Bowl or not?

[lpn1993]

Hi everyone,

I've read some of the previous discussion on this, and I know there are pros and cons of each feeding method. I just started recently with gerbils, and planned to feed them using a bowl, since I figured it would be neater and easier to tell what and how much they were eating. (I have a little ceramic food bowl that I'd used before for a hamster.) I've been using that, and it works ok, but they keep covering the food bowl, as gerbils tend to do. (So much for neat and tidy, huh?) I tried putting the bowl on top of their wood house, to keep the shavings out of it. It helped some, but I don't think they like the bowl there very much. They seem to eat less that way, and they prefer the food to be in the bedding. I decided to try taking out some of the food and putting it on the bedding. When I did, they immediately ran over and started eating the same food that had been sitting in the bowl. They enjoy digging around to find their food, and act excited when they find it. It's really cute.

I'll try feeding them this way, rather than using a bowl. I realize that this may not be the right method for everyone, but I think it's what my gerbils prefer. It just goes to show that they had different ideas about their food than I did!

[doomgerbiluk]

I think your right..mine love foraging.
I'm sure its the hunting as much as the feeding when you broadcast the food.
Gerbils are very intelligent and I suspect they get bored when inactive, so a nice treasure hunt helps liven up their day!!!!

and of course it does depend what suits.
Word of warning even a small ceramic bowl is quite heavy (imagine an equavalent bowl falling on YOUR head) so putting on a high point could be dangerous.
Eddie (who is a bit of a gerbil guru) once made that mistake with his jirds (very large gerbils) and one knocked the bowl of the shelf. The jird it landed it on was knocked out cold!!!!
Please keep heavy items low down in the cage.

[simcoe]

I use a small ceramic bowl that I place on the bottom of the tank, against the front glass wall, surrounded by shavings. The gerbs immediately bury it and mainly access it by tunnelling horizontally towards it, rather than straight down. This method works best for us because the gerbs can forage the way they like, and the bright green ceramic of the bowl lets me know where to dig to make sure they've got enough chow socked away down there!

Oh, but I also stash treats like dried carrot, banana, apple, and "gerbil cookies" (the yellow processed grain chips in Nutriphase) around the tank so they can scout around and have suprises, too.

[doomgerbiluk]

Sounds good
there will always be an element of 'what works for me' about our feeding techniques and cage layouts.

[Ritzie/Admin]

I use bowls, but sometimes I scatter it on their bedding. Foraging is good to prevent boredom, and they say that they eat better that way, but it is hard to control.

When you place a bowl on a high place, make indeed sure that it cannot fall down. You can glue it somewhere on, or make an edge of the platform you'll place it.

[lpn1993]

I like the bowl, because it makes me feel better to see that they have food in there. But it seems that my gerbils prefer to forage. When I scatter the food on the bedding, it quickly disappears. I know it isn't really gone, and they can find it, but it's strange to look in there and not see any food. I never feel sure whether or not they're out of food. Maybe I can try a combination of both feeding methods, so they can forage and I won't have to worry that they're out of food! When the bowl was on their house, it wasn't up high, and it was secure. But I don't think they liked it there, so I'll probably just put it back on the bedding.

Thanks to all for the replies.

[sweetie]

I have bowls in all of my tanks and it's 50 - 50. I think that it depends on the day LOL. Some days the ones who like the bowl eat the stuff on the ground. The girls love the bowl but bury it!! I like it becuase I can see how much they eat, what they are eating out of the mix and I waste less. WHen it's buried, I tend to overfeed to ensure they have the right amount.

[callimico]

I used to let them forage but lost so many seeds in the thick layers of bedding, I could see it against the glass way down, I ended up going through food to fast, and likewise, couldn't tell if they were getting enough to eat. So now I put the small seeds in the bowl, and scatter the larger food bits around the tank and treats to. lol, but they still tend to scatter the food in the bowl around anyways.

[tasha]

Hey lpn1993,
I had exactly the same experience feeding my 3 girls. They showed no interest in the food in the ceramic bowl, but the second that i dumped it out of the bowl, they ran over to it and began eating! I decided to try something different because i was really concerned that they weren't eating at all. They REALLY seem to hate that bowl because i have trouble even getting them to take treats out of it!? I also get concerned that i can't monitor how much/what they are eating and i'm sure that i'm over-feeding them as a result. As well as sprinkling some food over the bedding, i also put some food on top of their wooden house (on the inside corner against the glass, where they aren't as likely to kick it off) and i know when this disappears, that they are probably getting low.

[j]

I choose to use bowls because I've noticed bullying problems and had fat gerbils when I didn't. And I like being able to see how much food they have and not have instead of guessing. I hate throwing out bedding with a ton of good food in it. Somedays it seemed as if only one gerbil was eating everything and the other was stuck with millet or something boring.

[Ritzie/Admin]

That is true! The dominant gerbils will eat first. I give my fat-tailed gerbils also not only food in their bowl, but also on their bedding, on rocks, etc. This to prevent fights, as they are not really group animals and 'argue' a lot!

[ardenavis]

My gerbils love the bowl. It's on top of the house, and they all run up and perch around it to eat. Too cute!

[sweetie]

Hello,

I actually agree that they need to forage to prevent boredom and to keep them as close to thier normal habits (in the wild) as possible.

I adopted gerbils out to a gentleman who thought of a great idea. He wraps a treat in either toilet paper or cardboard and puts it in the tank. The gerbils locate it by smell and work really hard to get at the treat. He says that this keeps them busy and gives them a treat.

I really like his idea. I will try it with mine.

[AndreaS15]

I'm a bowl user, adn I seem to have the same reason as most here do. I like to monitor how much they are eating, and 'what' they are eating.
I mix all my own food, so knowing what my gerbils will adn will not eat helps me pck out what i want to mix, i found Rosehips were not a favorite

Most of my bowls sit on the bottom the the tank and get covered in bedding, Though i keep my boy's bowl up n there second level, it never gets bedding in it
All there treats (fresh stuff, peanuts or pumpkin seeds ect.) are placed where ever in the tank.
Sometimes I place a small food box in the tank, but close it back up with treats in it.
I used to knot up toilet tissue, keep tieing it intill it was quite hard, and then place it in certain places in the tanks, or tie it around something, the gerbils have a great time trying to rip it all apart.

[janet]

Hi:

Thank you for your information! We are new owners of our mongolian maniac! We adopted him/her at 8 months old (just last Saturday) and honestly cannot figure out what is the right thing to do. I will now scatter the food around as it was in a little bowl but it seems to only get covered all the time! I just do not think he/she is eating nor drinking water enough, but seems to be curious when I come to the cage.

Thanks again for your helpful information.

Janet