this happen several years ago and she said to basically do what I was doing. I have to grind up all his food and mix a little water with it enough to make it stick together. I asked her if the teeth ever grew back, she said no.
He's actually a lot better looking then he was this afternoon. He's much more alert and no longer puffy looking after eating a few times! And he is pooping and peeing.
Poor little guy though. I feel so bad for him!! He can't chew anything anymore. But at least he won't lose his life. If the pet store still had him they probably would have never noticed anything because they even said they don't handle their animals.
How he lost his teeth is beyond me. Bad breeding maybe? Genetics? I can't imagine he did something while chewing. Gerbils have been known to chew the metal water bottle guards and still have their teeth!