Food.

[SpunkyMunky]

I want to start mixing my own gerbil food. I was wondering can I use the sunflower seeds that they use for wild birds? Like this kind:

http://petco.com/assets/product_images/7/7185901520B.jpg


I want to make a mix containing this:

Un-salted pumpkin seeds.
Sunflower seeds.
Dried Raisins.
Pieces of millet spray.
Pieces of dog cookie.
Peanuts.
Almonds.
Walnuts.
Dried Banana.
Safflower.
Bits of Cornflakes.



So what do yout think of that? I find that when I buy gerbil food its too dusty, and they dont even eat everything in it. I'd really like your opinions, or your personal mixture.

[Chaos]

Thats a lot of nuts. You might get some pretty fat gerbils from it. I make my own food, but I actually follow a recipe intended for rats. But the hamsters like it too, and I've been feeding it to the gerbils.

http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html

For the small rodents I use lab blocks (mazuri hamster/gerbil diet) for the staple diet, sometimes I add some dog food which they like a lot more then the lab blocks, but it has more protein (unless you buy senior dog food) so I only give a lot of it to the nursing gerbils. The rest is just a good mix that they love.

Rolled oats (not instant)
Puffed wheat cereal
Puffed rice cereal
Roasted, unsalted soy nuts
Dried fruits
Tri coloured pasta (I think its carrots, spinich and tomato or something)
Sunflower seeds (not too many)
You can also add the nuts from your list, but in moderation, not too many per day.

The above is very cheap compared to normal food mixes, and last me ages.

[SpunkyMunky]

Alright thanks!

[callimico]

Great idea! :grin: Sounds good- except like Chaos said, there's a lot of fatty foods. The tri-colored pasta is an interesting idea- I haven't heard of that before.

Here's the healthiest numbers for gerbils:

Non-breeding Gerbils: 12% Protein 7% Fat
Over 2 years old: 10.5% Protein 4% Fat
Breedeing Gerbils: 15.5% Protein 8% Fat

Another recipe (mixed from other breeders- but I buy Encore myself):
Mix for gerbils dried foods- Wheat germ, cracked corn, rolled oats, finch seed (premium, also good for pups) doggie biscuits, millet (not sprayed), alfalfa, corn flakes (no sugar), oatmeal flakes, cheerios, bran and wheat flakes, lentils, carrots, beets, broccolli, spinach, apple, celery, rasins, barley flakes, oat kernals, oat groats, wheat bran, coarse soyabean meal, wheat crunchies, Split Peas, Banana chips, puffed wheat, cornflower, Soya bean meal, Extruded rabbit pellets (the fruits and veggies are dried)

Add in options:
For breeders- mealworms, dry dog or cat food, a teaspoon yoghurt or quark, boiled egg, egg white or scrambled eggs, vitamin/ mineral powder to the food or give them a mineral block, (calcium), alfalfa hay, almonds, peanuts

For pups- Linseed, more oatmeal

Treats-Cheese, Applesauce, Cantelope, Cranberry juice, Lettuce, Carrots, Broccoli, grapes, apple, clover, boiled egg, cucumber, Dog Cookie, honey bars, sunflower seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, popcorn, dried corn on the cob, dog cookie, walnuts, dried fruit, pine nuts, acorns, cucumber seeds, granola, Pine Cones, saaflower seeds


Special "TREAT" Recipes I've heard of while we're on the subject :p:


2 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
l cup currants or raisins
1/2 chopped raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup nuts (pine, almond, walnut, pecan)
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1 twenty-nine ounce can of solid pack pumpkin
1 thirty-two ounce bottle of papaya nectar
one half cup of sunflower or safflower oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs baking powder
Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Add enough water or juice to make a pourable batter. Use two large well-greased baking pans. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Cool and slice. Can be frozen. This recipe makes a "heavy" bread- they'll LOVE it!

- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup each whole wheat flour and rye flour
- 1/4 cup each Cream of Rice cereal, Malt-O-Meal, grits, and rolled oats
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 3 jars baby food - squash, sweet potatoes & applesauce
- 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 1 cup chopped broccoli stems & crowns
- 2 eggs with shells
- 1 cup puffed brown rice cereal
- water as necessary
Put carrot & broccoli in food processor for 30 seconds. Eggs & shells should
also be processed in the food processor until shells are ground. Mix all
ingredients and add water to make mixture spreading consistency. Spread in greased
10x13 pan, and bake at 400 for 30 minutes, or till tooth pick comes out clean.

[SpunkyMunky]

Thanks callimico! I think I have an updated food recipe. Yet I think it'll only be for a twice a month thing.


Makes many feedings?

-2 cups of striped sunflower seed.
-1 cup of unsalted, dried pumpkin seed.
-1 cup safflower.
-1 cup of raisins.
-1/2 a cup of peanuts.
-1/3 a cup of almonds.
-1/2 a cup of crushed spray millet.
-1/2 a cup of rabbit pellets. (maybe)
-1/2 a cup of dried bananas.
-1/2 a cup of craisins. (dried cranberries)


If it's not a good feed for everyday use, then i'll just freeze it and use it twice a month for a treat. Yet is it a good every day feed?


P.S: I want to make my own food because I find that the foods they sell here are dusty and very bland. They only sell a few kinds of food here. Living World, Haegen, and one kind of kaytee are the kinds of food there is.

[Zouave]

Sheeez. How do you find the time??

I do sometimes give mine Kashi, which seems the most nutritious of all the cereals. The gerbs also recently devoured scrambled eggs, tofu, and blueberries.

[callimico]

Yet is it a good every day feed?

Sounds better, but could use some more fiber. Cups of Sunflower seeds, dried pumpkin seed, safflower seeds, peanuts, and almond are still a LOT of fat, but the other additions sound good. I'd add in some oatmeal flakes (What I use to make Instant oamteal, aka: porridge), a few more dried vegetables, and if you wanted some finch bird seed (to add a greater mix of healthy seeds). Then it should be a well balanced mix :grin: Your gerbils will LOVE it! and I agree, a lot of the foods they sell seem to be dusty, mine pick out the fatty foods so I have to work in order to get htem to eat a balanced "meal".

[SpunkyMunky]

Thanks a lot. Ill be making a mix when I get low on the current food supply.

[Jiffykat]

Special "TREAT" Recipes I've heard of while we're on the subject :p:

2 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
l cup currants or raisins
1/2 chopped raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup nuts (pine, almond, walnut, pecan)
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1 twenty-nine ounce can of solid pack pumpkin
1 thirty-two ounce bottle of papaya nectar
one half cup of sunflower or safflower oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs baking powder
Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Add enough water or juice to make a pourable batter. Use two large well-greased baking pans. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Cool and slice. Can be frozen. This recipe makes a "heavy" bread- they'll LOVE it!

- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup each whole wheat flour and rye flour
- 1/4 cup each Cream of Rice cereal, Malt-O-Meal, grits, and rolled oats
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 3 jars baby food - squash, sweet potatoes & applesauce
- 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 1 cup chopped broccoli stems & crowns
- 2 eggs with shells
- 1 cup puffed brown rice cereal
- water as necessary
Put carrot & broccoli in food processor for 30 seconds. Eggs & shells should
also be processed in the food processor until shells are ground. Mix all
ingredients and add water to make mixture spreading consistency. Spread in greased
10x13 pan, and bake at 400 for 30 minutes, or till tooth pick comes out clean.
Hmm, very interesting, I think I need to add some things to my grocery list.

[callimico]

If you try it let us know how they like it! It sounds good to me, I was thinking of adding a few more ingrediants to the commercial mix I buy, rather then mixing on my own, just to make it last longer (lol I'm having to buy food weekly right now!) I like the colored carrot and broccoli spiral pasta idea- plus a few more seeds and dried veggies to make it more interesting for my guys, in addition to what they have now.

let us know how your mix goes to SpunkyMunky :grin:

[Jiffykat]

...I'm having to buy food weekly right now...I'm on about a bi-weekly, sometimes triweekly food buying schedule depending on if they were being piggies or not.

[Jiffykat]

- 2 eggs with shells
Why are the shells necessary?

[callimico]

They're not necessary, you can add or subtract ingrediants as you want. Shells are just good for gerbils to eat, and so added in the mix :smiley:

[Jiffykat]

1 thirty-two ounce bottle of papaya nectarI couldn't find plain papaya nectar. I did however find juice that has papaya nectar in it. I found it in the health food section, so it is 100% juice. But it is pineapple, apple, orange, peach, papaya, pear and grape. That should be fine don't you think? Or are some of those bad for them?

[callimico]

grape, apple, peach, papya and pear are all fine, and fed dried or fresh. Usually orange is not given (certain citrus fruits are often times avoided with gerbils) but do know it's given to dehydrated gerbils. Since it's a mix I think it should all be safe, do you have some of the other ingrediants? If you make it, I'd be very curious how long it takes and how much your guys eat at once (once they're used to it).

[Jiffykat]

I got pretty muc everything to make both things. Are you aware that baby food comes in at least four sizes, depending on what brand you buy? I got the ones for toddlers, because they were bigger and I wasn't sure how much I would need. I haven't actually made it yet though. I am planning on doing that tomorrow morning.