Gerbils by Lee

Black-Eyed Whites, Schimmels, Creams, Nutmegs, Blacks

Awesome temperment, good type, fantastic color ~

Gerbil Care and Links

Care Pages » Feeding Basics »

For pet owners with only a pair or two pairs say of gerbils, the easiest route for gerbil feeding is to buy a pre-made gerbil mix from a pet store.

Some Basics - Lots of types of seed mixes available! Avoid brands which contain ONLY corn, sunflower, peanuts, pellets, etc. :) Sunflower seeds are fine in moderation, but not in excess, and both sunflower and peanuts are very fatty. Corn tends to be a cheap filler for lots of pet food, while not having loads of value; and gerbils will usually leave pellets until last (if they eat them at all). For a general rule-of-thumb (AGS Care Guide - Food)...a non-breeding gerbil diet should have about 12% protein and 7% fat. Seniors (2+) can get less, especially if overweight, like 10.5% protein and 4% fat. Breeding gerbils need higher 15.5% protein and 8% fat.

Good Quality Food Mixes...

Some commercial mixes I like... Supreme Gerri Premium Gerbil Food and Browns Tropical Carnival Hamster/Gerbil and Mouse/Rat. These 2 brands (Browns makes several including Tropical Carnival) would be found in some pet stores or online. Another good brand (might be easier to find in petstores) is Ecotrition Hamster/Gerbil.

I also like Oxbow brand petfoods; they make Oxbow Healthy Handfuls for gerbils/hamsters, which you can mix into a seed mix for variety. Very high protein though (even for breeding gerbils), and too little fat, so should be mixed in with seed mix. Oxbow Regal Rat is a lab block for mice/rats, but I sometimes throw a handful in my gerbil food for the extra protein and variety. Not recommended to feed just Regal Rat though...the fat content is too low for gerbils, on its own. Oxbow foods can be found at some petstores or online.

Increasing the Goodness...

You can supplement a petstore bought mix with "healthy add-ins" :D Pick up some of the following next time you're out shopping, if you want to give the gerbs some extra goodies... or just look around your own kitchen at home! :)

Note that I don't recommend completely mixing your own (custom) gerbil food just for pet gerbils, unless you have really read up on feeding and "know what you are doing" lol. Adding in extra stuff to a store-bought gerbil food can make it hard to moniter the protein/fat percentages and may make for an unbalanced diet... BUT mixing some of the following into your store-bought gerbil food, will be enthusiastically appreciated by your pocket pets!

Easy Add-Ins »
Try a handful of...
Old-fashioned rolled oats (the kind with longer (like 5-min) cook time is better than instant)
Healthy cereal (in moderation) like Kashii brands, puffed (unsweetend) brown rice, or plain Cheerios (babies and grown-up gerbils LUV cheerios!)
Bit of Organic or tricolor pasta spirals

If you like going really healthy, then you can buy small amounts of grains from local health food store. A small handful of the following will definitely amp the "coolness" of any seed mix... Pumpkin seeds, buckwheat, oat groats, barley, rye, sesame seeds, flax seeds, wheat, spelt, kamut, etc! If trying some grains I'd suggest one or two types max, mixed into the gerbil's normal petstore food, since the protein/fat ratio will get way off if you just throw in loads of natural grains :)

You can also try »
Various plain (unsalted!) nuts i.e. walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pine nuts, brazil nuts, soy nuts
Some dried fruits and veggies...carrot, apple, split peas, banana, mango, papaya, apricots, raisins, cranberries, etc.

Nuts are very fatty so don't go overboard...more like "treat" status...hand feed (as treats) if you want or put a very small handful into food mix. Also the soy nuts are very nutritious, but REALLY high protein/fat, so use sparingly. Dried veggies and fruit are great and the gerbs usually really go for them, but don't overdo the dried fruit on account of sugar.

Common Sense...

Remember to pay attention to your gerbils weight...if they are getting fat lol...be sure you have a wheel in cage and decrease fatty things like sunflower, pumpkin seeds, and nuts. If too thin...up the protein by giving some healthy items like oats/grains, one of the Oxbow foods, etc. and some nuts for fat.

Have fun feeding your gerbils! ;D