D&LCornSnakes
New member
Can corn snakes eat gerbils? Pinkies fuzzys, small adutsl etc? Is there any reason why mice are better?
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Gerbils?
- Thread starter D&LCornSnakes
- Start date
There is nothing wrong, nutritionally, with feeding your corn snake gerbils. However, if you feed live, gerbils are more prone to biting than mice. Another problem to be aware of is the availability of gerbils. Your corn snake may acquire a 'taste' for gerbils, and may be reluctant to eat other types of prey in the future.
I keep gerbils as pets, so i can tell you a bit about the care side of them - whether they are a suitable food source or not i am unsure, but i guess they are fine.
Gerbils are from the dessert and so they eat & drink very little. This makes them toilet far less often than mice and hamsters etc. Their toilet also smells a lot less than most other rodents, because it is non-acidic. Males and females are both the same in terms of smell, My gerbil cages can be left for two weeks before i start to notice the slighted odour.
Gerbils are also very good in terms of temperement - i have never been bitten and have owned four for 2 - 3 years. Always an added bonus.
Another good thing about them is, in my experience they are better parents than mice. The dad can be left in through the whole mating/birth, or taken out, both ways work well. The average litter size is around 6, but they can have up to 12.
I think i read somewhere that they have more protein in them than mice when used as feeders, but i'm not sure. In the UK, gerbils are easy to get hold of.
Gerbils are from the dessert and so they eat & drink very little. This makes them toilet far less often than mice and hamsters etc. Their toilet also smells a lot less than most other rodents, because it is non-acidic. Males and females are both the same in terms of smell, My gerbil cages can be left for two weeks before i start to notice the slighted odour.
Gerbils are also very good in terms of temperement - i have never been bitten and have owned four for 2 - 3 years. Always an added bonus.
Another good thing about them is, in my experience they are better parents than mice. The dad can be left in through the whole mating/birth, or taken out, both ways work well. The average litter size is around 6, but they can have up to 12.
I think i read somewhere that they have more protein in them than mice when used as feeders, but i'm not sure. In the UK, gerbils are easy to get hold of.
D&LCornSnakes
New member
i've kept gerbils many times before and i just love them! SO i was thinking of breeding them since mice are getting to be expensive and we've only just begun!
All the reasons u listed are why i would rather have gerbils then mice. i would be feeding then f/t. Do snakes aquire a taste for f/t gerbils or just live ones?
All the reasons u listed are why i would rather have gerbils then mice. i would be feeding then f/t. Do snakes aquire a taste for f/t gerbils or just live ones?
D&LCornSnakes
New member
do you think alternating between f/t mice and f/t gerbils would keep them from being selective? That is my only cause for concern it seems.
I would assume that if they do acquire a 'taste' for gerbils, it does not matter if they are live or frozen/thawed. Look at it this way: If you buy a steak and then freeze it, after you defrost it and cook it, the steak still tastes like a steak (well, not as good as a fresh, unfrozen steak, but you get my point).D&LCornSnakes said:
Honestly, unless you have a very picky-eating corn snake, which in my experience is not very common, then making the switch back to mice should not be difficult. Yet, like I stated above, you should be aware that acquiring a particular 'taste' may occur. My corns will eat anything at anytime. Acquiring a 'taste' of prey type is more common in other species---like ball pythons.
I raised gerbils for years and I would say mice would still be a better choice for feeders if you are aiming for the most young per female. IME, gerbils have 1 to 7 young per litter with an average of 3-5. It is common to find several dried up dead pinks when cleaning out the cage because for some reason there are always some stillborn(which explains the small litter size). Hamsters have plenty of babies per litter and the shortest gestation period of all mammals..but each female needs her own habitation. Mice as you already know can do well and reproduce well in colonies -- obtaining breeding stock is cheaper too...so IMO they would be the most economical rodent choice for feeders. 
--Amanda
--Amanda
Bluebeard
New member
Preita said:
K i breed gerbils for feeders for my corns and king, they've never turned down a mouse since i started feeding gerbils once in a while ya they don't reproduce nearly as much as mice but they're a lot easier and cleaner to keep but don't feed anything live after they've open their eyes, they have longer and sharper claws and teeth then mice, and as far as nutrition there are between mice and rats, mice being lower and rat being higher. hope that helps
D&LCornSnakes
New member
i think we are going to try it. I am not thrilled with the idea of breeding mice, but gerbils which i consider pets, that doesn't bother me. Seeing as i wont be feeding live, and am looking to supplement the f/t mice with them, i can't see where i'd be going wrong. Especially since they are a little more nutritious.
vanderkm
New member
Just be aware that not all cornsnakes will accept gerbils as prey. We only had about 20% of our corns willing to take gerbils when they were accustomed to feeding on mice.
Gerbils are great to raise for all the reasons already given, but they are very inefficient as feeders - they waste a lot of food (do a lot more chewing up than actually eating it) so they are very costly to raise - unless you enjoy having them as pets to - and then they are a lot of fun. We bred siamese and burmese gerbils - very pretty,
mary v.
Gerbils are great to raise for all the reasons already given, but they are very inefficient as feeders - they waste a lot of food (do a lot more chewing up than actually eating it) so they are very costly to raise - unless you enjoy having them as pets to - and then they are a lot of fun. We bred siamese and burmese gerbils - very pretty,
mary v.
sdmessmer
New member
Variety
My corns have never refused a prey item unless they were off their feed during breeding season. I only feed fresh killed or frozen thawed, the corns don't care which type they are. I gas my rodents first. My DH has a co worker that keeps giving us gerbils babies from their pair, they don't want the babies. I raise them up until they are a nice meal size for the adult corns and they eat them with gusto. Even after a couple of gerbil meals they still go for the rats or the rare mouse that gets culled. My corns just don't seem to care what type of rodent they are eating.
Silvia
My corns have never refused a prey item unless they were off their feed during breeding season. I only feed fresh killed or frozen thawed, the corns don't care which type they are. I gas my rodents first. My DH has a co worker that keeps giving us gerbils babies from their pair, they don't want the babies. I raise them up until they are a nice meal size for the adult corns and they eat them with gusto. Even after a couple of gerbil meals they still go for the rats or the rare mouse that gets culled. My corns just don't seem to care what type of rodent they are eating.
Silvia