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Gerbils/mice?

R

reptile_addict

New member
Does anyone know if gerbils are as nutrisius for snakes as mice? I am thinking of breeding gerbils for snakes. Are they as healthy as mice? I know to p/k them.
 
i whould think they are because there basicly the same as mice and rats. just like some people feed rats instead of mice.
 
reptile_addict said:
Does anyone know if gerbils are as nutrisius for snakes as mice? I am thinking of breeding gerbils for snakes. Are they as healthy as mice? I know to p/k them.
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I dont know if gerbils are as nutritious as mice, but what happens if your snakes become hooked on gerbils and wont eat pinkies or mice in the future? Then what happens when you've got hungry snakes and no gerbil pinks?
 
are gerbils really that rare? come on every where i go i see gerbils, i see people giving them away in the paper, so where do you get the idea that one day there might not be any gerbils? ok, its a posibillity but same goes for mice right?
 
Bluebeard said:
are gerbils really that rare? come on every where i go i see gerbils, i see people giving them away in the paper, so where do you get the idea that one day there might not be any gerbils? ok, its a posibillity but same goes for mice right?
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So pet stores around you regularly sell gerbil pinks?
 
True, But you know there are always mice somewhere. (Internet, petstores, and your garage or kitchen during the winter) All I do is open my freezer for rats and mice. And frozen pizza I guess
 
I mean you can do it, just be aware your snakes might start ignoring mouse pinks. Might not happen, but it also might.

It's ultimately up to you. I'd say the nutritional value is similar.
 
The nutritional value hasn't been proven, but rats have higher nutritional value than mice, so gerbils might too. Gerbils do work as good feeders, but since mice and rats are easier to come by, I would personally stick with that. Alot of people do use gerbil pinks and fuzzies with snakes that will flat out refuse mice, and have had great results. Check this thread out. Dianne posted it a little while ago and is getting great results. It might help out.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17193&highlight=gerbils
 
There are a number of things to consider before breeding gerbils as a potential sole source of snake food.

I think their nutritional quality would be in between mice and rats, so I don't think that's an issue to worry about. And I have raised them as an addition to raising my own mice, and find my snakes have little problems going from gerbils to mice. They don't seem to care either way.

A few cons:

#1: Gerbils have small litters compared to that of domestic feeder rodents such as rats and mice. The max I've ever gotten has been 6.

#2: Gerbils do better in a 1:1 ratio, occasionally a 1:2 will work out. So that means to keep up, you have to have several cages of a 1:1 just to keep up with demand. Talk about a waste of space. A rat/mouse colony can be up to a 1:10 depending on the size of the container.

#3: They pretty much require glass aquariums. Yeah, they can be housed in a wire type cage, but they're such diggers that you'll end up vacuuming everyday because of the mess. And multiple glass aquariums are a pain and a half to maintain.

#4: Will require you to pre-kill before feeding as gerbils have a very strong anti-snake arsenal. They can seriously injure your snake if fed live.

#5: I found it damned hard to find a female gerbil with decent maternal skills, and I went through 6 and ended up with one who'd nurse them to fuzzy stage and then ignore them. It ended up so bad every time she would give birth I had to place the kits with a lactating rat to rear the babies. The babies were always kicked out of the nest box and lost somewhere in the bedding, cold and never fed.


Pros:

#1: Require less water bottle refills since they're from an arid climate. And they also urinate less.

#2: They have barely noticeable smell to them since they urinate so infrequently.

#3: They tend to be cuter and friendlier than domestic rats/mice. And tolerate handling much better.

#4: The kits are smaller than mouse pinks, and are perfect for the smallest of corn hatchlings. And their scent may encourage stubborn feeders to eat. Also, when gerbils reach their fuzzy stage, they're about the size of a large mouse pink. So you may be able to use that to your advantage to get your younger snakes on larger rodents which generally encourages the growth spurt.

It just depends on personal preference, really. =)
 
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