Stale Bread - how much?

[shuvvyguest]

Hi soon to be member - just waiting for approval - but wanted to ask a question quickly. Myself and my husband have just ventured into gerbil owner territory with 2 boys and love them! In the early stages of taming and have been reading about suitable treats. I've been trying to vary what i put in my hand to try to get them to come to me but the only thing they really respond to and go crazy for is stale bread lol. So I'm wondering how much and how often before it becomes too much? They're only 8 weeks old and don't want to bloat or overfeed them.

[betty]

Welcome to the forum shuvvyguest!

Well, not sure what others would say about bread for babies - but I would say no more than a currant size - maybe a couple of times a week?

Bread doesn't really have many gerbilly nutrients in it, so only every so often would be my advice while they are young and need all the nutrients they can to grow into adults right now. Every mouthful of bread fills up the space you could have put in some seeds or veg into.

Mine eat bread when I have a nice fresh seeded loaf - never tried stale bread? Might give it a go myself...

[vexorg]

Toast works well too. As a general rule, we don't give them much, maybe crumbs about twice the size of the front paw is about it to avoid over feeding with bad food. And maybe only every few weeks.