What do you feed your mice??

by goldfishfanforever Fri 03 Jun 2016, 9:05 am

I was wondering what do you guys feed your mice so I can see if any of the food is available for me to purchase Smile

by SoBrill Fri 03 Jun 2016, 9:11 am

I'm currently in the process of switching my mice from Brown's Tropical Carnival Gourmet Hamster/Gerbil to Vitakraft Vitasmart Parakeet Food. c:

by GabbiLuvsMice Fri 03 Jun 2016, 9:14 am

I believe I use vitakraft vitasmart mouse and rat, it may also be hamster and gerbil but I don't think so. You don't want corn in the first five ingredients.

by CallaLily Fri 03 Jun 2016, 9:21 am

I'm using Brown's Tropical Carnival at the moment, considering switching. I used to use Healthy Select Parakeet.

I also have additional grains, seeds, nuts, insects that I add in each time I refill the food dish (as it's emptied). And fresh foods at least twice a week.

by CinnamonPearl Fri 03 Jun 2016, 9:26 am

I feed Sunseed Vita conure. If you want my advice, avoid Brown's tropical carnival like the plague. A lot of people recommend it for its nutrition, but the amount of times I've received moldy bags from them is alarming. Sunseed Vita and Vitakraft are both good brands.

by MouseLover Fri 03 Jun 2016, 12:30 pm

Just noticed you're in the UK. I could be mistaken, but as far as I'm aware we don't get the foods mentioned here.

I am currently using a mixture of two foods, both of which are available on Amazon. I'll give you my opinion on both Smile

#1: Supreme science selective mouse food. This is basically like a mouse-kibble. All the pieces look the same and have the same nutritional value (like a lab block). Pros: This is the food which lots of vets recommend in the UK, as it meets the recommended daily guidelines for mice, and it has good, natural ingredients (such as wholemeal wheat flour, hazelnuts, oats, dried apple). The kibble style prevents selective feeding, which helps your mouse get a more balanced diet. Cons: Having all your food pieces exactly the same can be boring for mice, which is why I use two types of food (however, my mice LOVE it and they always eat this first). The pieces are quite big for a mouse, so I take the time to break them into thirds so that the mice find it easier to pick up. Also there is no animal protein in this food, so if you want to use it I'd consider giving your mice occasional meal worms or something, as I believe they benefit from animal protein now and again.

#2: Beaphar XtraVital mouse food. This is more of a classic mixture/muesli type of food with various bits and pieces in there. Pros: Contains some animal protein (from turkey if I remember correctly) which is a nice bonus. It also contains a herb called echinacea to boost the mouse's immune system... I was skeptical about this so did some research! I found lots of scientific research articles that showed that mice who had echinacea in their diets lived longer and were less likely to develop cancer. Cons: My mice sometimes pick and choose their favourite bits and ignore others, meaning that they may not always be getting a balanced diet (which is why I decided to try some of the other type).

These foods have 14 and 15% protein. Lots of (american) sources will recommend 13% protein for mice, but most British mice need a little bit more. I also give my mice tiny bits of fruits of veggies a few times a week - the easiest way to do so (I find) is to just give them little bits of what I'm having Very Happy

Hope this helps!

by CinnamonPearl Fri 03 Jun 2016, 12:37 pm

I have to recommend against using lab blocks or kibble types of food. To eat the same thing, day after day, is extremely boring for mice and can even be mentally taxing. Mice get a huge amount of stimulation every day from getting to choose and shuck their food. Seeds are much better and more natural for them.

by goldfishfanforever Fri 03 Jun 2016, 12:59 pm

Thanks everyone for replying and sorry I couldn't get back and reply sooner I was helping at one of my local vets. As mouselover mentioned I didn't think we could get the American foods here but I will try hunting them down if they are better than some of the UK ones although I will look into the ones mouselover has mentioned as well Smile

.

by CallaLily Fri 03 Jun 2016, 1:18 pm

I've looked at that Supreme Science Selective before and so wish they sold it here! I would definitely try it if they did.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the 12-14% crude protein recommendation given here (and in other U.S. based groups) is for the average pet shop mouse. Better tracked lines and/or breeders may need more. Just wanted to add that for anyone reading, just to clarify.

by MouseLover Fri 03 Jun 2016, 1:59 pm

CinnamonPearl - generally I agree about lab block/kibble being boring. That's why I offer 2 different mouse foods, plus other bits and pieces get added, so I'm sure they're not bored. But my girls dig through their food bowl and specifically pick out all the supreme science pieces and eat that first, so they really love it Smile

As the pieces are nutritionally balanced, I'm glad that they like it so much, and I'm sure they're getting a more balanced diet this way.

by CinnamonPearl Fri 03 Jun 2016, 2:20 pm

Well, I can't argue with mice! It is pretty weird that they like blocks better than seeds though. When I first got Egg and Lilith, both of them were more than happy to toss away blocks in exchange for seeds.

by CallaLily Fri 03 Jun 2016, 2:26 pm

CinnamonPearl wrote:both of them were more than happy to toss away blocks in exchange for seeds.

The mouse block foods in the U.S. are junk anyway. At least all the kinds I've looked at. Thumbs Down

by goldfishfanforever Fri 03 Jun 2016, 5:19 pm

Okay so there seems to be some disagreement so maybe I should try some different mixes and some supreme science mixed together for a varied diet??

by MouseLover Fri 03 Jun 2016, 7:26 pm

Lab block and kibble type food gets a bad wrap, because there are some bad ones out there (as CallaLily said), and because they can be boring. But the nutritional values of the selective science food are very good, and as I said, my mice love them and I am certain they are very palatable to mice Smile

But to give more variety, as I said, I like to mix a bit of the other food in, and then add occasional things like fruit/veggies, mealworms, seeds/nuts and treats.

If you get some mice, you could try a few different things and see what they like Smile

You'll find what works for them Thumbs Up

by goldfishfanforever Fri 03 Jun 2016, 10:28 pm

MouseLover wrote:Lab block and kibble type food gets a bad wrap, because there are some bad ones out there (as CallaLily said), and because they can be boring. But the nutritional values of the selective science food are very good, and as I said, my mice love them and I am certain they are very palatable to mice But to give more variety, as I said, I like to mix a bit of the other food in, and then add occasional things like fruit/veggies, mealworms, seeds/nuts and treats.

If you get some mice, you could try a few different things and see what they like You'll find what works for them

Okay yeah I can just test a few feeds and see which they like the best Smile

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