Feeding Gerbil

Gerbil is a cute pet and a passionate eater. Its metabolic requirements are high and it needs to consume 10% of its body weight every day in order to sustain a well-balanced diet. It is vital that you feed a balanced and nutritious diet to your gerbil. Thus, it can remain active and healthy. Fresh water should also be available to gerbil. In the following account, you will find out the details about feeding gerbil. Go through it so that you can keep your gerbil healthy and happy.

Variety of Diet for Gerbil

Seed mixes : Loose seed mixes are available for gerbils. They are also available with addition of pellets or dried vegetables. Good balance of nutrition is present in a majority of such type of diet. If your gerbil just pick its favorite from the seed mix and leaves the rest, there will be nutrition imbalance in its diet. The seed mixes do not ensure a diet full of each and every component of nutrition so, they are not well-suited as the only diet component.

Lab blocks or pellets : Such type of food is nutritionally balanced. Both lab blocks and pellets are nice food components. Lab blocks are favored by some people who believe them to be more nutritious as thorough scientific research is done for them and they are now available in packages for the pet market. In case of pellets and lab blocks; gerbils cannot choose what to eat and what to leave, they have to eat them as a whole so; they form a healthy basic diet with some supplementation.

Combination of diet for gerbils : Feed your pet gerbil with a combination of diet, thus you can overcome the demerits of various types of diet. A balanced base to the diet is added by pelleted or block diet and variety and interest to the food is provided by loose seed mixes and some occasional treats.

Supplements and Treats for Gerbil

Provide fresh fruits and veggies in meager amounts. Broccoli, dandelion greens, berries, carrots and apples can be given. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are high in fat, thus they should be given sparingly. The same case is with nuts, so scarcely feed your gerbil with nuts. Breakfast cereal should be of unsweetened types. Feed it raisins, plain or toasted whole grain bread, scrambled or boiled egg in small amounts and small bits of cheese. Occasionally, give dog biscuits and mealworms. Supplement the diet of your gerbil with these foods. Occasional treats of its favorite food will make it happier.

Fresh Water for Gerbil

Gerbils belong to dry climatic regions. Thus, their requirement of water is not a plenty. At the same time do not be mistaken that they do not need water at all. Ensure that clean and fresh water is supplied to your pets always.

Food to be Avoided for Gerbil

Do not add sunflower seeds to the seed mix for your gerbil. Rather, reserve these seeds as a special treat for them as they relish these seeds. Raw potato, potato leaves, rhubarb leaves, raw kidney beans and onion should be completely avoided from its diet. Amount of sweet and oily foods should be restricted as food items like cupcake crumbs and potato chips may keep it away from a healthy diet.

Feeding gerbil is not challenging if you know what to feed it along with the correct way to feed your dear pet. The best way to feed it is to use a heavy crock made up of heavy duty plastic or ceramic. Once you get to know, how much your gerbil eats, try to feed it exactly the same amount. Provide it food once in a day. If any uneaten food is left, remove it. Your gerbil will trust you if you feed it by hand. Now, you are completely acquainted about the diet and the method of feeding gerbil, take care of your pet and keep it with you for long.