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Post by sapphireratties on Mar 22, 2005 13:57:45 GMT -4
hmmm, not sure about that one? maybe they are all playing so much they are burning off all the calories and such, try upping the calories and protine in that one cage... or an even worse though, since it is only in one cage, maybe it's worms   |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 22, 2005 20:43:43 GMT -4
Worms?? What is the remedy?
I doubt if it is that as they are active and appear healthy, plus they've been living there for many months.
It just seems gerbils who live together gravitate to the same size for some reason.
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Post by sapphireratties on Mar 24, 2005 2:49:45 GMT -4
thats odd, maybe you can do a study on it  Just up their protine, give them some chicken once a week or something, lol. Do gerbils even eat meat? I never did much research on them...not an animal I ever really kept. |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 24, 2005 21:59:18 GMT -4
I put some turkey pieces in all the tanks last week - and they all disappeared. So someone ate it. Other meat and fish bits have vanished also. Sometime some of them eat scrambled eggs, and they usually eat cheese. One time I wrapped the turkey slice bits in swiss cheese; they are that too. They do seem inclined to go for seeds and nuts first, of course.
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Post by rasputin on Mar 24, 2005 22:23:07 GMT -4
Yes, gerbils will usually accept poultry or any other tasty meat -- I have given mine bits of turkey and chicken many times.
Eggs, yes, as well. And cheese. And mealworms, they eat them like they were going out of style.
I was under the impression they might also eat crickets, but they just seem to trample the crickets to death and let them sit forever.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 24, 2005 23:42:38 GMT -4
That's funny.
I tried mealworms once. Forget it. Too many "got lost" in the bedding, and most of the gerbs did not seem to care for them. The only one who devoured them was Dave - who died the next day. A coincidence I assume! He did seem a bit sickly beforehand.
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Post by sapphireratties on Mar 25, 2005 3:01:53 GMT -4
Actually, try hand feeding them (or tweezer feeding them, ick, I hate those things) plus if you get them from a pet shop they come in plastic containers you can just pop into the refriderator. It slows down their metabolisim, and when you want one, pull it out, put it on a plate, shine a lamp on it, let it warm up and it will be moving again (unless it's dead  lol |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 25, 2005 6:21:01 GMT -4
I have enough bugs around here! ;D
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Post by sapphireratties on Mar 29, 2005 3:22:27 GMT -4
never feed wild bugs, they have parasites that can get transferred to your ratties/gerbils, whatever you are feeding them to!
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 29, 2005 21:14:43 GMT -4
I don't feed them any bugs at all, but if a roach wanders in a tank or bin it is on its own!
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Post by sapphireratties on Apr 1, 2005 2:53:10 GMT -4
I know what you mean, lol, god forbid one of the mice shoudl escape! |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Apr 1, 2005 4:20:16 GMT -4
Mice? See the Mouse forum for my newest baby mice photos.
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Post by rasputin on Apr 13, 2005 13:27:05 GMT -4
I've never offered a wild bug, but they have sometimes found one or more while (temporarily) escaped.
Honestly, the lab blocks and a little extra snack food on the side seem to do well for them. They even stopped fighting when I gave them a week of food in a dish, rather than limiting the feeding. They only lasted six days on what I thought was seven days of food, but they looked very content with each other, rather than constantly looking for an edge in the food quest.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Apr 16, 2005 22:13:30 GMT -4
I haven't seen any of the mice fight, ever. But I am giving them more (in the new tank) food as the four adults are joined by none youngsters.
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