Do gerbils often just die suddenly?

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Our four year old gerbil was running around happy as Larry this morning, Dd1 just went to check on her before bed and found her dead, no signs of illness at all. The last gerbil had a large tumour so the cause of death was obvious, do they often just die without any obvious indication as to why?

Yes. My DH is very fond of gerbils and we've had quite a few. They often show no particular signs of aging or illness but in the space of 24 hours can suddenly go.

Thanks Beamur, I suppose it's good that she went fast rather than suffering!