How can I improve the macro nutrient balance in this mix?

[snowflake]

I live in sweden, and I have found very few commercial mixes for gerbils available here. The one most easily available is Versele-Laga Nature for gerbils. The contents and nutrional values on the lable are;

grains (maize 17%), derivatives of vegetable origin, vegetables (peas 12%, red pepper 2%, carrots 2%), seeds, fruit (banana 1%, raisins 1%), vegetable protein extracts, insects (mealworms 4%), nuts, minerals, yeasts, herbs, oils and fats, calendula, FOS, MOS, grape seed, algae, yucca.

Protein 16.5%, fat content 7.0%, crude fibre 7.5%, crude ash 6.0%, calcium 0.8%, phosphorus 0.45%


The protein content sounds a bit high for adult gerbils (?), so is there anything I can add to improve it? And is this a good mix other than that? The only other mix I have found is vitakraft emotion beauty gerbil, but I can´t find the nutritional content anywhere online, does anyone know if this mix is better?

(I know the best thing would probably be to make my own mix, but pulling dubbel full time in school and work right now I really don´t have the time and energy to dive into that at the moment)

[LilyandDaisy]

The protein in Versele-Laga is a little higher than necessary for gerbils over 4 months, but not drastically high. If you're feeding fresh vegetables often that will have the effect of reducing your gerbils' overall protein intake. I've done some rough calculations and found that feeding a piece of leafy veg every day will bring the protein down to 14.5-15%.

You could also add some extra seeds and grains such as millet, barley, sorghum, buckwheat, flax seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds and so on, which will add extra variety as well as bringing down the overall protein content of the mix slightly.

I can't find any information on the Vitakraft food either but from the packet I doubt it's any better than Versele-Laga.

Another option (and my personal favourite commercial food for gerbils) is Bunny. You can get it from Zooplus.se. www.zooplus.se/shop/gnagare_smadjur/foder_gnagare_smadjur/foder_moss_okenrattor/bunny/279124

[snowflake]

Mar 21, 2022 7:31:41 GMT -8 LilyandDaisy said:

The protein in Versele-Laga is a little higher than necessary for gerbils over 4 months, but not drastically high. If you're feeding fresh vegetables often that will have the effect of reducing your gerbils' overall protein intake. I've done some rough calculations and found that feeding a piece of leafy veg every day will bring the protein down to 14.5-15%.

You could also add some extra seeds and grains such as millet, barley, sorghum, buckwheat, flax seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds and so on, which will add extra variety as well as bringing down the overall protein content of the mix slightly.

I can't find any information on the Vitakraft food either but from the packet I doubt it's any better than Versele-Laga.

Another option (and my personal favourite commercial food for gerbils) is Bunny. You can get it from Zooplus.se. www.zooplus.se/shop/gnagare_smadjur/foder_gnagare_smadjur/foder_moss_okenrattor/bunny/279124

This is incredibly helpful, thanks a lot! I didn´t really think of their diet as a whole, but now that you mention it their protein intake is probably a little bit lower since they get a lot of dried weeds, some carrots, blueberries oats etc. (I do offer them veggies as well, but they really aren´t that fond of it).

I´m gonna add in some other stuff either way for variety, and then order that other mix just to see which one they like best