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Post by blp on May 21, 2020 22:31:02 GMT -8
Hi, I have one fat and one healthy sized gerbil. I use the great and small gerbil food at the moment but I think I want to swap to a pellet style food. Both gerbils are active and I already scatter feed so one gerbil is not eating all of the food. What I think is happening is that the fat one is eating the ‘best’ parts of the mix and the other is left the rest. The only way I can think of to fix that is a pelleted food. Can anyone suggest a good brand in the uk? Thanks
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Post by londongerbils on May 22, 2020 7:52:27 GMT -8
I have the same issue and switched to a pellet food on the recommendation of the vet - not because of the difference in weight but because they kept getting crusty noses, and he said they may not be getting a balanced diet due to selective feeding. However, I haven’t seen my fat gerbil Visibly lose much weight since I switched to a pellet food.
I use Burgess mouse, gerbil and hamster food because it was lower in fat and protein than the other brands I saw, and they seem to like it. But then recently, a different vet said a muesli food might be better because pellets are often made by using fat or sugar to bind the Other ingredients together. It’s a mine field! I now just go by the n utritional content on the back of the bag.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 22, 2020 8:02:24 GMT -8
Can you pick out the fatty and sugary bits from the mix and hand feed them separately? In your mix it would be the pumpkin seeds, raisins and apple.
The Great and Small mix does have dried fruit in it which gerbils shouldn't eat a lot of. You could consider switching to Gerri Gerbil which is a similar food but doesn't have fruit, and you can still feed the occasional raisin or piece of fresh fruit as a treat.
When you say fat, how big is your larger gerbil? You could post a photo of him. It's normal for one gerbil in a pair to be heavier and bulkier.
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Post by jal on Jun 8, 2020 5:13:12 GMT -8
Beaphar Care+ for gerbils is good but is 16% protein which is a little high but not by much. I feed my gerbils a seed mix but add a little of this every day. They don't touch any type of wood chews and are not great chewers generally except for cardboard and softer materials like loofah. This is hardened to help keep their teeth worn down. It also has added omega 3 and 6. I think it smells horrible but they really like it! For some reason, they particularly like the green pieces and usually eat them first. It's quite expensive but they do eat all of it. However, judging by the reviews gerbils seem to either love it or hate it.
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Post by monkeygerbils on Jun 8, 2020 7:39:04 GMT -8
I wouldn't switch to it just because it provides no variety. Can you imagine just eating cereal for the rest of your life??? There are hardly any pelleted diets that actually provide all the nutritional values anyway. Maybe pick out the fatty bits and sugary things or try a new diet that isn't pellets. You could hand feed if the gerbil is comfortable with it but it would take a bit more time.
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Post by gerbilord on Jun 9, 2020 4:25:29 GMT -8
I once bought some pelleted food for a time when i couldn't find any other alternatives, which, when given to the gerbils, was not eaten at all. It was still there the next morning, untouched. I then bought a mix with the seeds and other components in it, and they went mad for it. So from my own experience I wouldn't get pelleted food- maybe you could try picking out the 'best parts' and leaving them aside as a treat to feed them once in a while, and to make sure they get the same amount of the treats, hand feed them?
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