What type of food do you use?

[crittercrazy]

I'm running low on gerbil food again so will be buying more soon. . .  thought I'd just ask what other people liked/used.  I've had mostly Kaytee Fiesta over the years,  and something else I don't remember the name of,  but this time I had Higgins Sunburst Gourmet gerbil/hamster mix.  Both from Petco.
For both of these mixes I take out the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and use them for treats.
Thanks everyone!

[keldamouse]

I like eCOTRITION Essential Blend for Hamsters and Gerbils and Brown's Tropical Carnival Gerbil Food. I also like the cubes Mazuri Gerbil Food. I usually mix these up.

These brands have been recommended by moonstonegerbils.com because they are close or near the correct 12-16% protein 7% fat good ratios

•Brown's Tropical Carnival Gourmet Food for Hamsters & Gerbils
•Ecotrition Essential Blend for Hamster and Gerbils
•Ecotrition Organic Hamster & Gerbil Food
•Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster/Gerbil
•Mazuri Hamster & Gerbil Diet
•Supreme Pet Foods Gerri Gerbil complete muesli

Here is an indepth analysis.
www.moonstonegerbils.com/index_files/commercial.html

People have also had some great success with mixing their own or mixing varieties. Good luck!

[rhianna]

I wouldn't recommend Fiesta or eCOTRITION Essential Blend at all.
Fiesta contains a harmful chemical preservative called Ethoxyquin which is shown to cause liver damage and possibly other health problems in animals as well as humans. It's even illegal in Australia and much of Europe because of this. Kaytee uses it in abnormally high amounts in their Fiesta food, which makes it even worse.
eCOTRITION Essential Blend contains onions and leeks, both are toxic to rodents (onions are often used to kill off rodent pests). Minced onions are dangerously high on the ingredient list as well. The brand used to make an organic version of this food, which was great, but sadly they stopped selling it.

In the US I would recommend Tropical Carnival, or if you can't find that, then LM Bonanza (also made by Hartz). They both have the correct percentages though Tropical Carnival is much better quality. TC can be purchased at Petsmart and Bonanza is available at Petco. If you're able to order online and don't mind the cost, then Gerri Gerbil is available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Supreme-Gerri-Premium-Gerbil-Food/dp/B00008432E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392085723&sr=8-1&keywords=gerri+gerbil

[crittercrazy]

Thanks!
Okay, so that takes away Fiesta and eCOTRITION Essential Blend. But I'm wondering rhianna if you still think Kaytee in general is okay as long as its not the Fiesta?
Would you mind telling me exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to the food? I'm going to be perfectly honest in the fact that ever since I got gerbils I've basically just picked up a bag of food that looked alright to me. I guess so far I've been basing it on variety. . . plus more fruits/nuts and less of the more colorful stuff and treats. . .?
The one I have right now, Higgins Sunburst, has a lot of nuts and fruit so that's basically why I went for it, plus because my usual brand wasn't in stock. But do you have some advice as far as what to look for regardless the brand?
Thanks again!

[rhianna]

Sunburst isn't bad but it is high in fat, which is why I didn't recommend it. You can easily make it less fatty by taking out all or most of the fruit, but by picking things out you would be messing with the other nutritional values of the food, so it's best to avoid doing so by just finding a mix that's good as it is.

When choosing a mix you want something with around 12-14% protein, 5-8% fat, and you want to try and avoid food mixes with a lot of corn. When reading the ingredients label, steer clear of onions, garlics, leeks, ethoxyquin, BHT (as far as I know it's only in Hazel Hamster food though), and lots of corn high up in the ingredient list. Look for a good variety, but also steer clear of too much fruit/corn and not enough seeds. Unfortunately most gerbil food brands out there aren't very suitable, so you have to be really careful with which ones you pick.

Other Kaytee brands are safe but I don't think any of them are really good. They're usually cheaply made, loaded with corn and lots of artificial preservatives. Their "Nature's Benefits" food is suitable but it lacks variety and it's really difficult to find. Their "Chunky" food is also alright but it is cheaply made and again, it's hard to find. Generally you should just steer clear of Kaytee food and go with a more recommended brand if possible. The masterlist of foods is pretty outdated, but it's still a nice chart to follow. I'm considering making my own updated version of the list and I'll post it here if/when I do make it

[kim]

I use a mixture of pets at home gerbil muesli and Burgess Supa Gerbil Granola which is good cos it has added chicken in the cereal and bits of dried fruit as well as the usual cereal bits and seeds and alot of grains.

[crittercrazy]

Thanks-
We have a Petsmart nearby so I'm leaning toward Tropical Carnival now, since I'm okay with the price, and you recommended that one rhianna, right? Are there different types of it, like how there's different types of Kaytee, and I should be on the look out for one in particular?
Alright thanks again!

[keldamouse]

eek I didn't know that about eCOTRITION. Well I guess I will not buy that one again. It looks like the Ecotrition Organic Hamster & Gerbil Food doesn't have leeks or onions though. I've been wanting to try Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster/Gerbil but Its hard to find in store and I know lots of people like Gerri Gerbil but I haven't. You can find it online in the US. Thanks for the info rhianna

[rhianna]

crittercrazy - Yes, TC is the #1 US brand that I recommend. It has great variety, it's very high quality and has great percentages. The only varieties are the different types of animals, so make sure you grab the hamster/gerbil kind. It's actually a variety of food by the brand Brown's who do have several other types of food but TC is the only suitable one for gerbils.

keldamouse - I wouldn't recommend Oxbow really just because most gerbils won't eat it. It's also much more enriching for them to have a lot of variety in their diet, like they would in the wild. Oxbow makes pellet only foods which is very unnatural and no fun for gerbils. I would recommend the eCOTRITION organic food, if you can somehow find it, but they stopped manufacturing it a while ago. If you have a Petsmart near you then I recommend Tropical Carnival, or if you can order online and don't mind $11 for a 2 pound bag, then Gerri Gerbil would be the best.

[Lily]

i make my own i have developed it over the years and i used the nutrition calculator on here
1 cup barley
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup multigrain
1/4 cup cheerios
1/4 cup crushed special-K
1/8 cup pine nuts
1/8 cup dried fruit
they love it and i put melworms some times as a treat and of course small portions of vegies and fruit xD

[banditcuster]

I do a mixture. I use TC and OXbow as my base

2 bags of TC
2ish # of Oxbow (i have a current 25# bag of oxbow....)
1-2 bags of parkeet blend bird food
1 sm box of noodles
1 cup of dried meal worms
1-2 cups of puffed cearal blend I have for the degus. (Rice, wheat, corn, and something else i think)

edit: i make big batches, cause right now i have 13ish gerbils i'm feeding... and the degus and rabbits all end up getting bits of it...

[rhianna]

Here's the updated masterlist I talked about making: gerbilgerbil.tumblr.com/foodmasterlist

[Thelodar]

I didn't know that about Ecotrition, I wish someone would have told me that sooner, I feel like I've been poisoning my boys for 4 months. Right now I feed that and the Oxbow Essentials. They all love the Oxbow and since I feed two foods, one pellet and one seed mix I don't feel bad about variety. I guess I'll switch to Tropical Carnival to replace the Ecotrition.

[rhianna]

Feb 12, 2014 3:36:48 GMT -8 Thelodar said:

I didn't know that about Ecotrition, I wish someone would have told me that sooner, I feel like I've been poisoning my boys for 4 months. Right now I feed that and the Oxbow Essentials. They all love the Oxbow and since I feed two foods, one pellet and one seed mix I don't feel bad about variety. I guess I'll switch to Tropical Carnival to replace the Ecotrition.

Don't feel bad about it, you didn't know any better! When I first got my boys I was feeding them Fiesta for about 6 months before doing more in depth research. It's really the fault of the pet shops, not your own. Your gerbils should be perfectly fine as long as you switch their seed mix ASAP. 

[orangejulius]

I didn't know about Ecotrition either! Just to be clear, this is the Tropical Carnival food you were talking about, right rhianna? I'll purchase some of that next time I have to buy food.