Gerbils Only Eating Seeds

[teambenji543]

Hello! So I know that gerbils are supposed to eat a mixture of seeds, vegetables, and fruits but my gerbils will only eat their seeds and pellets. These days they have gotten... well, fat. What can I do about this?

[elsaandanna]

My gerbils used to do that too, and the only thing I found that worked was just to take almost all of the seeds out. Do you scatter feed them or is it in a food bowl?
Edit: I meant sunflower seeds, as the food mix I had at the time had a lot in it. I kept the rest of the seeds

[Thea]

I wouldn't suggest taking seeds out, as most of gerbil's diet is made up of seeds and grains and it would mess up their diet (elsaandanna - it's fine that you've already done this). I'm assuming you're saying they won't eat the fruit and veg, and I used to have issues with this too! Sometimes they'd leave it completely, but I've found there are some things they much prefer to others. I know this isn't fruit or veg, but if they won't eat them you could wash a dandelion from outside and give that to them (they're safe, of course!) as their fresh food as my girls really like them. Pippa and Mali also prefer smaller veggies like sweetcorn and peas, have you tried them?

[teambenji543]

Hmm My guinea pigs love dandelions so maybe I could try giving some to the gerbils. I also haven't tried corn or peas yet, only lettuce, Kale, apples, berries, and they wont touch them. Also, how much seeds should I be feeding them? I have two female gerbils.

[Thea]

Yes I recommend dandelions but definitely not too regularly as gerbils are so tiny!

It depends what kind of seeds you're talking about. There are probably a selection of seeds in their diet, but try not to let them have *too* many sunflower seeds as they're quite fatty. The mixes I get come with lots of little seeds, what are the seeds in your mix like? Some mixes will just have sunflower seeds, is yours like that?

[Thelodar]

Fruits and veggies are nice treats but are not a requirement, they will be quite healthy on your balanced gerbil diet alone if it's of good quality and they eat all of the components. Fruits, veggies, and other extras are primarily for enrichment, and enrichment is important, but don't feel too worried if they're not eating them.

[jewels1171]

I usually will sort all the sunflower and pumpkin seeds out, as there are usually too many, and I will give them to mine for simply coming to my hand, or even other cool tricks.

[teambenji543]

So far I've tried, apple, banana ( only for a treat) , lettuce, kale, corn, green beans, and peas but they won't eat any. So I've been cutting little bits of vegetables and mixing it in with their seeds. This seems like the only way to get them to eat it.

[Markpd]

Have you tried feeding them the veggies before feeding them the seeds?
I find my boys will ignore veggies if I offer them after their seed mix.

As for them cherry picking the seed mix, I think you will avoid that if the amount you are feeding is right. They might well cherry pick it when you 1st put it in, but as the day/night wears on then they have no choice but to eat the more boring stuff , my boys do (although I'm not sure I've got the right amount yet as they are on the cusp of being too heavy, I've just reduced their daily feed), they grab all their favourites when I 1st put it in early evening, but I've seen them eating the rest when they have their midnight meal .

[sirduke1]

May 9, 2021 9:08:25 GMT -8 teambenji543 said:

So far I've tried, apple, banana ( only for a treat) , lettuce, kale, corn, green beans, and peas but they won't eat any. So I've been cutting little bits of vegetables and mixing it in with their seeds. This seems like the only way to get them to eat it.

My male gerbil Duke really likes eating sliced up carrots and carrot leaves, washed ofc. Thats really the only vegetable he'll eat, and he doesnt seem to like peas or fruits.