Chubby gerbil

[theia]

I just weighed some of my girls again and was shocked to find that Crystal is the heaviest of them all, I would have expected Mia to weigh the most as in terms of body size she is definately the biggest. Though at the same time we have been thinking that Crystal looks a bit chubby (all over/in general, it's not localised and it's not sudden weight gain). She weighs 90 grams as of today (compared to Mia's 84, she always used to be 2 grams lighter than Mia and looked a healthy size when she was. Mia looks strong, slim and healthy for her size and weight) a full 20 grams more than her very slimline cagemate (who is the same sort of size as her other than the weight/chubbyness). She doesn't dip at the back of her neck, instead looking more flabby/mound like there and she looks fairly wide.

I looked online and found the average female adult weight to be between 70 and 100grams (she's just about 8 months now). We've already stopped giving her treats as we suspected that she's a bit fatter than she needs to be (though as I heven't weighed her since April til now so I won't know for a while if that's helping).Going by past weight compared to Mia I'd say she'd be healthier if she lost about 6 to 8 grams. We already have her out at least once a day and she does 'popcorn', as I've heard it called, a fair bit. Unfortunately there is 1 - no space in their cage for a wheel and 2 - I haven't come across a wheel I'd be happy to get for them either.

Just took a quick picture, it doesn't show her off perfectly as her front legs are a bit further back than a normal pose would be so she probably looks a little chubbier again than she would.



Any views on her weight, or other suggestions to help her lose a few grams? TIA

[vexorg]

Always hard to tell from a single pic, they can fluff themselves up quote a bit looking twice their normal size. 90g is about average, you can normally tell when yo hold them round the middle how big they are.

[betty]

She's a big girl, and you are right to hold off on the treats for a while, but until she was topping 100g or got the fat neck, I wouldn't be too worried. However, if you haven't already, I would try her with a large wheel so that she can get more exercise on her own than you could ever give her...

Obviously excess weight can make it harder for them to cool off in the hot weather so just watch out for that.

[theia]

Thanks betty, I know she isn't overweight but we definately don't want to not monitor her and find that she does become overweight as a result. The weather has cooled of a bit here so hopefully that won't be an issue, but I will keep it in mind if it warms up again.

I'm still trying to find a wheel i'd be happy with, most are the wire ones with slots in which are an obvious nono, I'm iffy on the mesh ones in case they catch their toes or hurt themselves on the crossbar bit and the plastic ones I'm sure would be destroyed (her cagemate Silver utterly decimated a flavoured mineral stone just because she felt like it,so I doubt plastic would last long around her).

[betty]

You never know - Silver might absolutely LOVE the wheel - and if she uses the wheel for running in, then she might not chew it as much as you think - and if the thick plastic one is your preferred type, then I would consider swallowing the cost, and replacing it when it become unsafe.

I certainly spend a fortune on houses and tunnels for my lot even though they end up chewing them to pieces - but I think if they get a certain amount of good use out of them - I don't mind replacing them. Just like us and our favourite shoes.

If Crystal likes it and runs for a few months, really enjoys it and loses the weight - to me that could be worth the cost of the wheel. Looks like you have read all the reviews on here of wheels - and I know most of them ARE made of thickened plastic. But if other gerbil owners use plastic and they are fine and others use the mesh ones and say they are fine, then it is really up to you to decide what you are happiest with.

But they do love the wheels!

[theia]

I'll probably give a plastic one a try then, I think I'd feel happier with that as it's more likely that they'd destroy it rather than it hurting them lol. I'll go see what I can find.