Whats the best mouse diet?

by Oreoandfriends Wed 25 Jul 2018, 8:28 pm

I recently got my first mouse, Chip but I have some questions on the diet. In my research, I decided to get Browns tropical carnival hamster and gerbil mix along with mazuri blocks to supplement it. Many people reccomended it so I got it. When I opened the bag I was surprised to see all the unessesary colorings and how many things I had to pick out! Since im dissapointed with this food, what would you guys reccomend for the BEST possible commercial food mix? I would like to buy one available in pet stores but im willing to order food too if its the healthiest! My last question is, how much do I feed him? I have a hamster that is a "grazer" but Chip ate his whole bowl in a night and I dont want to over feed! Mouse

by Artistwolf Wed 25 Jul 2018, 8:53 pm

Sunseed vita prima parakeet or vitakraft vitasmart parakeet is actually very good! Despite the fact that it’s marketed for parakeets, it’s very good for mice, too.
I wouldn’t bother with the mazuri blocks but it probably won’t cause any problems to give them.
And mice should be given all the food they want Smile

They’ve got very fast metabolisms so don’t worry about how much they eat.

Edit: Oh, and check out this thread: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t15-mouse-diet

by CallaLily Thu 26 Jul 2018, 1:49 pm

Unfortunately there isn't one commercial food out there that is perfect. Especially when you’re looking at mouse or rodent specific foods. I agree with Artist, a good parakeet seed mix is your best base food. Then consider looking into adding in some other grains and things to round it out. This is what I’ve had the best results with for my mice and now use the same basic idea for my gerbils. I choose a healthy parakeet seed mix that has good variety already and then I add measured amounts of things like buckwheat, a 7 grain+flax mix, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, dried herbs, etc. There’s some great info on mixing foods and how to calculate nutrition info over on Hamster Hideout. Just be sure to go for the recommended percentages for mice, not hamsters - which for your average pet shop mouse is 12-14% crude protein, 5-7% crude fat, and <10% crude fiber. If your mice are from well tracked lines your breeder should be able to give you advice on what works best for their line.

I personally think mazuri is a junky food, mostly corn and some of their recipes have too much protein. But I understand the desire to round out a good seed mix with a good block. I use Supreme Science Selective Mouse which I order in from viovet. Sometimes it or their rat recipe are available on Amazon. Either are good, they’re very similar. But I know there are others that are perfectly happy with mazuri. It comes down to what works for you and your mice.

Then I supplement all of that with feeder insects (mostly dried for convenience) and small amounts of fresh fruit/veg a few times a week. And of course fresh water at all times.

Their base mix should also be available at all times. Mice have very high metabolisms and need to eat very frequent small meals throughout the day/night. Their main food should never be restricted but to try to prevent selective feeding I only refill their food dish when it’s mostly empty. Be sure not to mistake empty seed husks for a full dish. During weekly cleans you should be able to get a better feel for if you’re feeding enough. If there’s a lot of food left hidden, you know it’s too much. If there’s hardly any, too little.

I hope this helps. Smile

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