Duprasi Nutrition

[bananana]

Hi
As for feeding my duprasi, can I feed them prolab lab blocks? I am planning to breed them so I would like to know the best nutrition for them to be able to stay healthy while raising healthy litters and maintain them.

Thanks

[caz]

NibblesandDigger will be on in the morning - I'm sure she'll be able to tell you! She's just had pups!! ;D

Caroline

[bananana]

Pups? Wooo.... I wanna see

[Ritzie/Admin]

I'm not familiar with prolab lab blocks, but I asume they are used to feed rats and other rodents in labs. Or just one rodent in particular?

those lab blocks usually contain all nutrients they need. The advantance of these kind of blocks is that they cannot pick the nice seeds, etc out and leave the rast untouched. But it can be broing to eat of course. If you feed them I would certainly give them also some nice treats once a while.

I feed my duprasi usually a complete gerbil/hamster food or a common rodent seed mix added with some dry cat food. They do very good on this food, also when I had still some breeding females.

You can see some of my duprasi gerbils on my page about this species:
fattailedgerbils.petermaas.nl/ (I REALLY need to update this page, I see), including my previous pups and how they grew.

[bananana]

Hmm... I am feeding them a varied seed mix but I don't see them eating it... Though I have been giving them this food for almost a week. I think I have one pregnant female now... Her tummy area is bulging a little on the sides.

This prolab blocks are used for rats, hamsters and mice. I think it should be alright for them, is it? :S

Thanks

[bananana]

eek, double posted

[woestrat]

there are lots of different qualities in lab blocks
but i don't like them for fat tailed gerbils.

thinks they like are sunflower sead, mais, pumpkenseads
but the love mealworms, grasshoppers, and other living foods

I have more than 20 adults now and they eat my own mix (in the summertime)
20% herbs
40% meat (living or blocks)
40% mix food with seeds

[nibblesanddigger]

And as for most pregnant species a little extra protein while nursing never hurts And yup, they sure do love live food lol.

[ulrike]

I am picking up my first Duprasi tomorrow from a shelter for rodents. The food she gets now is a general rodent mix. I am planning to feed her Gerrie Gerbil in combination with dry cat food and live food. Could anybody tell me which insects I could feed in addition to meal worms? It would be nice if she has to do a little bit of effort to catch them. Would it indeed be okay when 40% of her food consists of cat food/ insects and the remaining 60 % of Gerrie Gerbil?

[Ritzie/Admin]

I never tried it myself with my duprasi, but for example woestrat recommends grasshoppers. Crickets can be fed as well.

[ulrike]

How many meal worms could I give her per day? I think she is a bit on the heavy side already. And I would like to feed her some dry cat food as well to make sure she receives all the nutrients she needs. She loves it. Would it indeed be okay when 40% of her food consists of cat food/ insects and the remaining 60 % of Gerrie Gerbil? She is a bit picky when it comes to the Gerrie Gerbil. I presume the best thing to do is only give her new food when she finished it all?

I am thinking of trying the flies with curled wings ('krulvliegen'in Dutch) for behavioural enrichment. To be honest I am not sure what their nutritional value is. I don't think they contain much fat, but I am not sure about the proteins. I presume grasshoppers and crickets contain more. But as she is a bit heavy anyway, it wouldn't hurt her to burn some calories catching flies lacking energetic value. Her tank is in my living room and I wouldn't like escaped grasshoppers and crickets. Flies who can't fly would be less of a problem, although it feels a bit unnatural.. Has anyone tried this before? I think maybe even my mongolians would like them, seeing their response to an occasion fly who enters their tank.

[Ed]

I wouldn't overdose on the protein content, as long as they get insects or a high protein supplement such as dry cat treats, or cooked white meat, they should be fine. Like Mongolian gerbils, when there is too much amino acids in the diet for a length of time, such as Taurine,(at concentrations of 7 g/kg diet) it can actually slow down their growth rates.

If you feel she's overweight, slightly increase the fibre in the diet by adding veggies or alfalfa into your weekly feeds. Do you use a wheel? Duprasi, especially the smaller subspecies like natronensis (Egyptian Duprasi) love wheels, and it'll help keep her in trim.

I don't know whether you've read my page on Duprasi at e-gerbil, but it may help

www.egerbil.com/duprasi.html

Ed