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Post by Markpd on Oct 4, 2020 22:20:39 GMT -8
And yet Avon rarely does that, but he is generally the braver one .
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Thea
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Post by Thea on Oct 4, 2020 22:32:11 GMT -8
aww, cute. My girls do whatever they feel like at that exact moment 😂
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 5, 2020 2:56:11 GMT -8
You could try smearing a bit of peanut butter on the scale so they have to sit and lick it off. Make sure it's not so much they can pick up as a lump though, as peanut butter can be a choking hazard for gerbils.
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Thea
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Post by Thea on Oct 5, 2020 6:32:58 GMT -8
Unfortunately I don't think I have gerbil-safe peanut butter, but I'll give a few things a go? Maybe putting the scales where they would normally eat could help.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 5, 2020 6:40:32 GMT -8
I've always used normal peanut butter, which is just peanuts, oil, sugar and salt. The sugar and salt aren't great, but when it's just a smear it's not going to do any harm. Another thing you could try would be a small pile of oats. Gerbils tend to sit and eat them rather than running off.
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Thea
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Post by Thea on Oct 5, 2020 8:29:08 GMT -8
oh ok! is there any way i could mush some peanuts and then put some oil/ water in? that way it wold be a peanut butter in some sense. I'll do normal peanut butter first, but check what's in it and how much.
There's some oats in their food as well, so maybe I could use some of that. Thank you for the suggestions
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 5, 2020 11:13:14 GMT -8
I'm not sure whether that would make peanut butter, but ground peanuts would do. Essentially you just want a food that they can't pick up and run off to eat, something they have to sit in one spot to eat. So anything that's in lots of little pieces, like oats or ground nuts or something they have to lick up.
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Thea
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Post by Thea on Oct 5, 2020 12:22:22 GMT -8
ahh, that makes sense! When I used a food bowl they used to sit in it when they ate sometimes, because they wanted more than one piece I'll have a go tomorrow!
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Post by tanzanyte on Oct 5, 2020 13:15:45 GMT -8
We use a smoothie box or tissue box (the latter they stand up and chew the inner edges of) with something to chew or eat inside. They are usually stable enough to get a reading. I second oats, they take their time with them and can't exactly grab and run. Maybe we just have sedate girlies, although Bubbles was never that keen being weighed. I started taking 2 readings so that I could mark an upper and lower weight for that date. I like the peanut butter idea though. Is palm oil safe for gerbils? We use the whole earth with reposnsibly sourced palm oil, but maybe I should try Meridian.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 5, 2020 13:39:38 GMT -8
I don't think palm oil would be harmful in the tiny amount in a smear of peanut butter, but I haven't looked into it much. Peanut butter is something I would only ever feed if necessary for weighing etc, never as a treat, because of the sugar and salt, and the choking issue. I tried sugar and salt free peanut butter once and it was disgusting so I'm not going to buy it just for the gerbils!
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Post by Markpd on Oct 6, 2020 11:25:01 GMT -8
Lol, good to know!
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Post by betty on Oct 7, 2020 5:37:51 GMT -8
I usualy put a wax worm on the scales - that keeps them still.
Or do the tub tare method. Tare the scales with a tub, get them to hop in the tub and put it on the scales = voila
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Post by Markpd on Oct 7, 2020 10:55:23 GMT -8
It would have to be a tall tub for my babies or they'd be hopping straight out! Weighed them again today (Blake's 73, Avon's 74g, they're 4mths old now), with the scales on top of the cage I put a sunflower seed on the scales and then placed them (1 at a time) on the scales, eating the sunflower seed kept them still long enough . I could've used mealworms too, didn't think of that, gives me another option .
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Pim
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Post by Pim on Oct 8, 2020 13:52:25 GMT -8
I usualy put a wax worm on the scales - that keeps them still. Or do the tub tare method. Tare the scales with a tub, get them to hop in the tub and put it on the scales = voila I use both ways as my scale is small so when the move around and shift their weight it changes a bit. I put them in a bin to avoid other distractions then give a treat so they will sit still. Though I'm having trouble finding a treat that chai will eat. He likes millet but not enough to take it when he's out of the cage. I've tried peanuts, cheerios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, peanut butter natural dog treats, hay biscuits, banana flake, and a few more. he doesn't touch anything but the dog treat and the millet, and nothing so far has been tempting enough for him out of the cage. Its quite disappointing as I wanted to clicker train them like clover.
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Post by betty on Oct 8, 2020 14:48:10 GMT -8
Sultana?
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