Recipe for homemade mouse mix/diet

by Lilli's Mice Tue 14 Aug 2018, 4:14 am

Hi guys!
I'm quite new to owning mice (only had them for a year or so). Up until now, I have just been feeding my mice mouse pellets. Where I live commercial mouse mixes aren't easily available and are quite expensive, so I want to try making my own. I would really appreciate some feedback on the recipe, I don't want to hurt my mice Ear wiggle

! I would also be so grateful for some advice on the amounts.
Thanks in advance,
Lilli Wink

So here are my ingredients:
Rolled oats
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Bird seed/food
Uncooked pasta
Mealworms
Golden flax
Uncooked brown rice
Quinoa

What do you think, anything I should add or take away? WHat amounts???
Thanks again (:

by AppleCheeks Tue 14 Aug 2018, 8:31 pm

I spent most of my years breeding mice coming up with recipes etc that worked for my mice/lines - the mouse food most local stores sold were just re-labelled bird seed..

So after consulting with countless breeders (both in NZ where I live and over in Australia, UK and USA), I found one general guideline many of them had in common.
1/3 seed and 2/3 grain. Pretty simple right?

1/3 bird seed - the type depended on the mice I was feeding, older mice I focused on larger pieces because it was easier for them to grip and hold. Younger mice, it didn't matter much. This is where I would add anything like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc. Keep in mind, sunflower seeds are pretty fatty so don't add too much - plus some mice have issues with them.
I usually ended up doing 1/3 oats or barley. They're soft, cheap, fairly large pieces and helped keep weight on my oldies I had at the time.
The remaining 1/3 was a total mix, rye, barley (if I didn't use rolled barley already), wheat, linseed, quinoa, bran or cornflakes, split peas, rice bubbles, bits of coconut - the list goes on.
I'd also add a small amount of dried fruits - banana and cranberries were regulars. Also a small amount of some cheap cat or dog food. It helped boost the protein content if I felt it was needed.

As for the ingredients you listed. I'd keep meal wormed and sunflower seeds out and just use those as treats. Most bird seeds contain sunflower seeds so I don't see the point in adding more Smile

by chiroptera Tue 14 Aug 2018, 11:40 pm

Some forum members helped me out with my own mix a few months ago! There's lots of good info in the thread here: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t2388-help-with-homemade-mix Smile