Gerbil Food and Diet
Garden of Eden gerbil food is a mixture of various healthy foods. I strive for variety in the diet and to come as close to recommended nutritional values for gerbils as possible. The food mixture does vary as I find out new information or get my hands on different ingredients to add to the mix. Much of my information comes from research studies and scholarly articles, and there is some attempt to replicate some of the ingredients in commercial mixes. Part of the ingredients are from commercial animal food mixes, a few which contain some artificial colors and preservatives, although I try to keep these at a minimum, along with foods with added sugars and salt.
Some of the ingredients that I have included are: various organic and non-organic grains and rice, and small amounts of dried fruits and vegetables. It also often contains various bird foods and seeds, legumes, flax seeds, nuts, human grade cereals, and animal foods, such as gerbil and hamster, kitten chow, rabbit, ferret, horse, and chicken layer feeds. I often add something special or a little different, like bananas or other fruits and vegetables dried at home; sometimes grown in our own garden. This year we grew sunflowers, pumpkins, and carrots. I roasted the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and dried the carrots for the gerbils.
Garden of Eden gerbils get foods adapted to their specific life stages. Weaning pups receive a mix of softer grains and seeds with crushed nuts for added protein and fat. Breeding, pregnant, and lactating gerbils and young pups and juveniles receive a mix with higher protein and fat content than non-breeding adults. Elderly and slightly chubby gerbils have their fat content reduced when possible.
In addition to their gerbil food mixture, breeding, pregnant, and lactating females and pups are often given live or dried mealworms once or twice a week to make sure they are getting their protein. The juveniles and adults get these yummy treats or crickets occasionally, too. All gerbils have rat lab blocks and edible vitamin foods available to them. They also have salt/ mineral wheels in their tanks. The gerbil mix contains alfalfa, but I often have additional alfalfa in their tanks as a healthy food and for adequate calcium, which can be low or missing from some commercial mixes. I often put different types of hays in their tanks as well.
The Garden of Eden gerbil food mix is not for sale at this time.
See E-gerbil Gerbil Diet and Nutrition for more information.