Sunflower Seed Diet

[j]

I didn't call you retarded. I called the post retarded. But ok, I'll just say I disagree with it.

I am pointing out that hamster mixes are NOT the same balance as gerbil mixes.

And you know this how? Because the ones in the UK aren't? I can prove that they are usually balalnced. Can you prove they aren't?

Typical sunflower based gerbil food:
Link
(Ironic how the gerbil on the pic is a fatty)

This is their Hamster/Gerbil mix: Link

Tough choice on which is a better food. Amazing that the analysis are the same and still fit in the NGS guidlines with 15% protein and 7-8%fat. Of course there are probably other brands I haven't checked, but still better than the sunflower gerbil diets. And not everyone wants to mix in things with their food so if they're going to feed only gerbil food, they're better off with the 2nd one.

And I don't recommend "broadcast" feeding especially when the person is already having a problem with their gerbils not eating a variety of foods. If he switches foods and then just starts throwing it in there, he's still going to have no idea what they're eating unless he cleans the cage and goes through every little piece of shavings looking for loose food left behind. With a dish, the food they don't eat collects there at the bottom. I throw out dishes of alfalfa pellets, corn, shells and 1 other thing every couple of days..same thing gets left behind in all 9 of my tanks.

1) I say it's stressful. In the wild they also have more room. In a cage, they're stuck next to eachother and can harass eachother when someone finds something *good* that the other doesn't. There are other things to do for excercise.
2) It's not more hygienic. If you scatter food around, it eventually gets burried in bedding that already got peed on. Even if they pee in one corner of the tank, the shavings eventually get kicked around and mixed with the others. Also, since these guys groom eachother by licking eachother's butts and can eat dead bodies.. I wouldn't be too worried.
3) Gerbils tend to eat what's at the top at first. Later on they'll dig to the bottom.
4) True. But most "gerbil" dishes sold are of ceramic or some other unchewable material and there are ways to prevent it from tipping over.
5) I disagree because I've only had bullying when it was scattered. With a food bowl, they know where their food is at all times and go to it when they're hungry and they usually sit there and eat it. They also don't feel the need to always eat at the same time like they do when it's scattered. Lots of squeaking, the one eating has to turn 50 times in a corner trying to block the other from getting a hold of it..etc.
Again - Stress.
6) Look throughout this forum and you will also see a lot of posts about ways to prevent it. Mine don't bury them. And the food doesn't go stale in a couple of days.
7) If this guy is feeding the food I'm thinking he's feeding - Those gerbils aren't eating anything else.

Since I throw out dishes of the same stuff from each tank, I've checked shavings in the past to see if there is loose food anywhere, I've watched them eat many times and they don't hoard it, never had a fat gerbil this way, they're all normal weight - I can more than "possibly" rely on what's left in the dish to judge what they eat and don't eat.

As for answering in a public forum.. I personally choose to reply to the individual person and question instead of making a generalized answer. I'd feel bad telling someone in the UK to buy Kaytee Fiesta and they went to like 10 stores looking for it for nothing. But that's just me.

As for telling me how to reply to a post. You should take your own advice. There was nothing wrong with the way I disagreed in my first post. I politely said I didn't recommend it and gave a reason why. I found your second post to be "trashy" the way it basically picked everything out to "attack" it and "contradict" it.

And I'm not trying to "bicker". Simply responding to something that was obviously directed at me. There is no reason why this reply should be a problem instead of the one I'm obviously responding too.

[Ritzie/Admin]

Mongolian gerbils like to forage for their food and scientific research has proven that they will eat better, when the food is scattered over their bedding. Besides it is very natural, they need to forage also for food in the wild. Feeding in a bowl is good too. Personally I do both! They get food in a bowl, but also scattered over their bedding. And I hide food on and between rocks, branches, nesting boxes, etc. Good to prevent boredom / stereotypic behaviour and support natural behaviour as much as possible.

Looking at they body size /growth, and weight is a good way to tell if your gerbils eat good and are healthy. Also a bowl will give you NOT full control, because not each gerbil has it's own bowl. So it might be that one gerbils is eating too much and one too little. So I would say that it is not a retarded comment at all!

I would not say that scattering is more stressfull. Squeaking will not always mean that they are angry, scared or stressed. I can also be from excitement and happyness. I've seen bullying when they use I use a bowl, because not everyone can eat at the same time (dominant gerbils first). This depends of course on the size of your group and bowl. However I have also seen bullying when food was scattered over the bedding. They wanted the most tasty food, like sunflower seeds. Again most of the times a dominant gerbil takes it away from a more submissive one. But this is natural behaviour too!

Hamster mixes are not the same as gerbil mixes! And between mixes for the same sort of animal can be difference too, depends on the producer. But if you cannot find gerbil food in your neighbourhood, or the food is not good, than hamster mixes would be a good replacement, because they are the most related pet species have similar feeding needs.

But I have to say that the image of that Kaytee gerbil food looks very bad!!!! That they sell that?! Personally I know Kaytee only as parrot food.

[RW]

I think what a person feeds is more important than how they feed it. As long as the gerbils can reach their food easily and are healthy, it's a matter of personal preference and what works best for a person's own gerbils.

I use bowls myself, probably more to satisfy my own sense of tidiness than any other reason, but I do pile food on the tank floor near the nest if I have a sick gerbil. It seems to keep them eating better if their food is close at hand and they don't have to climb into the bowl to eat.

Interesting, though, that I've never seen any of my gerbils squabble over the food in their bowls. They usually just wander over and eat, without any fuss from their partner, and occasionally will even sit in the foodbowl side by side to eat, if both happen to wander over at the same time. Please, no one tell them they're supposed to squabble!

RW

[doomgerbiluk]

LOL
we won't
squabbling is something that can happen, not something that will
Gerbils are a bit like humans, some families have dominating members, some are the victim type and some have wonderful relationships. Most are somewhere along that line.
Peter is quite right that where you have a dominant animal it will, just like a dominant human, take all the choice bits
I think the one thing this debate has highlighted is that each colony is different, as is each owner, and therefore we will have different preferences.
I agree Peter that the best test of whether your gerbil is eating both enough and a good balance is its health. Be aware of yoru gerbils 'normal' build and coat condition etc and you will quickly pick up if they are of-colour.