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Post by brie on Jan 20, 2021 15:12:34 GMT -8
hiya, I was wondering which commercially available foods are the best to use in the US? I have heard that 10%-13% protein and 6%-9% fat is ideal but I'm not sure what other categories there are to judge which is a good food or not! I saw something on reddit that said higgins sunburst hamster and gerbil food is good but it's at 15% on protein which seems a bit high but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not.. if anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it!
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Post by mygerbilprince on Jan 20, 2021 17:47:02 GMT -8
I use Sunburst and it's the first food I have tried that my gerbils eat every part of. I mix the Sunburst with my own mix (which only costs about $50) In my mix I have sorghum, whole grain pasta, safflower seeds, quinoa, lentils, and rolled oats. 15% protein is a good number, especially if you don't like to include mealworms in your gerbils diet (like me). I bought the Gerri Gerbil food and my gerbils wouldn't touch it, however it does seem very nutritious. If you don't want to spend the money Sunburst is definitely a good option or if you don't mind spending the money you can make a homemade mix but both are good options.
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Post by brie on Jan 23, 2021 17:08:20 GMT -8
I use Sunburst and it's the first food I have tried that my gerbils eat every part of. I mix the Sunburst with my own mix (which only costs about $50) In my mix I have sorghum, whole grain pasta, safflower seeds, quinoa, lentils, and rolled oats. 15% protein is a good number, especially if you don't like to include mealworms in your gerbils diet (like me). I bought the Gerri Gerbil food and my gerbils wouldn't touch it, however it does seem very nutritious. If you don't want to spend the money Sunburst is definitely a good option or if you don't mind spending the money you can make a homemade mix but both are good options. is the sunburst okay on it’s own without anything mixed in? are there any specific treats i would need to give to supplement any extra nutrients? |
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Post by maplesyrup2026 on Jan 23, 2021 20:24:56 GMT -8
I use sunburst, there are no mix ins you NEED but, if you feel like it you can add some in.
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Post by mygerbilprince on Jan 29, 2021 8:18:58 GMT -8
Yeah the Sunburst is fine on its own
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Post by michaeljack on Feb 1, 2021 13:22:19 GMT -8
I buy 25lb Sunburst but add the following: 2lb dry roasted peanuts, 2lb brown rice, 1lb lentils, 1lb dry split peas, and 2lb rolled oats. I add safflower seeds when it's time to replenish my outdoor wildbird feeder. Sometimes I add puffed quinoa when we buy it for our own diets. Interestingly, most of the gerbils do not bother with Sunburst's millet.
As a treat or snack, I put a walnut in each cage. The gerbils do all kinds of antics with it besides gnawing and (finally) reaching the meaty interior after several days. My wife came up with Harvest Snaps Lightly Salted Green Pea Snack Crisps...sparingly because the "kids" will ignore the good meals if the crisps are added. I also provide a cm3 of the end crust of Dave's Organic Good Seed Bread whenever I buy it for my own diet. Again, it's fun to watch who picks out which seeds in the bread.
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Post by PipSqueak on Feb 2, 2021 9:45:16 GMT -8
I buy 25lb Sunburst but add the following: 2lb dry roasted peanuts, 2lb brown rice, 1lb lentils, 1lb dry split peas, and 2lb rolled oats. I add safflower seeds when it's time to replenish my outdoor wildbird feeder. Sometimes I add puffed quinoa when we buy it for our own diets. Interestingly, most of the gerbils do not bother with Sunburst's millet. As a treat or snack, I put a walnut in each cage. The gerbils do all kinds of antics with it besides gnawing and (finally) reaching the meaty interior after several days. My wife came up with Harvest Snaps Lightly Salted Green Pea Snack Crisps...sparingly because the "kids" will ignore the good meals if the crisps are added. I also provide a cm3 of the end crust of Dave's Organic Good Seed Bread whenever I buy it for my own diet. Again, it's fun to watch who picks out which seeds in the bread. You really shouldn't add to food mixes as it messed with the nutritional value of the food. Peanuts really aren't great for gerbils as they can be fatty and I would only give them raw peanuts not the roasted kind. I wouldn't give them the harvest snaps either as you said they are salted and salt isn't good for them. You also shouldn't give them too much brown rice as it doesn't have many nutrients. When you give them the peanuts and the Walnut are either salted. Because they should not be eating anything that's salted. |
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Post by Markpd on Feb 2, 2021 14:40:41 GMT -8
I gave my boys a whole uncracked Walnut, they spent about 10s trying to break it, then gave up!  |
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Post by tanzanyte on Feb 3, 2021 4:44:20 GMT -8
I had similar with a hazelnut when I gave it to my girls ages ago. I even tried to crack a tiny bit of it in the hope of them getting a better chance to get the prize, but they weren't interested after the first 10 seconds.
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Post by Markpd on Feb 3, 2021 11:48:07 GMT -8
Lol, not just my boys then!  |
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Post by michaeljack on Feb 5, 2021 6:49:48 GMT -8
I buy 25lb Sunburst but add the following: 2lb dry roasted peanuts, 2lb brown rice, 1lb lentils, 1lb dry split peas, and 2lb rolled oats. I add safflower seeds when it's time to replenish my outdoor wildbird feeder. Sometimes I add puffed quinoa when we buy it for our own diets. Interestingly, most of the gerbils do not bother with Sunburst's millet. As a treat or snack, I put a walnut in each cage. The gerbils do all kinds of antics with it besides gnawing and (finally) reaching the meaty interior after several days. My wife came up with Harvest Snaps Lightly Salted Green Pea Snack Crisps...sparingly because the "kids" will ignore the good meals if the crisps are added. I also provide a cm3 of the end crust of Dave's Organic Good Seed Bread whenever I buy it for my own diet. Again, it's fun to watch who picks out which seeds in the bread. You really shouldn't add to food mixes as it messed with the nutritional value of the food. Peanuts really aren't great for gerbils as they can be fatty and I would only give them raw peanuts not the roasted kind. I wouldn't give them the harvest snaps either as you said they are salted and salt isn't good for them. You also shouldn't give them too much brown rice as it doesn't have many nutrients. When you give them the peanuts and the Walnut are either salted. Because they should not be eating anything that's salted. |
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Post by michaeljack on Feb 5, 2021 6:50:07 GMT -8
Thanks PipSqueak, for the input! I appreciate your attention to my post. I only use unsalted nuts. My feeding methods have worked successfully for over ten years.
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Post by Markpd on Feb 5, 2021 16:54:36 GMT -8
Did you work out the nutritional content back then? Also, what do you define as successful? (for the record, I'm not saying theirs anything wrong with your food as I'm clueless on that front , but just because you've been doing it for years doesn't mean it's necessarily right). |
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Post by yuzername on Feb 22, 2021 8:33:56 GMT -8
I gave my boys a whole uncracked Walnut, they spent about 10s trying to break it, then gave up! I'm going to have to try that it would be hilarious  edit: I'll definitely record it and link it here |
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Post by Markpd on Feb 22, 2021 12:08:59 GMT -8
I look forwards to seeing that  , maybe your gerbils will try for longer than several seconds?! |
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), late 70s
, maybe your gerbils will try for longer than several seconds?!