Gerbil chow

I can't find any really good gerbil food locally, for those of y'all who own rodents or specifically, gerbils, what do you feed?

I used to feed mine wild bird seed mixes (the kind with sunflower seeds, nuts, corn, etc.) and pelleted bird diets as well as "hamster" food when the store actually had it. I got sick of the "gerbil" food the store carried always having bugs in it. They would also eat apples, which I found rather amusing to watch.

We stock up on the "Hamster and gerbil" food when we go to Walmart, but we always add in some extra stuff of our own as well....cracked corn, cheerios, dried fruit chips...whatever they seem to like, and give them some variety. Sunflower seeds seem to be one of their favorites, though I try not to give them too many.

Well, two pet Rats and two Pet Mice. I would think all the Rodents were at least similar. For my Rats and Mice they get cheerios, grapes, carrots, dark leafy stuff, (the dark leafs have all the vitamins I hear.) Rat blocks, cucumbers, sunflower seeds in moderation because they are very high in fat and EVERYBODY LOVES Shrimp! I buy a small 6 dollar bag from my Grocery store and use half for Shrimp pasta for us and the other half for everybody else. Uhm, cooked seafood is very yummy and high in protein and omegas. I've been reading shrimp is even great for your T's. lol

You can offer a dry and a wet food dish. Do You have a Pet Co near you? I buy all my food and feeders from there. Our Pet Co down here carries LOTS of stuff. Treats and Yoogies and a wide variety in Kaytees foods. I would look up a care sheet for them or do some reading on a specialized Gerbil Forum. We aren't much for great Rodent information around here, more geared towards the Reptiles. I know for the Ratties though, squishy stool is bad and means your feeding to much wet food, and I can feed them just about anything.

Those Kashi heart cereals are awesome to and the girls LOVE the flakes. I know for Rats its not good to give them anything with a fat % higher then 5%. They also have sheets for Ratties like one of what not to feed them. We can't feed Rats cola because they can't burp, obviously no chocolate, no peanuts, no raw brussel sprouts. There has to be stuff out there like that for Gerbils. I don't have a car and never have to worry about not having food for the babies because they can eat a wide variety of our healthy food. I hope that helped somewhat?

OH, one more! Stay away from dry corn. If it gets wet it becomes moldy or poisonous or whatever. I like the wild bird seed mixes for the most part.I can buy a mix for them that says its for birds or hamsters I just have to watch the nutrition label for the fat contents and such and prefer to stay away from the itsy bitsy seeds as I am scared they would choke on those or something. They just don't look very edible. Instead if I am out of Rat blocks I just put together my own dry dish until I can get more blocks. Healthy Cheerios, Kashi Flakes, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. The Cashiers are used to me coming through their aisle with little bags of all kinds of stuff. lol My 82. Broccoli! Anyways I wouldn't worry Lucille its really hard to NOT be able to find food for Rodents!

I am putting together my own mix for them after reading all this. There is a petco but the gerbil food I bought from them does not look very fresh.
Why no peanuts?

I don't know. I don't have it all memorized as to why. I just remember the no list. Thats for Ratties though, you'd have to look up the exacts for Gerbils. I know peanut butter will make them choke by getting stuck in their throat. I'm sure peanuts are OK in moderation.

For Ratties but I'm sure there are some good ideas for gerbils. http://community.ratzrus.co.uk/forum...hp?topic=318.0