Food

I am thinking of starting my own colony sonn, so woundering what is the best thing to feed mice, also the cheapest. What deos everu one use?

my mice do perfectly well on store brought mice/rat food. only like $3-$4 for a 2 lbs bag. i also give them some table scraps now and then.

Best/cheapest is lab blocks of some kind. preferably Purina/Mazuri or Harlan. Get a 50 lb bag for $18 on the Mazuri 6F breeder lab block. You can freeze a lot of it to make it last longer, but Purina claims 9 months shelf life. Freezing can extend this past a year

I use pig pellets around 16% protein thats what most big breeders use over here. I wasn't sure at first so I just tried it in a few tubs-the growth rate and size is so much more in developing babies than from mouse/hamster mixes. Some people believe that 16% is too high in protein but I have never found any ill effects short or longterm. Oh, although they do smell a tiny bit more.

Thanks for the info, I got the mice now and I just got the mice feed, I will try something else like pig pellets or something I dont know we will see.

i got some mice pellet and i give them carrots and treats a once in a while.

Mice and rats are omnivores ... they require some animal content in their food to thrive ... I have no idea as to a pigs dietary requirements so I have no idea if the pig pellets meet rodent criteria.

The cheapest and best thing seldom go hand in hand. The best thing is a pellet that is designed only for mice and rats.
Most "small animal mixes" have corn and alfalfa. Rats and mice cant process corn and alfalfa so it goes to waste. More waste = more smell.
Nut mixes are extremely high in fat and protein ... high protein can cause scabbies.

I feed a rodent pellet that was modeled after Harlan 2018.

Bryan

Ratsicles said:

Mice and rats are omnivores ... they require some animal content in their food to thrive ... I have no idea as to a pigs dietary requirements so I have no idea if the pig pellets meet rodent criteria.

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Pigs are also omnivores. They will eat anything you throw in the trough. There have been several recorded cases of hogs being used to dispose of murder victim's corpses. :eek1:

When we still lived in the country and raised our own, they ate primarily vegetables that a local supermarket couldn't sell, supplemented with excess goat milk. They also got any dead chickens, rabbits, etc. We didn't give them "pig chow" until six weeks before slaughter. As I said, they'll eat almost anything.

One fun fact: they don't digest the seeds when they eat tomatoes, so there were always a few tomato plants growing in the sty.