Forum Overview :: Biohazard: Code Veronica :: Senor Barborito MetaFilter Post

[quote name="Senor Barborito MetaFilter Post"]Besides the occasional minor (non-fatal) epileptic fit, sometimes gerbils will get wet-tail syndrome (a diarrhea type disease which is extremely fatal to a desert animal) and males run a small chance of an scent gland tumor - often requiring multiple surgeries to fully remove. Fortunately many veterinary surgeons discount hugely for pocket pet surgery ($50-100 is typical, compared to $300 and up for other animals). All of these are extremely rare (I've had tons of gerbils over the course of my life, and I've only seen the epilepsy and the tumor, once each) and in general gerbils are by far the healthiest of the rodent pets. Come to think of it I've yet to see another pet species of any type with such a good track record - they tend to just be very active and healthy right up until the end. Every gerbil death I've seen was more or less a surprise, like somebody just flipped a switch. posted by Ryvar at 7:54 AM PST on August 5[/quote]