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Post by minnesota2121 on Dec 31, 2004 13:37:30 GMT -8
I feed my gerbils with a mixture that includes: grains, corn, some pellets, wafer things, and SUNFLOWER SEEDS. It seems that all they eat are the sunflower seeds. That is what they go for right when I feed them. And I almost never see them eating anything else. There is also lots of leftover food in the dish of the other things. Is this a problem, that they are not eating anything but sunflower seeds. If so, how can I get them to eat the other food.
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Dec 31, 2004 15:40:17 GMT -8
Youare probably feeding too much 3 tips 1) weigh the food, at least for a while. Most food s give a recommended range of weight to feed so measure the food and you amy be surprised how much extra you are giving them 2) broadcast it. Bowls are unnatural, broadcastign encourages natural foraging behaviour 3) consider taking out the sunflower seeds. Give them as a treat. Then the gerbs must eat the rest of the food If they still reject the food cionsider changing it
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Post by j on Dec 31, 2004 23:20:28 GMT -8
What brand of food are you feeding?
It sounds like you're feeding one of the typical "Gerbil" foods. (Kaytee for instance) They're not the best choice of food. They don't have any variety the majority of the bag will be sunflower seeds, corn and alfalfa pellets (they more than likely will not eat the green pellets..that's rabbit food)
It's a problem, it doesn't contain enough nutrients or variety and can cause health problems later on and shorten their life span.
Don't bother with regular gerbil food. Instead use a hamster/gerbil mix, (Kaytee Fiesta is a good one). Or whate lse you could do to get more variety into their diet is mix a few brands and you can even add cocatiel or parrot food for more seed variety.
Easiest thing to do is fill their dish once a week to make sure they eat everything. Refill it when it looks low or if there is only like a couple kinds of seeds left (like pellets) THey'll most likely eat the good stuff (sunflower seeds) first and then eat the rest of the seeds.
I don't recommend just throwing it in the tank because they'll bury it and you'll never have an idea how much or how little they've eaten.
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Jan 1, 2005 3:51:32 GMT -8
they will bury it anyway gerbils bury their food to keep it safe you know how much they've eaten easily by the fact they are healthy and growing and by whats in the substrate when you throw it away hamster mixes are NOT the same balance as gerbil mixes, syrian hamsters have different nutritional requirements. You can replace up to 1/3rd of the gerbil with premium wild bird seed, or a mix of wholegrains and rolled/porridge oats. I do agree that there are some very poos gerbil mixes on the market. My gerbils HATE Wagg and PAH hamster and gerbil muesli. I use two thirds Gerri Gerbil and supplememt it with one third other seeds and grains + a small qty of cat food for proteins, varied for pregnant and nursing mothers.
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Post by j on Jan 1, 2005 5:04:23 GMT -8
Um.. Doom..
Gerbils can't bury their dish if its set up right.
You can't tell how much they're eating by throwing it in the tank unless you want to mess up the entire thing to check the bottom to see whats left. You could throw in a set amount each day, but that doesn't mean they're getting variety either.
you know how much they've eaten easily by the fact they are healthy and growing That's retarded. For one, he didn't even say these were pups. So if they're adults, they won't "Grow".
The person who asked the question is from the US. The food over here is different than what's in the UK. They don't sell "GerriGerbil" in the US. Most of the brands of Gerbil Food here are nothing but corn, alfalfa pellets andloaded with sunflowers. So here, it's recommended to go with Hamster/Gerbil mixes because they usually have less sunflowers and things like dried veggies. Of course I'm not even sure if that's what he's feeding.. but it kind of sounds like if they're getting enough sunflowers in the dish where they can live off of it.
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Jan 1, 2005 5:52:37 GMT -8
DO NOT call me retarded I have many gerbilly friends in the US, have been keeping gerbils for THREE years and breeding over a year. I own around 65 gerbils and show regularly. Yes I know Gerri is not available in the US, I am pointing out that hamster mixes are NOT the same balance as gerbil mixes. Broadcast feeding is recommended for MANY reasons. 1) its natural, gerbils forage for food in the wild and we can imitate that for them. it also gives them excercise. 2) its more hygienic. certainly my gerbil have been known to use a food bowl as a toilet (admittedly they empty the food out first) 3) gerbils tend to eat whats at the top of the bowl and not dig down for the small stuff that ends up at the bottom. in my experience they eat a better balance of food when they forage than when they eat from a bowl. If you must use a bowl a saucer is best as it spreads the food out and you dont end up with husls covering the smaller items. 4) gerbils chew plastic which can impact in their stomachs and kill them. therefore gerbil bowls must be of an unchewable material. I have had a case where a food bowl has been overturned and the gerbil trapped underneath for a few hours, a friend recently ahd a similar incident with THREE pups trapped under a bowl for early 2 days (that bowl was on the FLOOR of the tank) and one owner had a food bowl knocked off a shelf and hit a jird on the head, knocking it out cold!!! g again a saucer is safer (I find the terracotta ones desighned to go under plants good, but my gerbils prefer to empty them and sleep in them) 5) bullying is more likely with a bowl. Without a bowl the food is spread around and gerbils fidn it harder to prevent others from feeding 6) look throught his forum. You will see posts from people who's gerbils have buried their food bowls. Gerbils do it as a matter of course. Covering food keeps it fresh. If your gerbils don't then I doubt they have enough substrate or your keeping them in Crittertrail or something similar. 7) Gerbils eat by foraging. They eat throughout the day. When you put the food in, like humans, they go for their favourite foods first. SO although you only see them eat sunflower seeds they probably do eat the other stuff too.
You cannot possibly say that because a bowl is empty or half full that is what the gerbil is eating. Manys the time a half full bowl has turned out to contain just seed husks, or a gerbil has stored large quantiites of food in some corner of the cage. Relying on what is in the bowl to tell what your gerbil is feeding is extremely unreliable. It may well lead to overfeeding. I did not suggest searching the bedding. I suggested that when you clean out your animals you look for food in the substrate. I
Answers in a public forum apply to ALL readers, not just the individual answering the question, so yes with young gerbils growing is a good indication of health, with adults a good coat, not too skinny, active etc.
Therefore readers taking this information into account may be in the UK, the US, Europe, in fact anywhere in the world!! and yes they may well be feeding Gerri, Kayteee, a mix of their own or something else.
One last thing, when someone takes the trouble to reply to a post, don't trash them Sure give your opinion but remmeber people take time out to try and help others. We are all amateurs here, we pass on information on what works for us and hope others find it useful. We may (and do) disagree, that is healthy, but we should keep it polite and not make attacks on each other. Please be more careful in the way you reply to posts.
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Post by queenofthenile on Jan 1, 2005 11:49:11 GMT -8
The point of this forum is to educate others. If you have information to add, or a point to debate, that is fine, but there is no reason to resort to name-calling. All forum members should use the most appropriate language possible as written communication is subject to interpretation.
Any further bickering in this post will be deleted. Please post only the information that is meant to educate others.
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Post by sweetie on Jan 1, 2005 14:04:13 GMT -8
Hey Just logged on. I agree that posts should not contradict another members post directly. You may post what you believe to be true. It is not necessary to directly antagonize, name call, or contradict anothers post. You may ****gently**** remind the original memeber posting of what would work best in thier location.
Every one has different experiences. For example, there is another member that pu a female in with 2 males and there was not fighting. That goes directly against most information I have recieved BUT it worked in that situation.
~~~~REMEMBER~~~~ Respect is allowing others their own beliefs. This Forum is global and is diverse. What works in the US, might not work in the UK because of locale or inablity to get the products etc.
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Post by sweetie on Jan 1, 2005 14:06:43 GMT -8
Hey Minni, I mix a bled of gerbil/hamster foods together. I pick out the sunflower seeds and use them as treats. I also suppliment with rolled oats, plain yogurt, crickets, grasshoppers, broccoli, carrots, apples, blueberries, etc. It is not healthy for your gerbils to just eat sunflower seeds. THe fat content is very high. You might also try to mix in some bird seed either wild or parrot. I hope this has helped. Keep us posted.
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Post by minnesota2121 on Jan 1, 2005 16:40:20 GMT -8
Thanks, everybody, that really helped. I will definately consider changing my gerbil food. That junk that they have here is full of sunflower seeds.
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Post by queenofthenile on Jan 3, 2005 8:00:11 GMT -8
I make my own food now, and it contains way less sunflower seeds than commercial food. Unfortunately, it is hard to find some of the ingredients. My fat gerbil has lost a bit of weight on it though .
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RW
Member
When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. Puppy 6/6/07
Posts: 530
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Post by RW on Jan 4, 2005 9:38:10 GMT -8
For anyone who's interested, Gerri Gerbil is available in the US. I haven't seen it in any of the pet stores, but it's available online at PetFoodDirect: www.petfooddirect.com/store/dept.asp?brand_id=292&mscssid=46Q0AF8FCGVJ8M71WW5CN22J7AUJ9DC7I will warn you ahead of time, I'm not totally happy with this company. It takes a good while to get an order (at least 10 days, usually longer) and their shipping is high (for me, $8.49 is their base shipping price), but if you're intent on trying Gerri, you can get it from them. In fact, they carry all the Supreme foods. RW
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Post by sweetie on Jan 5, 2005 12:28:11 GMT -8
Hey RW,
Great to *see* you again. Thanks for the info.
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RW
Member
When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. Puppy 6/6/07
Posts: 530
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Post by RW on Jan 6, 2005 5:30:43 GMT -8
Thanks, Sweetie. Things got sort of complicated for a while. A few gerbil changes, too. I lost my Ratzilla to kidney failure on Halloween. I added a very nice pair of boys, a Schimmel and a spotted Burmese, who I got from a breeder (my first breeder's gerbils). My boy trio declanned, which left me with a lone male who needed paired, so I have a new little guy, a spotted lilac. He made it through quarantine and is split caged with his future buddy. I'm up to 10 gerbils now. RW
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Post by sweetie on Jan 6, 2005 12:50:08 GMT -8
RW, I am sorry to hear about the *complications* I can relate . I am also sorry to hear about Ratzilla and the declanning. I am please to see that you have additions to the family. I will wait patiently for pictures .
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