Gerbil's

operation_sssss · 05-19-04, 07:35 AM

Hi all,
I've just been given 1.2 gerbils and already they have produced 9 odd babies. I was wondering if anyone has used these as a food source as adults would be great feeding size for my colubrids,
any input would be appreciated hope all is well kind reguards cheers Will

vanderkm · 05-19-04, 08:47 AM

We bred gerbils as feeders for several years to accomodate ball pythons that would take nothing else and found that not all colubrids we had would accept them as food. Seemed to depend on the individual snake - some corns took them, others not. Our bullsnake refused them, as did most of the milksnakes, but the cal kings ate them (they eat anything!).

I would definately not start ball pythons on them because they develop a taste for them very quickly (they are similar to their native prey) and can be hard to convert.

Gerbils were nice to breed because they had minimal smell, but their digging behaviour in bedding created lots of dust and they are very poor at feed conversion - they are wasteful - chew up more than they eat and don't produce well in large colony set ups, so much more expensive to raise than mice or rats - but very cute! Good luck with them,

mary v.

justinO · 05-19-04, 10:39 AM

AHHHHHH!

I WISH i could having breeding gerbils...... I bought a male cuz I was given two "females" that ended up having huge nuts. LOL!

So yeah, I have an only live gerbil eating ball python that didn't eat for 8 months til I gave him one of my pets!

Consider yourself lucky.....

and yes, they are super cute!

Jessy

operation_sssss · 05-19-04, 12:31 PM

Hi all,
Thanks very much for your input fortunately my royals are good feeders (touch wood) and i have not had any problems so i'll mostly try them with my bull and corn snake, do you reckon it would be alright to use them as feeders for my bosc??
Thanks again for any info its really appreciated hope all is well
Cheers Will

marisa · 05-19-04, 12:33 PM

My corns take gerbils but like everyone said it depends on the snake.

The biggest problem with gerbils is a low litter count normally, and they like to be kept with the same gerbils for life. It's difficult to switch around adults.

Marisa