Homemade Mouse Diets?

by ChaoSile Sun 22 May 2016, 10:28 am

(I apologize for how much I've been posting lately. It's very difficult finding information I need/want on mice, and I prefer asking people who I know have the proper knowledge and experience of mouse care. If this is all considered spam or something, please just let me know.)

So! I feed my mice the Sunseed Vita Prima Parakeet Formula. But! I am wondering if I could make them their own diet? As in, could I make their diet up from fresh fruits, veggies, meat (Like eggs or some other protein (I'm mostly vegan)), seeds, and nuts? I come across homemade diets, but you still use store bought food in the mixture. But, I'd like to make something 100% homemade?

by MouseLover Sun 22 May 2016, 11:02 am

Have you read the bit about home made diets at the bottom of this page?
https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t15-mouse-diet

I think it would be really difficult to make it from all fresh foods. Mice shouldn't have too many fresh fruits and veggies, as this can give them diarrhea. By all means, give them small amounts, but it shouldn't be a large part of their diet.

Mice have specific dietary needs. It would be difficult to calculate exactly what they'd be getting from your homemade food, and if you calculated it wrong, your mice could end up with vitamin/mineral deficiencies which could make them quite ill. If I were you, I would stick with a store-bought base mix, and then just add things to it.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, that's just my personal opinion Smile

by Soren Sun 22 May 2016, 11:08 pm

It's best to buy pre-mixed mouse food, specifically made for mice. Your mice aren't birds after all, they should be on food designed for mice, not parakeets.
It's assumed that mice can live on anything since they are scavengers... Which is not true. Giving them an unbalanced diet can shorten their lives and make them i'll. They can live off a variety of things... BUT you don't want them to just live, you want them to thrive under your care. That is why you should go with a good quality pre-packaged mouse food. If you insist on making something for them, you can supplement them with homemade treats. Here is a treat mix recipe from the afrma website:
http://www.afrma.org/pp_seedmixmouse.htm
Adding some treat mix occasionally will give your mice something exciting at dinnertime.

by Brynne Mon 23 May 2016, 12:42 am

Soren,

Some parakeet mixes are excellent choices for mice. In fact, "mouse" food is usually a poor choice for mice! Mouse and rat foods are too high in crude protein. Hamster/gerbil foods and parakeet foods tend to be more appropriate for mouse needs.

by scaredymouse Mon 23 May 2016, 1:20 am

I feed my mice Sunseed parakeet mix. My mice love it and it is nutritionally complete with the right amount of crude protein. It's not a good idea to make your own base mix. It's no easy task getting the correct vitamins/minerals, crude protein, fat content, etc. correct for your mice. But should still supplement it with fresh foods at least twice a week with veggies/fruit/nuts/protein.