Feed your feeders

[Lans]

What do you give to your mice? I saw somewhere some people give them cheap dog food. This is good?

I give them hamster mix and rodent blocks.

[Hurley]

People vary on what they feed them.

Lab blocks are fine. I mix a bag of medium to higher quality dog food (without dyes) with a bag of sunflower seeds and some corn and some mixed bird seed and some lab blocks. Mixed it all up in a sealing garbage pail and fed from that. I figure with variety they will get the nutrients they need to be healthy snacks for my snakes. ;)

Beware the cheapo dog food, I've seen how crappy dogs look that eat it, can't imagine it makes for good quality mice. If mice are lacking in vitamins and nutrients, they won't have them to pass on for a healthy reptile, so I feed my mice a pretty high quality diet.

[Amanda E]

Hurley gave good advice and basically does the same thing I do, except I don't mix it all up.

I give them lab blocks 24-7 and supplement them with occasional sunflower seeds, vanilla granola (not sure if it helps keep down the odor of their pee, as in adding vanilla to their water, but they like it and it can't hurt) and Iams dogs food.

When I have weanlings, I'll give them small bits of whole wheat bread. The young mice seem to like eating it instead of the hard to chew lab blocks.

[Quigs]

I just feed lab blocks to my colonies.

[bamboe32]

Mine gets lab blocks, cheap dog food and rabbit food with some additional corns from chicken food.

[JM :o)]

Mine get lab blocks~ and anything leftovers~ chicken or rib bones~ apples that got soft~ any leftovers in the fridge that no one will eat~ basically anything vaguelly edible that we won't eat I toss into the rat tubs. You should see them go for chicken or Turkey bones/skin~ you get a rat riot!!

~ I don't feed leftovers to the mice~ because it is more fun to feed them to the rats who dash to the front of the tub looking for leftovers everytime I open a tub!

[Taceas]

I feed mine high-quality lab blocks 24/7. Boring but convenient and functional.

I suppliment with Small World Vitality Suppliment, which is a pelleted diet with vitamins and natural ingredients. It's got all sorts of beneficial bacteria and probiotics, and has anise extract (licorice) which seems to really be helping, among my other tactics, to keep their urine odor down to a minimum. They really like it, and I feed a tablespoon to each colony every other day.

http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/large/September04/lg_7724_3c61f.jpg

Here's the link to it at Petsmart: http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?cm_ven=Shopping&cm_ite=ChannelAdvisorFeed&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023695&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026330&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441808059&bmUID=1103606692009
(for some reason the forum won't let me do URL's?)

And once a week each colony gets Vitakraft Yogurt Drops, one per mouse. The regular flavored ones, they don't like the berry flavored ones.

http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/large/i/inP0/inP014895large_dc69.jpg

The suppliments with the probiotics seem to really aid in their digestion, and they don't seem to waste as much food and they're looking really good with clean and shiny coats. The babies they've had ever since I started have been nice and chubby, and even the once-ragged and newly-separated weanlings are looking good.

I don't feed seed based diets, they seem to develop a taste for them and then don't want anything else. Besides, all seeds are is fat and maybe a few minor trace elements. But to each their own I suppose. Whatever works for one, doesn't have to work for us all. =)

[TripleMoonsExotic]

If an individual chooses to feed dog food, the ingredients must be read to insure their is no RED DYE in the food. The red dye is dangerous for snakes, and in high doses to every living creature. An inexpensive, SAFE, all-natural dog food is PETsMART's brand of Authority dog food. I feed my rats and mice the small bites of this brand. Another hint on selecting dog food, make sure the first 3 ingredients are MEAT. Anything that starts out with cornmeal is junk.

[lockshockbarrel]

lab blocks are the best to ensure that your reptile gets all the vitamins from the mice. Or, you can put Vitamin drops in their water or food. The Oasis ones are good.