question about gerbils

Today i went to pick up snake food and the pet store had no rat pups and no mice. They other me some gerbil pinkies instead. Since rhats all they had i took them. My BP ate 3 without hesitation. I only have 1 store that sells live food but sometimes dint have the right size. My my question is can i add gerbil to the menu? I dont mean on a regular basis but in times like today when there was nothing else. Do they get "addicted"?

For pinkies and fuzzies once in a while it might be ok, But they can get addicted to gerbils and hamsters so it's not recommended to use them aside from those rodents being "fatty". If your BP is young as it sounds it is, then tread at your own risk? :shurgs:

Personally, I would skip a week if mice/rats aren't available. But that's what I would do.

Yea he is only 116 grams. And the only reason i didnt buy more was because i didnt know if he would eat them. Today he basically got a small meal.

When my niece was closing in on her 6th birthday(age kids in their family get their first pet) she decided she wanted gerbils. I picked up a trio and bred them so she could hand pick a young pair of girls. I found I enjoyed keeping gerbils and kept a breeding colony for close to a year before eventually feeding off the last of them. All gerbils, besides the 2 she eventually took, were fed to my ball pythons - think I might have given a couple to the bull snakes too. Some took gerbils consecutive feedings but for the most part it was once then their F/T rat, my staple diet at the time, the next week. I don't think you'll have problems with an "addicted" snake if you feed a gerbil here and there - I know I didn't. I also don't think your snake will be any worse for wear if you skip a meal here and there either.

Snakes definitely have preferences though and I don't doubt at all that they can and do get hooked on certain food types - excluding specialized eaters. During breeding season I'll give a hard working male an ASF when he would otherwise refuse a rat. I do the same for breeding females, though females usually stay on rats for me anyway until late in the season. After dropping a clutch of eggs if my females don't take a rat I'll offer an ASF and it's rarely refused. I'll even give them several ASF meals in a row at this point because I'm more concerned with them getting back to a healthy weight. The rest of the year though it's norwegian rats or nothing at all and I seldom have a snake skip consecutive feedings unless that animal is fasting.

I also was thinking the same about skipping meals at this size. Whem i buy snake food i buy mice or rats. Adding a 3rd food item would help me out.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

I also was thinking the same about skipping meals at this size. Whem i buy snake food i buy mice or rats. Adding a 3rd food item would help me out.

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Adult gerbils can get feisty so if feeding live gerbils I'd do so with caution. They are more prone to fight when backed in a corner.
I had every rodent imaginable as a child... even a squirrel.
Ones bred to be pets that are handled are great, but I'm sure not many feeder gerbils are brought up that way :)

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Thanks for the advice. That kinda sucks though. I only have 1 source for live food.

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Adult gerbils can get feisty so if feeding live gerbils I'd do so with caution. They are more prone to fight when backed in a corner.
I had every rodent imaginable as a child... even a squirrel.
Ones bred to be pets that are handled are great, but I'm sure not many feeder gerbils are brought up that way :)

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Dear lord I don't know where squirrel came from lol
That should've said chipmunk

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Dear lord I don't know where squirrel came from lol
That should've said chipmunk

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Be careful with squirrels. Some of them will put up quite a fight. Like this guy right here...

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/23/5ajanema.jpg

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