How to make sure a mouse in a colony gets protein?

by AnonymousMouseOwner Wed 01 Feb 2017, 4:33 am

So, Holly is a very tiny, fragile little girl. She almost never wakes up during the day, and all my other girls wake up every morning for at least 20-30 minutes because they know I refill the food dish each morning, and they want first pick out of the food. With that said, Holly is always last to the food dish, and when she gets to eat, the food is already well picked through, leaving only the main ingredients like millet and wheat (in pasta form). I'm not convinced she's getting enough protein, and she just seems a little.. erm.. "slower" than the other mice, if that makes sense. By slower, I don't mean physically, I mean mentally, she isn't very aware of what's going on. She's always been like this though, so it's not unusual behavior. The other day, I left some lab blocks in the food dish right before the time she usually wakes up at night, and they were very high protein lab blocks. Then today, she seemed just more mentally alert and came out to see me.. DURING THE DAY! She never does that. It could just be a coincidence, but I think that extra protein really helped her. Tonight, I handed her a pumpkin seed, and she took it from me with her paws (I know it's not recommended to hand feed, but I wanted to make sure SHE got it and no one stole it from her), and then she set it down and looked at me like "Ok, gimmie more please!", so I gave her a grub, and she grabbed it and set it down, then looked at me again, and I handed her two more grubs, but she kept doing that..? Lol, like "Umm.. thanks... but I don't want these, why are you handing them to me?". I just don't know how to get protein to her since she is living with other mice. Any advice? She's my only mouse from Petco, and I'm sure that contributes to her being mentally slow and also tiny, but I also think getting more protein and fat in her diet would greatly help her.

by CinnamonPearl Wed 01 Feb 2017, 5:55 am

I wanna note that it's totally fine to hand feed tame mice. As for giving her protein, have you ever tried feeding scrambled egg in the tank when she's awake?

by CallaLily Wed 01 Feb 2017, 6:35 am

Yep, perfectly fine with tame mice. It's only not recommended to use when taming a new mouse. Smile

I agree with Cinnamon. You could try egg, plain cooked chicken or turkey or even occasionally salmon or sardines. My mice love the occasional dried shrimp. Walnuts. Or just keep up with the lab block. You could plop it in right when she wakes up or pull her out on her own and try feeding her there (though my girls right now ignore all food at play time Rolling Eyes

).

by scaredymouse Wed 01 Feb 2017, 8:25 am

When I feed the girls special treats I make sure everyone is awake and I scatter feed in separate areas to make sure everyone has food in front of them. Or if I'm feeding live worms, I put out a few dishes because my dominant girls are hogs. So I feed my shy girl separate and if need be, I will physically shoo away my other mice away so she can finish eating.

Such is life with big ol hungry bossy mice!

by AnonymousMouseOwner Sat 04 Feb 2017, 3:42 pm

Thank you everyone! I have been putting a high protein lab block in each night, and it seems to be making her a lot more active. Any idea how to get the fat up in her diet too? She's very skinny compared to my other mice so I think some extra fat would benefit her. Mealworms are fatty, right?

Also, is it just me or does she eat really slow? I took a video of her eating....

by CallaLily Sat 04 Feb 2017, 4:37 pm

She does look a little unwell, huh? Poor baby.

Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, mealworms, coconut, hemp seeds, flaxseed. Hopefully the extras will help. Are you keeping an eye on her weight?

by AnonymousMouseOwner Sat 04 Feb 2017, 4:48 pm

Sadly, that look isn't unusual. She always looks like that, and has always stayed at 1 ounce, (approx 28 grams). I don't think she's sick, since she's been like this since the day I got her 8 months ago. All my other mice have always been much more perkier and fatter than her. I believe it is just poor breeding because of where she was from. I feel bad for her too, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable, just slower than the others.

Edit: Oh, and, I have pumpkin seeds and walnuts so I will definitely start giving them more of those.

by scaredymouse Sat 04 Feb 2017, 6:18 pm

Aw, Holly. My little Goose was scrawny his whole life. Never weighed more than 32g. Poor guy, he always looked so rough. But my little guy was never sick a day in his life and lived to be two! Luckily he lived alone, so he never has to compete for food though!

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