Nutritional needs for gerbils

Written by AniMed.org

Time to eat...again! Your little critters can work up quite an appetite with all that digging, chewing and running on the exercise wheel. As a responsible gerbil caretaker, it's your job to meet your pets' nutritional needs while providing as much variety as possible.

What do gerbils eat?

A commercial gerbil seed mix should make up the bulk of your pets' diet. Nutritionally complete, it's readily available at pet supply stores, and consists of seeds, grains, pellets and dried vegetables; look for a mix with a protein content of about 12 percent, and a fat content in the 6- to 8-percent range. Pelleted gerbil food will meet your pets' needs, too, but it doesn't offer them much variety. It's a good idea to make sure that your gerbils have eaten everything in their bowl before refilling. This way, they won't get into the bad habit of picking out the high-fat foods from the mix--typically, sunflower seeds--and leaving behind the higher protein foods they need to balance their diet.

Gerbil care and feeding - supplements

Every day, you should supplement your pets' diet with small amounts of fresh vegetables, such as carrots, leaf lettuces, turnips, cauliflower and cucumber. Offer your gerbils small amounts of sweet fruits like apples and bananas every other day, but take care to gradually introduce any fresh food. Too much, too soon can cause diarrhea. Be sure to wash all produce well, and remove any food that remains uneaten after a day. Never give your gerbils potatoes, onions, raw kidney beans, chocolate or sweets.

A gerbil diet includes plenty of fresh water

Although you may have heard that native desert animals like gerbils don't need water, that is not at all true for gerbils kept as pets. Fresh, clean water should be available at all times. We recommend an upside-down bottle with a sipper tube that attaches to the side of the cage. You'll need to rinse and refill it every day.

The addition of vitamins to a gerbil's diet is strictly a matter of personal preference. Some owners add liquid supplements to their pets' water, while others sprinkle powdered vitamins on the food. Keep in mind, however, that no amount of vitamins can make up for an inadequate diet.