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Are you wondering if Gerbils can eat cucumbers? Are you keen on including cucumber in your Gerbil’s diet? This article offers everything you need to know about Gerbils eating cucumber and how you can feed it to them. Can Gerbils Eat Cucumber?
Yes, Gerbils can eat cucumbers. It is one of the healthiest vegetables you can feed to them. It is healthy for them because it contains the right amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
However, it is vital to be cautious while feeding cucumber to your Gerbils. Cucumber contains 95% of water, which is considered to be on the high side for Gerbils. Hence, cucumbers are too watery to be regular food for them.
The best way to feed it to them is occasionally as snacks in minimal amounts. Overloading your Gerbils with cucumber in their diet puts them at the risk of experiencing diarrhea.
Aside from this, cucumber offers a lot of health benefits. It contains micronutrients, such as iron, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin, manganese, copper and potassium.
Do Gerbils Like Cucumbers?
Gerbils enjoy eating vegetables, generally, and they certainly enjoy eating cucumber. Gerbils like eating crunching foods, and cucumbers offer them this preferred texture. Some cucumber skins are also tough, and Gerbils love to gnaw tough foods.
Also, the watery content of cucumber helps Gerbils to cool down on a hot day. Gerbils get most of their water supply from roots in the wild, which they don’t find in captivity. Therefore Gerbils see cucumbers as a valuable alternative to their water source.
Summarily, Gerbils like cucumber, and they will definitely eat it if you feed it to them. It is even better when you dice it; it will help the Gerbils to realize it is food quickly. But it does not mean you should feed Gerbils with cucumber every time.
Overloading your Gerbil’s diet with too much cucumber will do them more harm than good.
Can Gerbils Eat Raw Cucumber?
Gerbils can eat raw cucumber, and it is OK for them. Raw cucumber is suitable for them because it does not include any protein or other components that must be cooked.
In fact, Gerbils prefer raw foods, and it is certainly healthy for them. Unlike humans, most animals will get maximum nutrients from vegetables when they eat them raw. Cooking them might even destroy some nutrients useful for the animals.
Raw cucumbers should not give Gerbils any problem, especially if you feed them an inappropriate amount. If you keep them fresh, you will preserve all the micro and macronutrients present in the vegetable.
Can Gerbils Eat Cooked Cucumbers?
Gerbils will eat cooked cucumbers as much as they will eat the raw ones. They will gnaw happily on baked or fried cucumbers, especially when it comes in suitable sizes.
It is thought that cooked foods are generally safer and better than raw foods, particularly animals. The case is not entirely true with cucumbers for Gerbils. Cooking will affect the nutritional value of cucumber.
Cooking, frying, or boiling can reduce the nutritional value of cucumber. If you are cooking or frying with oil, it is essential to check the oil’s ingredient lists to ensure it will not affect the nutritional value of the cucumber.
Also, avoid cooking Gerbils with seasoned foods. Most seasonings have a lot of salt, which is bad for Gerbils. Even if you are buying an already made food for Gerbils, ensure to check through the ingredient list to ascertain its nutritional value is suitable for your pet.
Can Gerbils Eat Cucumber Skin?
Gerbils love to eat the skin of various fruits and vegetables, and Cucumbers are not an exception to this case. Gerbils can and will eat cucumber skin when you feed them with it. Some cucumber skins are tough; hence, it offers the Gerbils something to gnaw on.
Gerbils enjoy foods that will make them exercise their teeth and chew through. You don’t have to go through the stress of removing cucumber skins before feeding them to Gerbils because they will eat them alongside other parts of the fruit.
However, you should ensure you wash the cucumber skin properly and ensure that it is clean before feeding it to the Gerbils. It is also essential to inspect the cucumber’s body and ensure that it is not infected or damaged.
Are Gerbils Allergic To Cucumbers?
Gerbils are not allergic to cucumbers. They will eat it as much as you feed it to them. However, you will make them vulnerable to diarrhea if you feed it to them too often.
The main reason behind the myth that Gerbils are allergic to cucumbers is because they don’t eat them in the wild. Gerbils mostly live in deserts and dry grasslands where cucumbers don’t grow. Therefore, it is almost impossible for them to find and eat cucumbers.
Also, some people feed Gerbils with too many cucumbers. In this case, there is a high probability for the Gerbils to develop diarrhea. But this outcome does not mean that they are allergic to it.
Gerbils ingest too much water when they take excess cucumber. The excess water, together with a high sugar level, can cause loose stool (diarrhea). This reaction leads to the belief that Gerbils are allergic to cucumbers.
Sometimes, this condition is accompanied by other health complications because Gerbils lose many nutrients to lose stool. However, you can mitigate this occurrence by regulating the amount of cucumber you feed to your Gerbils.
Conclusion
Cucumber is one of the most common vegetables among pets. Gerbils love to eat varieties of fruits and vegetables, and cucumber is not an exception to this. They derive many benefits from cucumbers and happily eat them as often as you feed them.
However, it is best to regulate the amount of cucumber you offer Gerbils. While it contains many nutrients, it contains a high water content (about 95%) that can make Gerbils vulnerable to diarrhea. You can feed them cucumbers as snacks once or twice a week.
