Gerbil Diet & Nutrition
I recently made a gerbil diet and nutrition video that you can watch here, but I wanted to summarize the info here on my blog and also talk about my homemade seed mix.
Gerbils NEED 15-18% protein (more for pregnant females and babies), 6-8% fat, and 8-10% fiber in their diet. They also need a lot of VARIETY - pellet foods can be great but gerbils need more in their daily diet. I highly recommend that you make your own personal seed mix to ensure that your gerbil is getting all that they need in their diet. I also highly recommend using a couple of different commercial brand foods to provide a healthy variety.
Commercial Gerbil Foods I Recommend:
Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster & Gerbil Food
First five ingredients: oxbow timothy meal, pearled barley, oat groats, flax meal, canola meal
17% protein, 4.5% fat, 11% fiber
Vitakraft VitaSmart Complete Nutrition Rat, Mouse, & Gerbil Food
First five ingredients: soybean hulls, flaked corn, ground wheat, wheat, flaked soybeans
17% protein, 5% fat, 10% fiber
Gerri Gerbil Food
First five ingredients: wheat, corn, flaked corn, soya flakes, oats
17% protein, 6% fat, 5% fiber
Things You Should AVOID:
Any seed mixes that have corn in the first five ingredients
Any seed mixes that have an excess of fatty seeds (eg. sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, soybeans, etc.)
Any seed mixes that have ingredients like lentils, any kind of legumes, and potatoes
Any kind of Kaytee brand food (contains a lot of corn and questionable seeds)
Carefresh Complete Menu, Grreat Choice, and All Living Things Hamster & Gerbil Food (contains a lot of corn)
What My Gerbils Eat on a Weekly Basis:
24/7 supply of my homemade seed mix
A serving (about one tablespoon) of fresh veggies three times a week
A serving (just a small handful) of fresh timothy hay three-four times a week
A serving (about one tablespoon) of fresh fruit once a week
Small amounts of daily treats that include bits of cashew, puffed rice, Oxbow pellets, small pinches of veggies, etc.
My Homemade Seed Mix:
I used the following mix for my two boys for six months and they did great on it. I recently changed my mix to include more protein since they were losing a bit of weight and they are fast-approaching the two-year mark. Elderly gerbils (gerbils 2+ years old) should have higher protein in their diet. This seed mix is guaranteed 15% protein, 7% fat, and 9% fiber.
75 grams of steel cut oats
60 grams of rolled oats
60 grams of quinoa
38 grams of shelled sunflower seeds
75 grams of kamut
75 grams of wild rice
30 grams of white rice
90 grams of farro
38 grams of puffed rice
30 grams of cashews
90 grams of Vitakraft Vitasmart
90 grams of Oxbow