Gerbil Care:

                 In order to keep your gerbil in the best possible condition, you will need to  handle him daily,  check him over for signs of illness and injuries.
He may be ill, but unless you are looking for specific symptoms, you may not realise he is until it is to late.

This daily check list will help you spot signs of trouble or illness early enough for the vets intervention and treatment of the problem.

Daily Check List:

                  To make sure your gerbil is healthy and doing well, carefully check the following every day.

Water Bottle.

                       Check your gerbil has fresh drinking water every day.
Make sure he has clean, fresh, cool water at all times, especially during the hot summer months. Also, make sure that the water bottle is not leaking, or  blocked.
If you use a dish for his water, he will fill it with food or bedding, this must be cleaned out Daily.

Food Dish.

              Check the food dish every day, check around and underneath to make sure that your gerbil had eaten his food and not just thrown it around.   Never top up the half-full food dish. As it becomes stale very fast, and moulds and toxins can build up which can be very harmful.

gerbils tend to hide food under bedding and other places, these stores should be looked for daily and taken away.

General  posture.

               Take a good look at your gerbil. Does he look bright and alert, or is he just laying around in a listless sort of way. Is he relaxed,  hunched up,  Is your gerbil behaving the way he usually does?

Eye condition.

                        A healthy gerbil is active and alert. Watery eyes, eyes with lots of redness, and pus  are all signs of an eye infection that needs veterinary attention. Dull eyes indicate that the gerbil isn't feeling well, and you need to investigate further to determine the cause.

Ear condition.
                       Look in your ears of your gerbil. Are there signs of a wax build-up or a grey-black debris? If so, he needs to be checked for ear-mite, and treated if needed. Redness and signs of infection need to be looked at by your vet .