Your pets' teeth should be nice and straight, not misaligned. Prev Next. Upload your photo. Lila, 7 June thank you so much for all this information! This is an okay method, but one of the drawbacks is that some gerbils will avoid these blocks and chew toys. They might actually never touch them. My gerbils also like to chew on sticks from outside.
As long as you make sure that you avoid apple branches and pine branches and that the branches you bring in for the gerbils have been washed with clean water, dried, and frozen in the freezer overnight to kill any bugs or bug eggs that may be in or on the branch.
It is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from a veterinary medical professional. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately. I couldnt help but notice the wire floor on the second story thing. Wire flooring could cause bumblefoot, wich is very painful to ittle gerbies.
Just i heads up on that. That is difficult, a lot of people don't take as good care of their pets as the should because they think the stores are just trying to make a bigger sale, however a lot of people also have so much stuff it gets overwhelming because the store is trying to make a bigger sale I've seen quite a few experiences here both have happened! Hopefully people who are wanting new pets can look into the great web and find what they really do need to care for the pet..
Great hub,.. I worked in a pet store and when someone came into the store and bought a gerbil or hamster we would recommend the items you spoke of, however people seemed as if we were just trying to make a bigger sale, hopefully people who thought that might be reading this and now know we were just concerned for the pets well being.
Your gerbils are very cute! I had gerbils as a kid, but none since. Congratulations on being chosen for HubNuggets! You can also moisten some food pellets for your pet to eat. The risks are far more for wild gerbils than for captive ones. Gerbils can easily break their teeth in the course of their normal lives.
But you can watch out for behaviors that may make the problem worse. Gerbils eat grains, nuts, and seeds both in captivity and in the wild. This can take its toll over time. Continually breaking up hard foods can first cause slight damage, then a crack, then a break.
Gerbil food mix, which is what you should feed to your pet, does contain tough foods. And if you stopped feeding your pet things it had to gnaw and nibble, it would be unhappy. Your gerbils could also damage their teeth when fighting.
Gerbils fight in many ways. But gerbils can also fight with their teeth. Hypothetically, they could bite one another in a way that damages their teeth. This is unlikely, though. Gerbils fight infrequently and two gerbils will rarely go toe to toe. All gerbils have an in-built instinct to gnaw on things. The end result of this behavior is that the gerbil keeps its teeth sharp and stops them over-growing.
But your gerbil will feel compelled by instinct to continue. It also loses its primary weapon. Your gerbil needs to grow its teeth back, and quickly. The good news is that it can. This applies both to chipped teeth, and teeth which are missing entirely. A chipped tooth will grow back around as quickly as a fingernail. The reason for this occurring is unclear.
Your pet can survive perfectly well for the time being. It will use its other teeth more frequently for a while, but its broken tooth will grow back soon. If one is missing, for example, this can place too much pressure on the other incisors.
Or, you could buy your gerbil something new to gnaw on that it might prefer. Vets that specialize in small animals perform these treatments regularly. Ask before you commit to the treatment about whether they have done this many times before. If so, your pet should be in good hands. The vet may file only the top half or the bottom half if one is much more troubling than the other.
Or, they may trim both. The cost of this procedure depends on the vet you see. However, additional costs may include:. Ask your vet how much they charge before proceeding, as you may want to shop around. Your vet may recommend some, all, or none of the above additional charges. Critical care food, for example, is only necessary if your gerbil cannot eat regular food.
Even after trimming, gerbils usually can. According to the RMCA , a sick rodent will need critical care food. This is a special formula that comes in powder form. It contains all the carbs, fats, and proteins that a small animal needs. So, you may need to feed your pet by hand.
You should consider alternative forms of treatment. The best way is to offer your pet something to gnaw on. The materials for a gerbil to gnaw on are woods other than pine and cardboard. Avoid letting your gerbil gnaw on plastic. Plastic is the right level of hardness for gerbils to gnaw on.
However, when a gerbil gnaws, it can accidentally ingest some of what it gnaws on. You can tell that your gerbil wants something to gnaw on from its behavior. A gerbil that needs something to gnaw on will:. This is known as stereotypy, and these behaviors as stereotypies. They are behaviors that the gerbil repeats because it is unhappy with its environment.
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