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Post by wonderz on Nov 29, 2021 17:23:33 GMT -8
Hey again! I just bought some new gerbil food from this Etsy shop called Robins Gourmet Food. Is was recommend to me on the Hamster Hideout Forum, and found out that she also sells gerbil mixes. Apparently it has a lot less added sugars than the Higgins sunburst mix and I wanted something better for them. I just want to double check on here about the GA percentages (I think that’s what it’s called). I have both the adult and young mix. Adult mix = GA: Protein: 16.67% Fat: 8.35% Fiber: 8.55% Young mix = GA: Protein: 17.87% Fat: 9.96% Fiber: 9.09% Heres the link to the product: www.etsy.com/listing/1032062260/500g-gerbil-food-mix-with-pellets-robins?ref=yr_purchases |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Dec 1, 2021 17:59:39 GMT -8
The percentages look fine to me  |
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Post by barryozzy on Dec 1, 2021 19:40:35 GMT -8
In the Item Details section it says
"Transition:
Contrary to popular belief, there is no need to transition your gerbil(s) to a new mix. They are highly-adapted scavengers that are used to quick changes in diet."
Does anyone know about this? I had always heard they would get sick if you didn't mix the foods. If so, very interesting, and I could save a lot of effort switching them!
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Post by wonderz on Dec 1, 2021 20:22:48 GMT -8
The percentages look fine to me Okay, great! Thank you |
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Post by wonderz on Dec 1, 2021 20:25:56 GMT -8
In the Item Details section it says
"Transition:
Contrary to popular belief, there is no need to transition your gerbil(s) to a new mix. They are highly-adapted scavengers that are used to quick changes in diet."
Does anyone know about this? I had always heard they would get sick if you didn't mix the foods. If so, very interesting, and I could save a lot of effort switching them!
I’d like to know this as well…right now I’m just giving them the new mix and they seem to be okay. I’ve been giving them bits of their old food as treats to help tame them, which is working lol! |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Dec 1, 2021 20:35:12 GMT -8
robin~ is on here so hopefully she can weigh in but the idea of a gradual introduction of new foods probably comes from rabbits and guinea pigs which have different, much more sensitive digestive systems. They have a naturally monotonous diet and can't cope with big dietary changes but gerbils have digestive systems more similar to ours so they should be fine. I've never had a problem switching gerbils from pellet type foods (e.g Gerri Gerbil) to more seed heavy diets, or vice versa. The only thing you really need to be careful with is introducing fresh foods as too much when gerbils aren't used to it could cause issues.
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Post by wonderz on Dec 1, 2021 21:12:43 GMT -8
Ahh that makes sense! Thank you!
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Thea
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Posts: 1,012 
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Post by Thea on Dec 1, 2021 23:50:57 GMT -8
To be honest I've never properly done a slow transition into a new food and my gerbils have always been fine, so that is very interesting. Hope the food works well |
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Post by Markpd on Dec 2, 2021 6:42:15 GMT -8
robin~ is on here so hopefully she can weigh in but the idea of a gradual introduction of new foods probably comes from rabbits and guinea pigs which have different, much more sensitive digestive systems. They have a naturally monotonous diet and can't cope with big dietary changes but gerbils have digestive systems more similar to ours so they should be fine. I've never had a problem switching gerbils from pellet type foods (e.g Gerri Gerbil) to more seed heavy diets, or vice versa. The only thing you really need to be careful with is introducing fresh foods as too much when gerbils aren't used to it could cause issues. Which reminds me, I don't think we have a guide here saying how much fresh food they should be limited to (unless I've forgotten!). Something we can (now) add to the 'ok foods' list.
How much would you say is a safe/recommended amount? And how do you know?  |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Dec 2, 2021 7:27:04 GMT -8
robin~ is on here so hopefully she can weigh in but the idea of a gradual introduction of new foods probably comes from rabbits and guinea pigs which have different, much more sensitive digestive systems. They have a naturally monotonous diet and can't cope with big dietary changes but gerbils have digestive systems more similar to ours so they should be fine. I've never had a problem switching gerbils from pellet type foods (e.g Gerri Gerbil) to more seed heavy diets, or vice versa. The only thing you really need to be careful with is introducing fresh foods as too much when gerbils aren't used to it could cause issues. Which reminds me, I don't think we have a guide here saying how much fresh food they should be limited to (unless I've forgotten!). Something we can (now) add to the 'ok foods' list.
How much would you say is a safe/recommended amount? And how do you know? I'm not really sure. There are various guidelines for what is a portion size for a gerbil, such as the size of their ear or the size of their paw. Currently, because I'm trying to keep Lily well-hydrated and enthusiastic about food (the second bit isn't that difficult to be fair), I'm giving them as much fresh food as they will eat, and lots of daily variety too. So a daily portion might include 3-4 types of fruit or vegetables, and around 4 "paw-sized" pieces of each, and they usually eat all of it. However I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone gives their gerbils that much out of the blue. Start with one piece per gerbil, then gradually build up. Gerbils tend to adapt to higher-moisture diets by simply drinking less water, and wild gerbils probably eat a lot more fresh vegetation than do pet gerbils, so I think there's probably quite a lot of flexibility in how much fresh food you can feed. The key is to not to feed too much, too soon. We could do with new safe and unsafe food lists by the way! The existing ones are very short. |
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Post by Markpd on Dec 2, 2021 8:55:00 GMT -8
In the mod section we are discussing updating the various FAQs, but I've been thinking we should open up the discussion to the wider forum.
I did recently do a little update to the 'not ok foods' list to remove Dandelions from there and place it in the 'ok foods list' (something I'd researched, not just assumed it's ok because others do it).
But we're all ears! So if you and others would like to add more to each list, then make a new thread for it (something like unsafe and safe gerbils foods suggestions), post your suggestions, and if possible, any data you have to back up the suggestions (even anecdotal). And then the solid suggestions we can just bung in the current lists, any less so could be put in with provisos.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Dec 2, 2021 9:06:21 GMT -8
Perhaps at this point it would be better to make new FAQ threads rather than just editing the old ones, because otherwise it looks like the original authors are saying things they didn't (and also people might just look at the thread date and assume it's old information - it looks more convincing if the thread is recent).
I enjoy researching the food topic so once I have some suggestions for the food lists I'll PM you.
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Post by Markpd on Dec 2, 2021 9:14:38 GMT -8
Good point about starting a new thread for the FAQs, and for that very same reason I'd already done the same for the cage size FAQ! lol
Although as for thread date, a note can be added at the top noting the last update or info check (for threads we do want to keep as is).
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Thea
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Post by Thea on Dec 2, 2021 11:15:33 GMT -8
Thanks so much for thinking about updating guys And for letting us have input! I'll have a think about it and a proper read of the FAQs when I have time. Phew about the dandelions - I gave a couple to my girls back in April, and was quite worried when I saw it said not to feed them! |
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Post by Markpd on Dec 2, 2021 13:28:58 GMT -8
Lol, yea it was based an egerbil article, which looked at a study in the 70s or 80s (can't remember exactly off hand), where they fed VAST quantities of pure caffiac acid to rats and mice. When I looked into more recent studies of Dandelions (they're a surprising number of them!) they showed that the quantities of that acid in Dandelion were tiny, and that you'd have to feed them kilos of dandelions to match that old studies acid quantity! So it's actually impossible to feed them that amount! lol. I linked one of the studies in my old thread 'who are the active mods here?', if you want to dig into it a little . Oh btw, they are a lot of studies of Dandelions, because caffiac acid is an ant-oxidant, so it's being study as a possible cancer treatment! How ironic is that!?  |
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), late 70s