• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Does anyone make their own mouse/rat food?

nlt71

nlt71

New member
I am slowly getting into raising my own mice and rats. I would like to start mixing my own foods to try to avoid buying the expensive mixes at the store. We live in a rural area and have access to feed stores.

Does anyone have recipes that they use? What are some things that I should avoid in the mix?

Thanks
 
FRESH FOOD

I hope you don't mind me tagging onto your thread nlt71, but I am also interested in this topic. I have yet to start a colony though. What I'd also like to know is in addition to dry feed, Does anyone know what types of organic veggies, grains I could grow in my garden to supplement the rodents diet, that would be beneficial for the snakes also? thanks, Kyle :)
 
I make my own since I have pet rats. :crazy02:

http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html I use a variation on this, with some ingredient jiggling and a different brand of high quality dog kibble.

http://www.petratscanada.com/forbidden_foods.htm Useful for the health of the little buggers.

If you have access to the feed store as you said, Purina also makes nutritionally complete rodent diet blocks that you may be able to order through them, although supplementing with fresh veg/fruit isn't a bad idea with those.

The seed mixes from pet stores are pretty much absolute trash and suck for rats.
 
Thank you for the information! I didn't know that corn could be bad for them. All of the commercial mixes have corn in them.

There are some really good ideas. We have some good, natural sources around here.
 
AMBER said:
I hope you don't mind me tagging onto your thread nlt71, but I am also interested in this topic. I have yet to start a colony though. What I'd also like to know is in addition to dry feed, Does anyone know what types of organic veggies, grains I could grow in my garden to supplement the rodents diet, that would be beneficial for the snakes also? thanks, Kyle :)
Click to expand...

No problem--I'm glad that someone else can use this information.
 
Until a local feed store started carrying Mazuri rodent food, I had to create my own diet that worked very well for my mice and rat colonies for many years. I would mix 2 parts cracked corn (never had an issue using this), 2 parts whole oats, 1 part Sunflower seed and 1 part non-dyed dog food with the lowest protein level I could find (Ol' Roy adult fit the bill back then, before the company made minor improvements to their diet).
 
I have fed my rats and mice most every commercial diet going over the years, and the diet I feed them is based on the ingredients of my favourite mixes, and a particular home-made diet popular in the UK.

The main ingredients are:
5 scoops (20%) - Flaked peas
4 scoops (16%) - Flaked wheat
4 scoops (16%) - Flaked maize
4 scoops (16%) - Bruised oats
4 scoops (16%) - Flaked barley,
3 scoops (12%) - Dogfood (whatever brand I am currently favouring)
1 scoop (4%) - Parrot food (mixed seeds and nuts)

I also add some dried whole peas, pasta, bits and bobs of other straight cereals, and other things I pick up at the wholesalers at a random basis, to add a bit of interest. For mice and multimammates, I also give sprigs of millet on a regular basis (once a week or so).

Fresh fruit and vegetables - I don't tend to feed fruit, but vegetable wise I give mainly three different things - curly kale, broccoli, and carrots. Curly kale provides an incredible amount of calcium, a trace element which is lacking in practically every captive rodent, and I consider it to be essential. It's not always available, but when it's not it can be substituted with spring greens or dandelion leaves. When it is available I buy it all and freeze it, it can be fed straight from the freezer.

I think choosing a food, especially for feeder rodents, is hugely important. I will not feed my rodents anything with artificial preservatives or colouring in - most cheap dogfood contains BHT or Ethoxyquin (this does not have to be declared on the label). My concern is not only the initial health risks to the rodent, but the chance that these chemicals will build up in the snakes fed on them - maybe no short term effects, but I don't feel it's an area where you can be too careful!

Even choosing to use a premium dogfood, this diet actually works out a lot cheaper for me than buying sacks of "rodent lab blocks".
 
I would have to agree with the others that a lab block is far less expensive than mixing your own feed. Mazuri 6F made by Purina has really help my production levels immensely. I have seen larger litters in most of the rats, and some females have actually taken to given me 2 litters a month, depending on the length of the month. I pay under $20 for 50# and with approx. 40 adult rats it lasts me almost 6 weeks. I have been very impressed. Hope this helps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top