Homemade Mouse Mix
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Homemade Mouse Mix
by Mousetropolis Mon 01 May 2017, 3:55 pm
I'm sure there have been other topics on this, and I'm sorry, but this is my first time making a mix for my girls and I'd like some feedback. I'm thinking about maybe breeding in the future because there are absolutely no breeders in my area and I'm totally in love with my mousers, so I'd like to get a handle on proper nutrition before I start that project. I couldn't really find a food in the stores that I liked much. Two of my girls are yellow mice, and I've read that they tend to get fat no matter what you do, so I'm trying to find something that's not too fatty to keep them as healthy as I can.
Here's my mix:
-I used Higgins Vita Garden rat and mouse food as a base, after I (tediously...) picked all the corn out
-Oxbow Essentials mouse & young rat pellets
-Plain rolled oats
-An off-brand cheerio-type cereal I got at the natural food store
-A bit(not a lot) of dry tricolor pasta
They also get the occasional fresh veggies, broccoli, collared greens, spinach, etc.
Let me know what you think!
Here's my mix:
-I used Higgins Vita Garden rat and mouse food as a base, after I (tediously...) picked all the corn out
-Oxbow Essentials mouse & young rat pellets
-Plain rolled oats
-An off-brand cheerio-type cereal I got at the natural food store
-A bit(not a lot) of dry tricolor pasta
They also get the occasional fresh veggies, broccoli, collared greens, spinach, etc.
Let me know what you think!
Mousetropolis- Jr Member
- Join date : 2017-04-08
Posts : 29
Re: Homemade Mouse Mix
by CallaLily Mon 01 May 2017, 6:32 pm
I'm personally not too crazy about oxbow's mouse food because of the ingredients mainly. What does the protein, fat, and fiber work out to? In what amounts are you adding each food? Another thing I like to pay attention to is the variety of whole foods in the mix.
CallaLily- Hero Member
- Join date : 2016-04-03
Posts : 3937
Re: Homemade Mouse Mix
by Mousetropolis Mon 01 May 2017, 8:52 pm
I'm not really fond of the oxbow pellets myself, they're really high in protein, but they're the only pellet-type food that I've found. I try to make sure they don't get more than one per feeding. I'm probably going to switch to the adult rat pellet in my next mix, honestly.
Into a 2.5 pound bag of the Higgins food, I mix about half an 11 oz box of cereal, about half a 12 oz box of the pasta, and 1 cup of oats. I'm not entirely sure how to work out the protein, fat, and fiber in the end.
Into a 2.5 pound bag of the Higgins food, I mix about half an 11 oz box of cereal, about half a 12 oz box of the pasta, and 1 cup of oats. I'm not entirely sure how to work out the protein, fat, and fiber in the end.
Mousetropolis- Jr Member
- Join date : 2017-04-08
Posts : 29
Re: Homemade Mouse Mix
by CallaLily Mon 01 May 2017, 9:22 pm
It's fairly easy to work out.
Weight of food A × % of nutrient = sum
+
Weight of food B × % of nutrient = sum
(continue for each individual food)
Then divide that number by the total weight of the whole mix, and that's your answer.
To figure out the % in people foods (ignore the daily value, that's for us) it's grams of nutrient/grams of serving size=answer.
If I'm confusing this, it's all explained much better here: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/102287-hamster-nutrition-iii-calculating-the-guaranteed-analysis-of-a-mixed-diet/page-1. It's a post on a hamster forum but the same methods can be applied to a mouse mix to figure out the protein, fat, and fiber.
I personally don't add pasta or breakfast cereals to my mix. I use those more as treats. I prefer to add whole or rolled grains to their regular mix instead. Higgins Vita Garden isn't terrible but it is pretty low on variety. I would look into using a parakeet mix as a base or one of the other suggested commercial foods found here, but if you prefer the Higgins Vita Garden that's fine. I would just try to add more to boost the variety. Oxbow's adult rat food does have much better ingredients, and lower protein I believe.
Sorry my first post was short. I was at my nephew's ball game.
Weight of food A × % of nutrient = sum
+
Weight of food B × % of nutrient = sum
(continue for each individual food)
Then divide that number by the total weight of the whole mix, and that's your answer.
To figure out the % in people foods (ignore the daily value, that's for us) it's grams of nutrient/grams of serving size=answer.
If I'm confusing this, it's all explained much better here: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/102287-hamster-nutrition-iii-calculating-the-guaranteed-analysis-of-a-mixed-diet/page-1. It's a post on a hamster forum but the same methods can be applied to a mouse mix to figure out the protein, fat, and fiber.
I personally don't add pasta or breakfast cereals to my mix. I use those more as treats. I prefer to add whole or rolled grains to their regular mix instead. Higgins Vita Garden isn't terrible but it is pretty low on variety. I would look into using a parakeet mix as a base or one of the other suggested commercial foods found here, but if you prefer the Higgins Vita Garden that's fine. I would just try to add more to boost the variety. Oxbow's adult rat food does have much better ingredients, and lower protein I believe.
Sorry my first post was short. I was at my nephew's ball game.
CallaLily- Hero Member
- Join date : 2016-04-03
Posts : 3937
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