Food for "dentally challenged" gerbil

[ps25]

Looking for suggestions for food for an elderly gerbil with dental problems.  He has no enamel on his front teeth and cannot really chew.  So he is pretty much limited to very small or soft foods now.  I am feeding him things like oatmeal, soft/mushed fruit, finely chopped nuts but any ideas to expand his current diet are much appreciated.  Or a shop that sells false teeth for gerbils :-D

[PipSqueak]

This is basically mashed fruit but you can try baby food with no added sugars or chemicals and pumpkin purée (in very small bits as an ocasional treat) . You can also feed cooked peas or lentils. A good protein is scrambled eggs with no seasoning just plain egg. My gerbils are only half a year old but they love eggs.

[tanzanyte]

Poor thing, that must be miserable and possibly somewhat painful.
When Bubbles lost her teeth I just used their current complete food, put it in a bag and smacked it with a rolling pin to grind it up a bit so they were very tiny pieces. She was fine with that and didn't lose any further weight. I know it's not exactly the same problem, but It might be worth a try as it's a lot faster than chopping, well unless you're a chef and can do the super fast slicing! and it also means you can try and keep the usual food available.

I like the idea of eggs though. I don't know why I've never tried that.
Also try peanut butter without palm oil and sugar.

[Thea]

When Storme had teeth problems I did the same as tanzanyte - but added water to the crushed food and it was a baby food kind of thing. That helped because she got all the usual protein etc. from her normal food and she was able to eat it.

[ps25]

I have tried smashing up his regular food as I want to maintain the nutritional value of what he is eating. He seems to prefer soft foods though (although sometimes I think he has worked out I will spoil him if he doesn't eat his solid food ha ha ha). I also worry that there might be too much water in some of these fruits/baby foods/purees etc. I have started softening some of the green pellets in his regular food with water and that seems to go down well. The first attempt with egg was completely ignored, but I will try again with that.

[betty]

Have you tried kitten formula? I used to make it warm and drop bits of bread in it. Always went down a treat with mine.

Natural sugars and full complement of nutrients too - and the moisture can help keep them hydrated of course.

[ps25]

I wasnt sure about kitten formula. Its definitely full of nutrients but I thought I'd read somewhere that adults cant handle it. But maybe I'm getting confused with some other mammals?

[betty]

Sorry for the late reply - yes - older gerbils are fine with it (and puppy milk - slightly different compostion) - it is my go-to 'extra nutrient' supper for older or poorly gerbils - well, and mostly all of my gerbils when the mood takes me!

I get through a lot of washing up handing it out to everyone!