Gerbils are fun little creatures that love to play and interact with their human family members. If handled from a young age, they‘ll happily sit in your pocket or hang out on your shoulder while you are lounging around the house. Gerbils also love to eat whatever they can get their little hands on, which could be anything that you offer them to the cracker crumb that they find between the couch.
However, just because your gerbil will eat anything that they happen to find doesn’t mean that they should. So can gerbils eat crackers? The short answer is yes, although there are a few caveats to keep in mind. Follow the information below to learn more.
Can Gerbils Eat Crackers?
Yes, gerbils are omnivores just like humans. They can eat fruits, vegetables, grains, grasses, and even meat. They can also enjoy bits of a cracker at snack time! Crackers are made of wheat, which is something that gerbils can readily digest. Gerbils can benefit from the protein, fiber, and minerals that can be found in crackers. Although crackers shouldn’t be the main source of food for gerbils, they can be offered once or twice a week.
Guidelines
While it won’t hurt to feed your gerbil crackers as a snack sometimes, a few guidelines should be followed to ensure that their snacking doesn’t result in problems like obesity and diabetes. First and foremost, gerbils should get no more than about a stamp-sized piece of cracker at any one time. Most store-bought crackers are full of sodium and ingredients that gerbils would not typically eat, like artificial flavors and colors.
Gerbils shouldn’t be fed crackers more than a couple of times a week, to leave room for a proper diet which includes fruits and vegetables. It’s also important that gerbils are fed only whole-wheat or whole-grain crackers, rather than soda crackers filled with simple carbohydrates. Whole-grain crackers offer some nutrition and are full of fiber, which will help keep a gerbil’s digestion healthy and blood sugar levels normal. Also, plenty of fresh water should be available while giving crackers pieces to a gerbil, to promote proper hydration.
Making Homemade Crackers For Gerbils
Instead of feeding your gerbil crackers from the store, consider making a special batch just for them right in your own kitchen. All you have to do is either use a blender or food processor with the following ingredients:
- ½ cup cooked brown rice
- ¼ cup shredded carrots
- ¼ cup mango or banana chunks
- Once everything has been blended well and is smooth, spread the mixture out on a greased baking sheet so it’s about an inch thick.
- Bake the mixture in your oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for around 15 minutes or until the mixture is starting to get crispy.
- After the mixture has cooled, break it apart into small pieces and store the pieces in a sealable container.
- You can pull a piece of cracker out for a guilt-free snack that your gerbil can enjoy regularly. These crackers will also be free of additives and full of nutrition, so they can be offered to your gerbil more often than store-bought crackers.
Can Gerbils Eat Saltine Crackers?
No, gerbils shouldn’t be given saltine crackers as they just can’t handle the salt that it contains. Gerbils just cannot handle the amount of salt in their bodies than humans can.
Conclusion
Gerbils enjoy crackers as much as we humans do. Although, they can’t handle as much salt as we can. Gerbils are far better off eating a whole-food diet with crackers being an occasional treat. Have you shared crackers with your gerbil before? If so, which kind seems to be their favorite?
