My gerbil is wheezing a little or sounds 'moist' when it breathes, or a faint clicking happening with each breath

*Upper respiratory infection. Usually happens with pups around 21-28 days as they start weaning, can happen in older animals. Start treatment with bird ornacycline (see Gerbil Rodeo). To me usually sounds a bit like snotty nose when they breathe.

My gerbil is lethargic sort of and can't seem to catch it's breath

*Usually in older animals, this may be from heart conditions causing fluid to build up in the lungs and around the heart. A dose of a diuretic may improve the animal, even if it's a short time. If you hear any clicking at all treat for upper respiratory infection. If it truely seems to labor to breathe after it gets up and moves around, but after it goes to sleep or just as it wakes up it seems fine, take it to the vet. If you aren't seeing major improvements after about day 7 of the 10 day ornacycline treatment, take the animal in too.

How Old Does a Gerbil Have to Be to Have a Stroke? Or Seizures?

*I've seen it in 4 week old pups. Any age. Usually though, a stroke is what will kill an old animal....not uncommon in an animal over two.

My gerbil has diahrrea

*Can be from Tyzzers, which is happening more and more in the US. It can also strike other rodents. Tyzzers can lie dormant for months until the animal is stressed by factors in the environment around it, then go down. To test for Tyzzers they need blood, and because a gerbil is so small they usually have to sacrifice the animal. If you have a lot of animals and start having them go down for no reason for rampant diahrrea you may have to take an ill but still alive animal in and have them sacrificed (the vet will determine) to test. If you do have confirmed Tyzzers you have to treat EVERYTHING you own for it, and any animal ever exposed to yours has to be considered to be carrying it. So if you got Fred the Burmese six months ago, used him in your breeding, then had Fred go from Tyzzers, you have to tell those you adopted those two lovely litters out to they may be harboring. An animal can carry it without showing, and expose and infect all the ones around it without them showing signs too.

*Something they ate or secondary symptom of an intestinal infection. Vet trip usually needed for an antibiotic to deal with it. You may also try feeding a drop or two of active acidophilius culture yogurt or the capsuled stuff (open the capsule and mix with a few drops of water and give them some) to help reseed 'good bacteria' in the animal's system every 4-6 hours. Give at least an hour before or after you do antibiotics, or they will cancel each other out, usually an hour after the antibiotics. Yogurt drops are TREATS NOT ACTIVE CULTURE.

*Make sure to keep ahead of dehydration. Dehydration, the secondary symptom that lurks, will kill rapidly with diahrrea active.

*Gerbils do NOT get the hamster 'wet tail'. Gerbils CAN have diahrrea, with wet bottom and stained fur around the rear. Short term cause may be too much fresh food or the like, and the other likely cause is Tyzzers, which comes out when the animal is stressed.

Tyzzers

Is a rodent disease that can strike most any small animal (hamster, gerbil, mouse, rat) and is showing up more and more in the US. The UK and European Continent have had it around for a lot longer. There is no way to quarrantine for it as it can lie dormant for many months in a carrier. The major symptom tipoff is diahrrea in the gerbil, serious and unrelenting. Not like the occasional upset from too much fresh food.

Aspergillis

A black thready mold that likes to thrive in damp bedding and other things. It usually takes 3-5 days for it to appear after the soaking. IF the spores are inhaled it causes a nasty respiratory infection and kills in days. The spores can get into wood stuff and come back time and again. If you get it on anything plastic or wood, toss it. Glass aquariums, bleach them. It is a fine thread, BLACK, and about 1/8" (3-4mm) 'long' (high). I've seen it on plastic hamster wheels that got packed with bedding or where a water bottle leaked and I thought I took all the dampened bedding out IN the bedding not removed but close to the cleaned and replaced area. Tracking down aspergillis deaths can be difficult. This is a very rare occurrance, as long as one does good tank/cage cleaning practices. This may need a veternarian to help diagnose. It can kill any small animal: mouse, rat, gerbil, hamster, chinchilla, rabbit, guinea pig....