i know lots of questions but i have to ask.

[confusedperson]

i just changed the beding for my gerbils and started giving them vitamins. today i took out on of them and it seemed that she throw up. could it be the beding, to much vitamins or is she sick. my other gerbil appears fine.

[dnott]

What type of bedding are you using? What are the vitamins you are giving?

[andreaS15]

I didn't even know gerbils "could" throw-up.
Please give us more information, such as the bedding and the vitamins name and make.

[confusedperson]

LM TIMOTHY hay-kob for the beding and petgold small animal vitamins with about 1/8th of tsp of langers apple juice. for the vitamins usually one or two drops once a day expect for today.

[andreaS15]

I don't know if feeding apple juice will hurt your gerbil, but it probably isn't all that great for them. It has alot of sugar. Water is pretty much the only thing gerbils should drink unless something else as a treat or for use to give medication.

I've never heard of "LM Timothey Hay-Kob".. is it just hay? Maybe it's something they don't sell here...

[confusedperson]

i don't think they would drink or take the vitamins if i was just with water

[MonoOmoi]

I've never heard of the bedding either, but it sounds like maybe it is a combination of timothy hay and corn cob? I'd suggest switching to just plan corn cob, or aspen or Carefresh. I don't know but eating the hay might make them sick. Plus since this bedding doesn't seem to be commonly used, I wonder if there is something in it that is bad for gerbils. As far as the vitamins I really don't know because I don't know what brand you're using, but I wonder if you might've given them too much - lots of vitamins you dilute in their water bottle and there's so little in there they don't taste it. Apple juice should be okay in very small quantities because it is just the same as giving them pieces of apple to eat, as long as it is real apple juice and not like most brands that add a lot of sugar and water.

However.... If your gerbils don't seem sick other than one possibly throwing up once, you may not have a problem at all. I think any animal can and will throw up if they need to and it is possible she just choked on something when you picked her up, or maybe she found something bad for her while she was out and then threw it up.

[andreaS15]

See I've never heard of a gerbil throwing-up. And thought maybe they couldn't. Horses cannot throw-up, instead they get colic (there intestines twist) and they can die from it. I know a gerbil and a horse don't have much in common then 4 legs, but for some animals it's true they cannot do this when ill. (so that's why i'm asking CAN gerbils?)

The vitamins are soposed to be taken in water (some powders on food), So I would stop with teh apple juice and stick to water. For all we know the juice could forment the vitamins in some weird way to make the gerbils ill.
So just follow the instructions on the bottle and stick to them. Rather be safe then sorry....

[niffler]

I think any animal can and will throw up if they need to and it is possible she just choked on something when you picked her up, or maybe she found something bad for her while she was out and then threw it up.

Interestingly, animals like horses, rabbits, mice and rats can't physically vomit - which makes me wonder if gerbils can. If you ever take a pet rat to the vets for an op, you'd never be asked to starve the animal beforehand, unlike if you took your dog or your cat :) . However - they may be able to regurgitate, which is a different process.

ETA: I see andreaS15 has beaten me to it! :)

[MonoOmoi]

Interestingly, animals like horses, rabbits, mice and rats can't physically vomit - which makes me wonder if gerbils can. If you ever take a pet rat to the vets for an op, you'd never be asked to starve the animal beforehand, unlike if you took your dog or your cat :) . However - they may be able to regurgitate, which is a different process.

ETA: I see andreaS15 has beaten me to it! :)

I guess by throw up I meant to actually vomit or to regurgitate or cough up... I've seen my own gerbils look like they're coughing up a hair ball like a cat or something, and I guess I just termed it "throwing up" because I wasn't sure exactly what they were doing... Same with the rabbits I've had... I'm no professional, though, so thanks for the correction.