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Post by gerbilicious on Mar 6, 2004 10:53:08 GMT -8
If they are acceptable, how much should I feed them per day/week? (They come in cube chunks.)
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 7, 2004 5:37:38 GMT -8
Yes they are very acceptable! I don't feed those myself, but because of their relative high protein and calcium content I would give it not more than once a day, maybe less.
Alfalfa is one of the worlds oldest crop plants and use predates recorded history. Sometimes you may hear it being called Lucerne.It is a leguminous plant,and legumes are herbacious plants, being very nutritious and high quality fodder. Like other crop plants it's harvested at various stages of growth but early bloom crops have optimum nutrient values. Like all crops it's nutritional content can vary tremendously, it's protein content can vary from 13% to 22% and calcium content varies from 1 to 2%. Its fibre content can range from 23 to 38%, all values depending on plant type, location,weather, time of harvest and subsequent storage.
Nutritionally it contains every essential amino acid, it also contains enzymes that are important for food digestion. It also contains a very wide range of vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
As part of rodents diets alfalfa is an excellent supplements and can be mixed in small quantities with their regular feed. Small rodents and gerbils in particular can benefit from the higher protein and calcium in alfalfa, also the calcium content can help maintain bone density which is quickly lost with age in older rodents.
One thing to remember is that the nutritional values will be much lower when actually ingested as not all the nutrients will be available because of the high fibre content of the plant.
If alfalfa is used as a supplement for your rodents diet it will present no health problems, and can only benefit the animal.
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Post by gerbilicious on Mar 7, 2004 5:39:48 GMT -8
Thanks!  They come in little chunks...so...does that mean half or a quarter chunk per day? |
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Mar 7, 2004 5:52:15 GMT -8
Depends on how big the chunks are I think! Maybe you can give them by just trying it out! They should eat as much of their basic food as before! The treats may not replace it!
So I don't really know how big they are, but maybe halve?
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They come in little chunks...so...does that mean half or a quarter chunk per day?