"Gerbil diet — wild diet of vegetation/seeds/insects; hoarding; not coprophagic"
Source: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com), a copyrighted professional 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.
Claims
*[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* In the wild, Mongolian gerbils eat green vegetation, roots, bulb seeds, cereals, fruits, and insects. *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Gerbils hoard food and are not normally coprophagic (do not eat their own faeces), unless their diet lacks adequate nutrients. *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Fed standard rat/mouse diets, gerbils commonly develop gradual, silent periodontal disease after about 6 months of age. *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* On those same diets, roughly 10% of gerbils become obese, and some show reduced glucose tolerance, increased blood insulin, and diabetic changes in the pancreas and other organs.