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Post by zic890 on Jul 4, 2015 12:00:44 GMT -8
So, I have three gerbils: Cloudy ( grey mottled white I think ), Peanut Butter ( Argente Golden I think ), and Twilight ( black ). They are all boys and all live together. Cloudy is very fat, while Twilight is skinny ( but a healthy skinny ), and Peanut Butter in the middle ( not as fat as Cloudy, but not quite as skinny as Twilight ).
Before you ask, I do/did agility with them, and used sunflower seeds as the treats. But the thing is, Twilight does the most jumping. Cloudy jumps too, but not as much as Twilight anymore. And Peanut Butter does, but has a little difficulty with jumping because of his clubbed front paw. PB ( Peanut Butter ) is completely fine though, and we don't think he even knows his front paw is like that.
Anyway, lately his fatness is concerning me. He looks very fat, and he isn't just fluffing up his fur, because it lies flat most times. I haven't done any jumping with them for a while too. I prefer to feed them with their bowl rather than scatter feed, because I like to know how much they ate. Even then they are currently being fed a few different types of nuggets ( pellets ) because the seeds and stuff they usually also have is literally filled with so many sunflower seeds and such, and it takes a long time to separate all the sunflower seeds from the rest of the mix, and I just haven't got to the sorting yet.
Anyway, any suggestions as to how I can get Cloudy's weight down? I haven't yet weighed him, but I have a feeling he's easily over the 70-100g ( I think I saw the suggested weight somewhere on this topic )... He couldn't be mis-sexed either, because I've had them for over a year now... Please help! |
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Post by vexorg on Jul 5, 2015 7:20:17 GMT -8
What weights are they?
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Post by zic890 on Jul 7, 2015 6:59:34 GMT -8
Not sure at the moment. I'll have to see what I can weigh them with..
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Post by betty on Jul 7, 2015 23:34:53 GMT -8
The actual weight of a gerbil isn't so important on its own - it is more about how quickly there has been a change in weight or the distribution of that weight.
Until your gerbil is over 100g he isn't really too fat, although at that point it might be worth you starting to cut out too many fatty treats.
I've had gerbils temporarily reach over 120g with no ill effects just a winter of lounging about. The weight came off naturally over time...
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Post by zic890 on Jul 9, 2015 4:28:59 GMT -8
I haven't actually given them any treats in awhile.. They mainly get a sun-dried blueberry each or a piece carefully-monitored sun-dried potato skin when they do get a treat.. Are these fatty?
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Post by vexorg on Jul 10, 2015 3:34:06 GMT -8
Post a pic on them when they are standing normally
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Post by zic890 on Jul 10, 2015 5:36:47 GMT -8
I guess I'll have to see if I can. How would I post a pic?
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Post by crittercrazy on Jul 10, 2015 6:05:21 GMT -8
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Post by zic890 on Jul 12, 2015 17:09:15 GMT -8
I really don't want to get photobucket or anything like that... Any other way?
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Post by betty on Jul 13, 2015 0:36:01 GMT -8
Photobucket is free, you don't need the paid account, I've had my account for years just for this forum.
Alternatively people attach links to individual pictures on their own Facebook account. Try that instead if you want. Either way you will be uploading them all into somewhere. At least on Photo Bucket other people won't see them if you don't want.
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Post by theia on Jul 13, 2015 3:38:24 GMT -8
If you don't want to make an account for photos then I recommend tinypic.
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Post by zic890 on Jul 14, 2015 5:41:35 GMT -8
Okay, I think I figured it out...  |
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Post by zic890 on Jul 14, 2015 5:42:09 GMT -8
Yeah, this is an older picture, but not more than a month...
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Post by betty on Jul 14, 2015 6:35:48 GMT -8
Is that a large swelling on one side or is that just the way you are holding him?
Do you have other pictures from different angles now you can upload them?
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Post by vexorg on Jul 14, 2015 9:27:02 GMT -8
You kind of need to have him standing naturally on his own. If they lay across your hand then they can appear fatter than they are.
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