Jamie

I just got a pair of male gerbils at my local pet store about a month ago. They seemed healthy. All of a sudden, one of them got really sick and is about to die. He had these reddish secretions coming from his eye. Now they are so swollen they are barely open. I did a little bit of research and it's something about his Porphyrins gland. He has a severe respiratory infection and he's not eating or drinking at all. I separated them and cleaned the cage and now I think the same thing might be happening to the other male. His nose looks red and it looks like there is a little bit of blood.

Does anybody know if this Porphyrins thing is contagious? Could they have had it at the pet store, but just didn't show signs of it until I brought them home?

Their bedding is made up of Carefresh (the chunky paper bedding), aspen shavings, and timothy hay to support their tunnels.

Also I live with three other room mates. We all love animals so much. We have a cockatiel, and parrots, and 2 cats along with the gerbils.