Looking for Members To Help...

[Bekah]

Hi guys! I'm looking for some members to help a fairly new member with a question regarding feeders. Her post is under "Husbandry/Basic Care". Her question pertains to gerbils. She wants to know if this is a good feeding source and if anyone else feeds them. I tried to offer a bit of help, but I have no idea on gerbils (whether they're an adequate source of nutrition, etc...). If anyone else could post here I would gladly lead that member to this spot. Just trying to be helpful! Hoping someone else will be too (and I know someone will be...there's alot of helpful members out there...you know who you are! lol!) Thanks people! :)

[CornCrazy]

I think they are OK to feed to a snake. However, if a person doesn't have his own breeding colony, then it's going to be quite costly. Also, snakes can be very picky. If a snake decides it likes gerbils better than mice, it may be very hard to convert back over to mice, if ever necessary.

[Azruial]

Thanks, it's just that I may have an available source for cheap gerbils (compared to the "mice-on-ice" available from my pet store at $11 for 6), but I will consider the fact that the snake may take too fondly to them. Thanks.

[CornCrazy]

Good luck, and I hope things go well with your snake! Do you only have one snake? If you have more, then you may want to consider purchasing mice on-line. There are several good companies to choose from if you are located in the US.

[Cornfan]

Uncannily enough, I've just ordered some gerbils to start my own breeding colony. I believe that they are just as good in nutritional value as mice but, if you want to breed your own rodents then they're far less smelly in that they urinate less often.

[Azruial]

Thanks, Tanya
And Yes, I only plan to have one snake. When he gets to be an adult, ordering on-line may be practical but I just have no use for 50-100 pinkies which seems the be the minimum.

[dolphine]

Hi guys! I'm looking for some members to help a fairly new member with a question regarding feeders. Her post is under "Husbandry/Basic Care". Her question pertains to gerbils. She wants to know if this is a good feeding source and if anyone else feeds them. I tried to offer a bit of help, but I have no idea on gerbils (whether they're an adequate source of nutrition, etc...). If anyone else could post here I would gladly lead that member to this spot. Just trying to be helpful! Hoping someone else will be too (and I know someone will be...there's alot of helpful members out there...you know who you are! lol!) Thanks people! :)
hi
only problem feeding gerbils is that you will end up with fussy eaters
and they require the vitimins etc from mice

[brownie55]

hi
only problem feeding gerbils is that you will end up with fussy eaters
and they require the vitimins etc from mice

What vitamins are available in mice that are not in gerbils?

[Taceas]

I tried the gerbil approach a while back and while they're a lot cuter and less smelly than mice...the fact that they only had 4-6 babies per litter wasn't all that great. So if that isn't a problem for you, I'd say go for it.

Most times than not, the mothers are horrible and the babies if not used immediately end up dying of starvation. At least at my own 5 attempts. Had I not had a female rat with babies of her own, the baby gerbils would have surely perished.

If it works for you, and hopefully it will, good. =)

The only thing about gerbils is that you want to offer them dead to the snake. Live feedings with gerbils is not recommended because unlike mice, they have the knowledge and ability to do serious harm to your snake. They will openly attack and if you've ever been bitten, it makes a nasty bite on a finger, let alone a snake's head.

I think any feeder rodent is as good as the food that you feed it. I would stay away from most of the "gerbil" diets out there, as they're mostly fatty seeds which create unhealthy rodents. A good lab block diet with a few seeds a day to suppliment would be a much better choice. Most seed diets claim they're "vitamin and mineral enriched"....yeah, the shell of the seed is, but nothing eats that. Get the idea? You want your rodents to actually eat the vitamins and minerals, not just chew through it and eat the inside. =)

[Azruial]

lol, thanks