Gerbil diet?

[lulitta]

Hi, I'm planning to get three gerbils soon, but their diet confuses me as there are so many different people saying different things! Could someone suggest a good diet for them?

Thanks, Julia

[erin]

Pre-mixed foods are your best bet. I've heard a lot of people using Tropical Carnival for hamsters and gerbils mixed with oxbow pellets. Apparently not many people have had good luck with the Oxbow pellets because their gerbils only eat if it's the only thing available to them. I wouldn't use the Tropical Carnival one because of the dyes and artificial flavors that it contains. I personally use Hagen Hamster and Gerbil mix, it's an organic food that I have only ever found at my local Petsmart, haven't seen it online anywhere. If you can get your hands on that, that's what I would recommend. It's fantastic! Good luck.

[keldamouse]

okay there are resources out there but some are based on region. I am in the usa so I can only speak for them.

Mostly you want to look for specific gerbil mix that has 7% fat and 12 % protein. More protein is usually okay for them. The other thing people say is that you don't want corn to be one of the top 6 ingredients but then everyone recommends Gerri Gerbil but it has corn in the first 6 ingredients.

So here are a couple of resources:

gerbilgerbil.tumblr.com/foodmasterlist

www.moonstonegerbils.com/dir/care/food.html
www.moonstonegerbils.com/index_files/commercial.html

For an extensive list of why these levels are correct and what other treats and items gerbils can have you have to go to egerbil. egerbil.com/diet.html

In addition I have found this item at Petco that is excellent because it doesn't contain chemicals like the Gerri Gerbil distributed in the USA. It is Higgins Sunburst Gourment Gerbil food. It is all natural and my girls adore it. www.petco.com/product/120464/Higgins-Sunburst-Gourmet-Food-Mix-for-Hamsters-And-Gerbils.aspx?CoreCat=GerbilHPFood

Of course I have to make sure they still eat all the bits, not just their most favorites, before I refill their bowl.

Also keep in mind that you can make your own mix but you do have to make sure you are providing all the necessary items and usually this means just adding to a basic mix unless you have a nutrition calculator and are committed to really doing your research and ending up with a huge batch of food to store.

Another item to Keep in mind that depending on where you are your local petstore may not stock any decent food so this may be something you have to order online. I have no issues doing this because I keep the extra bags stored in my freezer and they keep for a long time.

Good luck and happy research.

[highflyer]

Avoid any Kaytee food; they have horrible food and often with unhealthy preservatives.

I'd go with Oxbow's Healthy Handfuls. It has great quality food, though it's often not in petstores. If you want the best for your gerbils, you might want to consider ordering it offline.


Hope I helped!!! Xxxxx Good luck with your new gerbils!

[Awaiting Abyss]

What really confuses me about Oxbow is the hamster and gerbil food is made with hay. Gerbils, hamsters, mice and rats cannot digest hay. Gerbils will chew it, but they don't eat it. Oxbow has an excellent rat food and I use their guinea pig food for my piggies, but I dislike their hamster and gerbil food.

Tropical Carnival is a good food with the exception of the dyes.

[Shooting Star]

Interesting, Awaiting Abyss! I had never heard of gerbils being unable to digest hay. I'll have to research it, do you have any sources to start off with?

[Awaiting Abyss]

I'll find sources. Some sources I can't give a link to though. One, I'm obsessed with nutrition and study it for all animals. Two, I'm going to school for a vet/vet tech. And I was originally informed that mice could not digest hay and that I should change my homemade diet, which originally included goat food to include hog food instead due to the lack of hay.


The following doesn't say anything about hay, but it does state that gerbils have similar dietary needs as rats, mice and hamsters.

Rats, Mice, Hamsters and Gerbils
www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=PRINT&A=3020

Rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils have similar dietary requirements. They are all primarily seed eaters but rats, mice and particularly hamsters are also known to eat some insects and other small animals either fresh or as carrion. All of these species have long, continually growing incisors, which are worn down by the action of eating and by chewing on hard surfaces such as wood in the process of creating nests and burrows. The basic diet for this group should consist of a good quality rodent chow or lab block. Rodent chows should have a minimum of 16% protein and 4 to 5% fat content. These dry foods can be left in the cage at all times in a bowl or hanging feeder to be consumed as needed. However as mentioned at the beginning of this article it may be more interesting for your pet to have the food put in the environment a couple of times a day; try putting it in different areas, or hiding it as described. Very young, recently weaned animals may have a problem gnawing on the hard pellets and it will be necessary to break them into smaller pieces or soften them for a few weeks until the pet is more mature. Pelleted food should be purchased in amounts that will be used within three months to prevent spoilage. Good quality rodent chows are considered to be fairly complete diets for this group.

Other foods can be fed in addition to the commercial pellets but should not constitute more than 20% of the total diet. Fruit and vegetables as described for the rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas can be offered at a rate of about 1 teaspoon/day. Remove any uneaten fresh foods within 3 to 4 hours to prevent spoilage. All of these species love grains, nuts and seeds, but these foods should be offered in small quantities because of their high fat content. A reasonable amount of nuts and or seeds would be a total of 1 teaspoon/day for rats and about ½ teaspoon for the other species. If these 'treat' foods are given free choice, the pet will eat them exclusively, not eat the balanced pellets and develop nutritional disease such as obesity. Cooked meat and cheese in small amounts may be offered to mice, rats and hamsters. These foods spoil rapidly and should be removed from the cage within one hour if not eaten.

Make sure your gerbils get a high-quality food made for gerbils. It should have oats as the main ingredient, a variety of seeds, nuts and grains, and very little or no corn or alfalfa pellets (these are fillers that can make gerbils boney).

www.smallanimalchannel.com/critter-experts/gerbil/gerbil-dislikes-fruits-and-vegetables-1110.aspx

This was a thread about rats, but I thought this comment was useful.

Most small animal products are grossly inappropriate for the small animals they feed. Very few brands seem interested in actual nutrition of small animals. Even hay eating animals, like guinea pigs and rabbits, don't need alfalfa when they're adults, yet 99% of pellets for these animals are alfalfa based. (Generally also with wheat and corn thrown in -- also poorly digested and unnecessary)

forums.petlovers.com/vb/showthread.php?31689-Alfalfa-Pellets&s=1c32eaca666bde4c6f7daa21ec220b77

If you watch gerbils they do not eat actual hay. They chew it. Also, from experience of feeding hundreds of gerbils, hamsters, mice and rats at my work and home, they all leave the hay pellets behind in their food bowls. If I'm the one feeding them, I normally pick as many out as possible and throw them away. Our block food that we feed our rodents (we feed some a block food and some a seed mix) does not include alfalfa or timothy hay at all.
I'll find more sources if you'd like, but for now I must go to bed.

[Awaiting Abyss]

Also...

I found this Tropical Carnival food that does not include dyes....

www.amazon.com/F-M-Browns-Tropical-Carnival-Natural-Hamster-Gerbil/dp/B007109I50

[highflyer]

I don't think the gerbils actually eat the hay. Also, if you don't want to just give them Oxbow's, you can mix it with some other food.