Yes is the short answer – gerbil can eat red, yellow or green apples as often as any other fresh fruit or vegetable – they are totally safe for gerbils in gerbil-sized doses – either raw or cooked.
Apples are of course a common fruit in our homes and so are more likely to be offered as a treat – especially as most humans don’t eat all of the apple itself – perfect for cutting off a little gerbil-sized portion.
Slices, pieces or cubes of dried apples are often found in gerbil treats. Sometimes they are whole slices – which are far too generous, so I cut them down into smaller pieces to spread out the yumminess. Quite often, the apple parts are taken off first and often stolen off other gerbils – so they clearly are a popular treat in the gerbil world.
Apple Nutrition Facts:
Apples are a fruit – and come in a variety of colours, flavours, shapes and sizes. Apples grow on lovely gnarled-looking trees (as we usually prune them heaving to keep them small – and for making the fruit easier for us to pick). All apples that you find in stores (or in the wild – and commonly known as crab apples) all belong to the genus Malus (part of the Rose family) and are grown all over the world in temperate climates – like the UK and the US.
They aren’t really that high in nutrients compared to some other fruits – but they are well known for containing antioxidants – great for your health. Basically the faster your apple browns after cutting – the more antioxidants are in that apple – but obviously they are all being used up making it go brown – so eat these ones faster! They also contain vitamins A and C, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium – so not to be sniffed at.
However, most of the calories from apples is in the form of sugar (as it should be – after all, fruit just wants to be nice enough for an animal to eat it and release the seeds (pips in the apple’s case – but don’t let your gerbil eat the pips)). Luckily for gerbils they only get a small amount anyway.
There are different types of apples though – so do watch out. Although all apples are edible including both eating apples, cooking apples and wild apples, their flavour (their ingredient balance inside) varies greatly and so many cooking and wild apples will taste quite sharp or sour when eaten raw. Your gerbil may like these tart-tasting apples – but you probably won’t. Cooking these apples makes them taste better for us as it changes their composition.
Ways Gerbils Can Eat Apples:
There are several different ways to eat an apple – and these are sometimes different nutrients-wise – as with all foods, so below is a quick breakdown of the most common ways.
Fresh Apple Flesh – this is the most obvious way to feed apples – as it is one of the most common ways that we eat them. Just break or cut off a slice and give to your clan. It is quite mushy and goes black quickly – so perhaps feed out in the run or in small pieces on a platform so making it easier to retrieve and clean where it was left after eating.
Cooked Apple – as above this is totally safe if cooked alone. You need to be careful – if you haven’t cooked them yourself – that they aren’t mixed with too much sugar or other cooking ingredients that might not be suitable for your gerbils.
Apple Puree or Apple Sauce – both of which would be fine in small amounts (as when you remove the water, you increase the concentrations of nutrients and sugars weight for weight). Unsweetened puree and sauce would be best for gerbils of course
Dried Apple Pieces – this is the way apples are found in several pet treats. These are slices or cubes of apple that have been baked in an oven or dehydrated. Be careful where you source your dried apple pieces as some commercially produced dried products for humans can be artificially sweetened or have some nasty preservatives added. You can make your own dried or baked apples rings yourself at home – and they will be free from additives.
Can Gerbils Eat Other Apple Parts?
It isn’t just the fruity flesh that gerbils can eat – or that are available – so here is a quick rundown of all the parts of an apple plant that you could find and whether they are safe or not.
Apple Skins – of course these are edible. Humans eat them all the time – rarely ever thinking twice about it – and the skin contains most of the fiber and healthy polyphenals. Do make sure you fully wash the skins as they are often coated in stuff to keep them shiny and un-bruised for us humans.
Apple Wood and Bark – these are one of the most tasty fruit woods you can give your gerbil. They absolutely love it’s smell and taste. Fresh twigs are usually the most tasty – so those smaller hard twigs/small branches right on the edges of the tree. Try to avoid those from commercial orchards or allotments where people could have sprayed chemicals on them. Avoid using those branches that snap off the tree really easily (as they are probably diseased or long-dead) or the ones covered in lichen or other plant growth (due to contamination) and avoid any that are covered in Ivy or Mistletoe (as they are both toxic to most mammals).
Apple Tree Leaves – these are fine if young (but not super fresh). Apple leaves can be offered in small amounts, but do avoid any that look damaged, diseased, misshapen or anything but perfect. It’s a tree – there are plenty to choose from so don’t scrimp on quality. Avoid those close to roads or chemicals as with the wood itself.
Apple Pips – AVOID. Just as with most pips or seeds – they are little capsules of all that is needed to grow a full new baby tree and keep predators at bay – some need to not be digested by an animal’s gut either. As a result of these three things – quite a few pips and seeds contain high levels or certain chemicals and nutrients which can be very good for you – as in sunflower hearts and pine nuts – or very bad for you. In apple’s: these are bad things. Apple pips are filled with amygdalin – which releases cyanide in the gut IF the pip has been chewed – and let’s face it – gerbils chew everything…
Apple Tree Flowers – commonly known as blossom. I can’t find any evidence on whether they are edible or not. Many blossoms/flowers are – like courgette flowers – but I haven’t found anything either way for apple blossom.
Photo by TooFarNorth