AJ
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Post by AJ on Mar 25, 2015 17:22:01 GMT -8
What brand do you think is the best? I'm looking for a cheaper, nutritionally sound brand. I do have a bag of VitaSmart left over from owning hamsters, but the protein seems too high. The closest thing I found in protein was Nat Geo food, but it seems too low in fat. I can get food from either Pet Smart or Petco. |
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Post by betty on Mar 26, 2015 0:39:15 GMT -8
If you are not breeding or showing your gerbils and only have a few as pets, then I would use any of the standard gerbil mixes for food. By the time your gerbils have picked out all the best bits and left the unwanted bits all over the tank, and then eaten some of your treats and fresh fruit and veg and a bug or two, your packaging percentages aren't so true anyway.
That's before you even factor in the different types of fat and protein that they are even referring to. There are many threads on here for home made diets that you could look up, but I doubt it will be as cheap or as easy as you are looking for.
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keldamouse
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rest in peace my dear lovely Leela youre in our hearts
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Post by keldamouse on Mar 26, 2015 7:37:02 GMT -8
okay my thoughts on the best foods sold for gerbils at petco and petsmart are as follows:
-Brown's Tropical Carnival (Petsmart)$6.99 for 2 pounds
-Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Food Mix for Hamsters & Gerbils (Petco)$7.99 2 pounds. I currently use this. I like it because it is more natural.
Also if you want to order online: Gerri Gerbil is really good. You can find it at petmountain.com or amazon. I got it for $5.79 at petmountain before I switched to Higgins at Petco.
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keldamouse
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rest in peace my dear lovely Leela youre in our hearts
Posts: 374
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Post by keldamouse on Mar 26, 2015 7:46:21 GMT -8
oh also, I've fed my girls the vitasmart. You would be okay mixing it in with your new bag of food. They like the vitasmart but at the time I was worried about the high protein but mixing the two together would be okay.
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AJ
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Post by AJ on Mar 26, 2015 8:42:17 GMT -8
If you are not breeding or showing your gerbils and only have a few as pets, then I would use any of the standard gerbil mixes for food. By the time your gerbils have picked out all the best bits and left the unwanted bits all over the tank, and then eaten some of your treats and fresh fruit and veg and a bug or two, your packaging percentages aren't so true anyway. That's before you even factor in the different types of fat and protein that they are even referring to. There are many threads on here for home made diets that you could look up, but I doubt it will be as cheap or as easy as you are looking for. So it doesn't matter which feed I choose? Should I just look for high variety then? And the Vitasmart feed is labeled for hamsters... could I still give it if its mixed with a gerbil food (As I have 3/4 of a bag left and I don't want it to got to waist) |
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AJ
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They/them pronouns please
Posts: 37
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Post by AJ on Mar 26, 2015 8:45:48 GMT -8
okay my thoughts on the best foods sold for gerbils at petco and petsmart are as follows: -Brown's Tropical Carnival (Petsmart)$6.99 for 2 pounds -Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Food Mix for Hamsters & Gerbils (Petco)$7.99 2 pounds. I currently use this. I like it because it is more natural. Also if you want to order online: Gerri Gerbil is really good. You can find it at petmountain.com or amazon. I got it for $5.79 at petmountain before I switched to Higgins at Petco. I think my store has geri gerbil! I'm on the fence between higgens and nat geo I think-Nat Geo looks really natural, and sugar/corn syrup isn't within the first 20+ ingredients I dont think |
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Post by betty on Mar 26, 2015 11:58:36 GMT -8
As long as your gerbils eat more that 75% of the food you choose that is fine for a pet scenario. If you want to be really scientific about it - you can, and many people on here are - and they have everything down to exact details - just search for diets on here and get started.
However, I am sure most people on here would suggest a different food to all the other breeders and pet keepers on the thread, so if we are all feeding different things and all our gerbils seem healthy to us, then that is fine too.
Just as with human diets, there are many theories out there of the best foods and balance of nutrients but all our bodies are different, so they make of it different things. One person can eat junk all day and stay slim and another can be on a diet every day and not lose any weight. Same with gerbils - so if your gerbils are average weight, good condition and running and jumping about - then your food is just fine for 'general gerbil'. Obviously the body will need different things if they are breeding, lactating or sick and older, but you can cross that bridge if you come to it.
As for mixing the hamster food - yeah sure. I have done it before for a bit of a change - mixing it in with their normal feed for a while until it has all gone. No harm there I shouldn't think if it was less than 50/50.
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AJ
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Post by AJ on Mar 26, 2015 13:48:02 GMT -8
As long as your gerbils eat more that 75% of the food you choose that is fine for a pet scenario. If you want to be really scientific about it - you can, and many people on here are - and they have everything down to exact details - just search for diets on here and get started. However, I am sure most people on here would suggest a different food to all the other breeders and pet keepers on the thread, so if we are all feeding different things and all our gerbils seem healthy to us, then that is fine too. Just as with human diets, there are many theories out there of the best foods and balance of nutrients but all our bodies are different, so they make of it different things. One person can eat junk all day and stay slim and another can be on a diet every day and not lose any weight. Same with gerbils - so if your gerbils are average weight, good condition and running and jumping about - then your food is just fine for 'general gerbil'. Obviously the body will need different things if they are breeding, lactating or sick and older, but you can cross that bridge if you come to it. As for mixing the hamster food - yeah sure. I have done it before for a bit of a change - mixing it in with their normal feed for a while until it has all gone. No harm there I shouldn't think if it was less than 50/50. Alright, thank you! I was checking because with hamsters theres very specific guidelines to diets to keep them the happiest and healthiest-Gerbs seem much less complicated (Which is great, because I was always awful with calculating hamster food) |
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Post by daisy on Mar 26, 2015 17:31:21 GMT -8
I heard that oxbow is the best. Because it's whole rings, they can't pick out their favorite pieces and I don't have to worry about which gerbil eats what. I supplement it with carnival tropical which I sprinkle into their playpen sometimes so they can forage.
Daisy
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Post by betty on Mar 27, 2015 1:39:09 GMT -8
Yes - there are 3 types of food 'style' I suppose.
Complete Extruded:
This is where all the food looks the same - and looks unlike anything actually in it - so if your whole food is pelleted or in rings that all look a bit like Cheerios then you have extruded food. This means that all the nutrients in the seperate food have been mixed together in a powder and put together to make every piece contain all the same nutrients. You could compare this to a solid chocolate bar. Every bite of the bar contains near enough the same ingredients as the next. These foods are great for preventing fussy eaters as they can't pick the tastiest bits as they all taste the same.
Complete Whole Food:
This is what is sometimes called the Muesli Food as it contains all the actual foods straight off the tree, bush or out the ground. Every bite is different - looks different, tastes different and contains different nutrients. This allows for 'natural' looking foraging and people like it. However, this food is only 'complete' when all of it is eaten - very much like a roast dinner - you don't get the nutrients from the sprouts if you don't eat them. This sort of inflates the proportion of the other ingredients so animals can gain weight or become unhealthy on these. For example if you only ever ate the chicken off that roast dinner - you would never get the vitamins and minerals from all the veg - AND you would be getting a really high level of protein.
Complementary Foods:
These are food that only contain one part of the recommended diet for an animal - the manufacturer doesn't want to make the whole feed or the ingredient can't be mixed - like fresh veg - you can't add fresh veg to a dry food - or Ketchup - you can't buy a freshly cooked burger with ketchup already on it.
Different styles suit different people - and suit different animals. But don't forget though, the TYPE of food doesn't reflect the actual quality of the ingredients within it.
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Post by qtoffer on Mar 28, 2015 18:21:14 GMT -8
That's a very succinct way of explaining the types of gerbils foods available, betty! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Eowyn (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper Goldberry (F) 11/12/2011 - 20 gallon with 20 gallon topper -------------------------------------------------------------- RIP Maire 11/6/2008 - 4/6/2011; Eithne 11/6/2008 - 10/10/2011 Lori 5/2/2011 - 7/24/2013; Mo 5/2/2011 - 1/14/2014; Carly 5/2/2011 - 5/21/2014 Arwen 11/12/2011 - 2/8/2015 |
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Post by betty on Mar 29, 2015 1:15:46 GMT -8
Years of working as a trainer in the pet industry does that to you.
Nutrition for all animals is such a complex thing that it is so difficult to get right just by matching up things that contain certain nutrient types. Two things that sound good may cancel each other out for example or they might be in the wrong form. So for most pets it is much simpler and nearer the mark to use a commercial food type.
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