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What do you feed your mice?

Iguanagirl8662

Iguanagirl8662

Katie
I would like to know what you feed your mice? Right now I'm feeding mine mice food from Petsmart but I don't know how healthy it is. I want to keep them as healthy as possible, one because the adults are my pets and the babies I feed to my snakes and want them to be a good meal for them.
 
I use a really good pellet food I buy from a local feed store called Mazuri rodent, and also to a lesser degree a "critter mix" blend of seeds and grains. I know the pellets are 100% complete nutrition but it just seems so boring to have to eat lab blocks day in and day out, so every few days I give them a little handful of the critter mix as a treat.
 
Igirl, I just got a pregnant mouse tonight. They told me to just feed her what I'm feeding my hamster. I started her off with some seeds that state (vitamin and mineral enriched, calcium enriched.) I literally was really to check out when she brought this little girl to me, and I didn't want to hold up the line. What are you feeding? A specialty mouse formula? This has sweet potato, red bell peppers, celery, timothy hay, stuff like that. Crude protein is 12% and fat is 4%. What's your analysis say if you don't mind me asking?
 
Jen, I have those lab blocks, too. They don't seem nearly as well received as the seed mix, though. I should probably feed them more of the blocks.
 
ghosthousecorns said:
I use a really good pellet food I buy from a local feed store called Mazuri rodent, and also to a lesser degree a "critter mix" blend of seeds and grains. I know the pellets are 100% complete nutrition but it just seems so boring to have to eat lab blocks day in and day out, so every few days I give them a little handful of the critter mix as a treat.
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I've heard that is good, our feed store uses that for their mice so I can probably get them to order some for me too.
 
i feed the Kaytee brand of mouse food...they all do well. its a mix of pellets, seeds, veggies, fruit, and other stuff.
 
LBoz said:
Igirl, I just got a pregnant mouse tonight. They told me to just feed her what I'm feeding my hamster. I started her off with some seeds that state (vitamin and mineral enriched, calcium enriched.) I literally was really to check out when she brought this little girl to me, and I didn't want to hold up the line. What are you feeding? A specialty mouse formula? This has sweet potato, red bell peppers, celery, timothy hay, stuff like that. Crude protein is 12% and fat is 4%. What's your analysis say if you don't mind me asking?
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I'm feeding them Nutriphase mouse/rat formula it has 16% Crude Protein, 7% Crude Fat, and 10% Crude Fiber. It has a mixture of seeds and pellets.
 
Ahh, thanks. I guess I should go get some true mouse food for the higher protein and fat content. I have the nutriphase gold blocks too, but I don't have the original bag. Eh, what's another mouth to feed. ;)
 
lab block meant for breeding rodents is by far the best diet. Seed mixes may be preferred by the mice, but they are not as nutritious because they pick and choose what they want to eat (sunflower seed) and don't receive the full nutrition from the mix.

Avoid pet stores. Mostdo not even carry lab blocks, and if so they are Kaytee brand which is the lowest quality. Their prices are ridiculously high as well.

A good feed store that is a Purina dealer should be able to get Mazuri rodent breeder block, 6F forumla is the most popular and works well for rats and mice. You should eb able to get a 50 lb bag for $20-$25. Some feed stores will also break up the bags and sell in 5 or 10 lb amounts.

With a lab block you can also use a "lab block hopper", a small cage made out of 1/2" hardware mesh that holds the food. They have to break off pieces of block through the wires and are not able to waste all the food by hiding it in dirty bedding.

For the cost alone you are better off getting lab blocks from a feed store, look at the price. for a 50 lb bag its $0.50 per lb, Maybe up to $1.00 per lb if sold in smaller amounts. Seed mixes at a pet store are usually $2-$3 per lb or more. PetSmart sometimes sells Mazuri in 2 lb bags for $7! Pet stores rip you off.
 
Forgot to add, if 50 lbs is too much you can freeze some of it and it will be good for over a year. Shelf life for Mazuri or Purina LabDiet is 9 months.
 
I use the Mazuri rodent pellets as well, have for years. I used to make my own mixture before I found a local feed store that would carry the Mazuri pellets in the quantity I need (I buy 250# at a time and get a quantity discount). I used cracked corn, whole oats, a small amount of sunflower seeds (very optional, but I was more of a newbie then) and a cheap brand of dog food (Ol' Roy adult). Most of the diet was the corn and oats, but the sunflower seeds and dog food made up about 25% of the total mixture. There was more of a mess to clean up, but the rodents did very well on it. I'm thinking of perhaps using it again if the price of the Mazuri keeps going up, but removing the sunflower seeds and adding raw fruits and veggies a few times a week. I will have to do some price comparisons as it's been awhile since I've looked at the price of 100# bags of corn and oats.
 
Good info, guys! IGirl, I'm glad you posted this last night. I got my mouse gal ready to birth in the next few days or so, so I'm not sure it will help now, but I'll get her started on a quality food for next time. I'll be culling the babies I get from her this week, so I'm obviously not concerned about their diet.
 
Thanks everyone, I'm going to ask our local feed store if I can buy some Mazuri pellets off them since it's what they feed their mice and every once in awhile feed them fruits and veggies along with alittle seeds since they like them.
 
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