Gerbils nose bleeds?

Question

it looks as if my gerbils nose is bleeding. is this normal? we just purchased a new cage and cleaned her cage with dish washing liquid and made sure it was rinsed completely off. could this be it? she has no other gerbils with her. also i was wondering if it was okay to use white pine as a bedding?

Answer 1

Your gerbil may not have a nosebleed at all.  Their mucus and their tears are a reddish color.  Their noses can get like that from allergies.  Sometimes the bedding will give them a runny nose.  This is something that has scared a lot of gerbil owners.  The bedding may not agree with your gerbil.  

Aspen is supposed to be safe.  It's pine that you should stay away from.  Carefresh is also safe for gerbils but sometimes it can get a little dusty for them.  

If this continues give your vet a call.  If it is blood his nose may just be scratched.  

**had to make a correction.  I would get new bedding.  I just found a link that confirmed that.  AGS is one of the best sites around for information.

Answer 2

The red discharge you are seeing is most likely not blood but rather a substance known as porphyrin. Porphyrin is secreted from a gland and can look like blood when discharged from the nose(it also can be seen from the eyes).

At times porphyrin can be a sign of stress, such as moving to a new home, etc. It can also be more serious, such as a upper respiratory infection(which must be seen by a vet, for antibiotics) and lastly can come from using bedding that irritated the sensitive nasal passages.

Pine and cedar bedding are the worst choices for rodents. They contain toxins that can make your gerbil ill and may be causing the porphyrin discharge. In my opinion and experience, Carefresh or other recycled paper bedding are the best for small rodents. They may be a little more money, but the health and well being of the animal is well worth it.  

Answer 3

Rodents mucus is red, like a blood colour, it is not blood. I have raised many rats and two of them had allergies, all you can do is take away the allergen (I found sawdust all forms being bad) I use CareFresh bedding. Works, and my rats stop having allergies problems and the mucus related problems.  

Answer 4

it could be that she has caught her nose on something or the other gerbil has bit r scratch her or it could be heat humans can get nose bleeds from heat could be that not no about white bedding i wouldnt just inca hope this helps

Answer 5

Gerbils can get nose bleeds the same way as us, maybe she fell and hit her face on the side of the cage or something and you didn't see?

Answer 6

Take her to the vet if the condition worsens and check everything to see if there are any sharp edges. She may have just bumped it, so monitor her closely. And White Pine releases phenols that will damage and may even eventually kill the hamster. It's a nice smell, but if you had to breathe those fumes all the time you'd get sick. Don't worry, as long as you change it right away nothing bad should happen. I suggest Kaytee Soft-Sorbent bedding or Carefresh.

Answer 7

all rodents are allergic and can get sick from any and all type of soaps. so make sure it was very, veryyyy well rinsed. never use any kind of soap though, just water and some kind of brush, mayb a tooth brush to clean it. but all rodents scratch they're noses with they're nails. every single one of my rodents get nose bleeds sometimes, they have really sharp nails, and scratch they're noses. if it keeps happening, say every day for 3 days, then take it to a vet, but it's probably nothing