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PLEASE gerbil broken leg no vets will take2007-11-24 22:14:15

please. my gerbil has a broken leg & it looks pretty bad & he wont walk on it at all. WHat DO I DO!??.. i cant just let it suffer for the rest of its life with a broken leg. =(

Answers:

If it's a closed break, not much. Make sure the gerbil is warm and eating. Baby gerbils that are still nursing will stop eating and starve themselves to death if they are hurt, so you will have to nurse them by hand. If the gerbil eats and drinks, it will probably recover in a day or two and be hopping around as usual.

An open fracture is much more serious. The best thing to do is use a topical antibiotic every few hours and hope for the best. If an infection develops, your vet might need to amputate the leg. Never fear, gerbils can get around on three legs without much problem.

Remember some of these injuries will look worse than they are. This advice goes for all broken bones, I have seen a baby that I thought had broken its back walk in a few hours and fully recover in a day.

On several occasions I have come across a gerbil that has broken its leg. I am not sure how this happens, although breaks in the back legs seem more common. Although this looks terrible with the limb being dragged limply behind these breaks usually heal themselves very quickly with no treatment. Surprisingly the breaks nearly always mend straight, or almost so, with no permanent effect on the gerbil's mobility. There is no need to splint the limb and in fact that may cause extra damage as the gerbil will undoubtedly try and chew the splint and may damage itself. The break will have mended itself within two weeks and you will not know anything was ever the matter. There are only two things you need worry about. Firstly, if there is any sign of infection, breaking of the skin or inflammation take your gerbil to the vet. Saying that I have seen about half a dozen breaks and heard of many more but I have never known of any complications. Secondly, make sure that your injured gerbil can still get to food and water. A gerbil with a broken front leg may have difficulty holding food to eat. If this is the case you may have to help until the gerbil is better. I once had a gerbil that mysteriously broke both back legs and one front leg. It still managed to drag itself around and feed itself. Miraculously, the gerbil made a full recovery on its own. It is possible that these breaks may be a sign that the diet is deficient in calcium or other minerals. You might want to supplement the normal feed with either cuttlefish bone or dog food.

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Ok Hi my name is kelly I am a vet