{"topic_id":"exotic_nutrition_gerbil","category":"exotic-pet-nutrition","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_nutrition_gerbil\ncategory: exotic-pet-nutrition\ntitle: \"Gerbil nutrition — seed-based diet and supplemental protein\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"First-hand professional veterinary reference, saved to source_file; paraphrased derived fact summary per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3. Deepened 2026-08-01.\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_gerbil.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-01\ntokens_estimated: 432\nverification:\n  method: paraphrase\n  claims: 12\n  passed: 12\n  date: 2026-08-01\nrecovered: false\npath: exotic-pet-nutrition/exotic_nutrition_gerbil/01_exotic_nutrition_gerbil.md\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"Gerbil nutrition — seed-based diet and supplemental protein\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-01\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference\"\n  needs_review: false\nlicense: paraphrase\ncopyright_note: \"Source Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is a copyrighted veterinary reference and not openly licensed; per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3 all claims are paraphrased derived fact summaries (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not verbatim quotations.\"\nauthority_tier: T3\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T3:vet-ref\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\n\n# Gerbil nutrition — seed-based diet and supplemental protein\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com), a copyrighted veterinary reference. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, the points below are paraphrased derived fact summaries: numerical values and proper nouns are preserved from the source, but sentences are rewritten and not quoted verbatim.\n\n## Claims\n\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Wild Mongolian gerbils eat green plants, roots, bulbs, seeds, cereals, fruit, and insects.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Gerbils hoard food and rarely eat feces unless undernourished.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* They do well on pelleted rodent diets with 18–20% protein.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Homemade diets, sunflower seeds, or table scraps cause nutrient deficiencies.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Sunflower seeds are high-fat and low-calcium.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* About 5–8 g/day of pelleted chow is recommended.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Diets over 4% fat raise blood cholesterol (lipemia), more pronounced in males.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Gerbils pass little urine and hard, dry droppings.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Nasal dermatitis: clean lesions and give topical or parenteral antimicrobials, but avoid streptomycin (fatal in gerbils).\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Tyzzer disease (Clostridium piliforme) is the most reported fatal infection in gerbils.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Gerbil fatal enterotoxemia (Clostridioides difficile) has followed triple-antibiotic wafers used to clear Helicobacter.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Pinworms respond to fenbendazole in feed (150 ppm, every other week for 9 weeks) or oral paste (12 mg/kg once).\n---\n## License & attribution\n\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is a copyrighted veterinary reference and is not openly licensed. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, every claim above is a paraphrased derived fact summary (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not a verbatim quotation.\n\n- https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals","sources":["exotic-pet-nutrition — Gerbil nutrition — seed-based diet and supplemental protein (retrieved 2026-08-01)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-nutrition","title":"Gerbil nutrition — seed-based diet and supplemental protein","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals","retrieved":"2026-08-01","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_gerbil.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_gerbil.txt","trust":{"authority_tier":"T3","fidelity":"paraphrase","license":"paraphrase","display_grade":"B"},"tokens_estimated":573,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}