Sunflower seeds ?

[caz]

Hi people -

OK, you know I've only had the girlies for 5 weeks, and I've read in various places that they can't have too many sunflower seeds or they'll go porky so how many exactly can they have in one day

I do not give them any sunflower seeds at all in their food.

Daisy will take them from me as a treat but Bonnie will not hand feed and will only have one if she happens across one (say, in the playroom).

How many a day can they have each ? At the mo Daisy may have 3-5 a day. Is that too much or can they have more?

Caroline

[pooky]

from my experiance, anything above four or so is to much. mine get about three a day as a treat (which may even be to much) but they enjoy them emensly (humph. how does one spell emensly?).

at first i only used them as ways to get them more used to my touch. at first, if i put a sunflower seed in the middle of my hand, they would grab it very quickly and then go hide to eat it (if they grabbed it at all). now, their so used to it that they'll sit in the middle of my hand and eat the seed.

[leftoverpenguin]

pooky said:

from my experiance, anything above four or so is to much. mine get about three a day as a treat (which may even be to much) but they enjoy them emensly (humph. how does one spell emensly?).

I spell it like this: "Immensely"

But that's just me... I also spell "experience" differently than you.

[caz]

Yes, that's how you spell immensely leftover! ;D

That seems about OK I suppose (3-5) seeds - I don't want porky gerbs do I?
Thanks guys LOL
Caroline

[ashgerbil]

LOL! i have porky gerbils (leo and ash) and they never got more than a few sunflower seeds per week they just seem to get fat for no reason at all lol ;D
i read somewhere that too many sunflower seeds can cause skin problems too, but i'm not sure lol

[pooky]

i havent had any skin problems yet, and ive fed them sunflower seeds for quite a while... maybe im just lucky.

my spelling never has been that good... though i can do math...

[pepandmax]

ashgerbil said:

LOL! i have porky gerbils (leo and ash) and they never got more than a few sunflower seeds per week they just seem to get fat for no reason at all lol ;D
i read somewhere that too many sunflower seeds can cause skin problems too, but i'm not sure lol

Mine are quite, errrrrr, rotund as well ;D

I give sunflower seeds once or twice per week, 2-3 seeds per gerbil. My boys are getting older and are naturally portly, so that's why I limit the treats.

I think if your little gals are younger, it is less of a problem, as their metabolism is naturally higher and they are more active. Still, it never hurts to err on the side of moderation.

If you would like to treat your gerbils, there are lots of other "healthy" snacks you can give them daily, like puffed rice ("Rice Krispies" for y'all Americans!) or other puffed grain cereal. The crunch drives them crazy, they love it! They're not very calorically dense, cause they're mostly air.

[caz]

Hi Pep,

We call em 'Rice Krispies' too ya know! ;D
However, I tried the girlies on some and they were'nt too keen
Must have fussy gerbs! ;D Good idea though.
I've also tried smigits of dried banana chip and the odd raisin .
If I say 'SEED' to Daisy, she'll come running over and grab a sunflower seed Bonnie will still come but not take it, or anything else come to that! she just squints at it and runs off!! Silly Gerbie ;D LOL
Caroline

[dawn]

wow Caz, - do they really now what SEED means?? Clever Gerbils.

lol I wanna teach Eugene words!!

[ashgerbil]

Ash knows what the sound of rustling in the food bag means LOL! ;D
i want to see if i can train the gerbils to something, you can litter train Shaws Jirds, and mongs are basically mini shaws, so it might be worth a try lol
or it may just end in complete failure!!

[caz]

I dunno! I just started saying Daisy 'SEED' and she'd come and see what I'd got!
I also say 'COMING OUT/UP' when I want them to come up to the top of the tank. They don't always come out, but will come up! ;D Try Eugene Dawn!
Does nobody else do this LOL
I bet Ash knows the sound of rustling food - looks like his favourite subject ;D bless... LOL
Caroline

[pooky]

ive always talked to my gerbils, though not in the training sense... never really tried it before. though i might give it a shot. sometimes ill just be talking around their cage, and theyll come out of their nest to see whats going on...

also, ive never tried rice krispies before... should try that sometime too.

[caz]

OK, I'm going to start a new thread in Behaviour about talking to gerbils -
Go see and tell me how you all communicate with yours LOL
Caroline