Sudden Death

Hello,
   
I bought two male gerbils in May of this year, they were pretty young but I'm not sure how old they were. Last week one of them died suddenly for no apparent reason. I don't know what happened, I fed him daily, gave him Fresh Bottled Spring Water, cleaned the cage regularly, he had plenty of Room ( 20 Gallon Tank with Ventilation). Him and his cage mate got along like brothers, grooming each other and playing, sleeping together. They never fought, and the pet store said they believed that they were Litter Mates.
   

   
The only peace that I have is that I did everything I was supposed to do according to all the Gerbil Information, & Books that I have read about them. There was no sign of blood on the body, just found him laying there one morning when I got up. The other Gerbil was Running around the cage Frantic from seeing his buddy like that, he kind of went crazy for the first day alone. Now he seems to be settling down, although you can tell he is still sad.
   

   
Do you know what might have caused this Sudden Death?? Is this common with Gerbils??

Im sorry to hear about your pet. I had a mouse that died in very much the same way. I found him in the morning with no visable signs of anything wrong. He had clean water, food, and a clean cage. The only
   
thing i came up with was his age. He was a little over a year and their life expectancy isnt too much longer than that.
   
But also maybe it got too cold for him? (my mouse died in the winter and that idea crossed my mind for him) or maybe he was older than everyone believed him to be? It could also have been that something wasnt right in his system, did he ever show signs of odd behavior like he was in pain or disturbed by something?
   
Its so hard with little pets because they are so fragile. But it sounds like you were a great owner and that your gerbil had a happy life. I hope your other gerbil is doing better.

No there were no signs of being un-healthy. One day he was acting just fine, doing all the things that Gerbils Love to do. **No signs of Wet Tail either.
   
I think he was pretty happy with his brother, they took good care of each other. And I even gave him Bottled Spring Water, Fresh food, Dried Veggies & Fruits. (They say not to give Small animals Chlorinated tap water, rough on their systems.)
   
I am hoping that the other Gerbil will live for a few more years. Maybe the other Gerbil had some Internal Health problems that I could not know about.