food location in large single mouse wire cage

by milanovich Thu 04 Jun 2020, 6:17 am

cage coming today for my little found wild mouse -- he is young but has been eating during the forever time it has taken the cage to arrive and comes out of his little temporary nest 2 or 3 times a day. . I want to know if it is better to put several small jar tops of food spread around he main floor of the cage or to put it all in one larger jar top.

Food is vitasmart parakeet food , vitaprima sun salad for dwarf hamsters plus bits of fresh apple, carrot, avacado, dandelion leaf, and once or twice a week a tiny bit of cheese.

Cage size is 24long x 14wide x 11high. (Favela Hamster Cage) Going to wrap it in hardware cloth until Malo Pita is bigger.

Thanks much for any advice.

by Robin~ Thu 04 Jun 2020, 10:31 am

Hello!

There's really not even much of a need for bowls to begin with--scattering is a great form of enrichment, especially for a wild mouse who would be used to foraging.

As for the food, I'm not an expert on wild mouse foods, but I would strongly suggest adding in a pellet/seed mix that's fortified for mice/rats. Parakeets and hamsters have very different nutritional requirements compared to mice, so you'll need some sort of properly fortified base. I personally use Oxbow Adult Rat pellets. Using the Oxbow Young Rat/Mouse food is discouraged as the ingredients are worse (mainly timothy and corn) and it has been correlated with some premature deaths. Science Selective Rat food is also a good option.

As for fresh foods, avocado and cheese are unsafe to feed. Avocado is known to be unsafe for other, more well-studied animals like dogs and mice are lactose intolerant (despite all the myths about mice loving cheese). Apple and carrot are nice to feed on occasion but should be limited as they are high in sugar; I wouldn't feed them more than twice a week.
Something like a salad mix with no added dressings acts as a nice, varied base, then you can add other veggies like peas, broccoli, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, dandelion leaves, etc for added nutrients (leaves tend to not be super high in vitamins). Animal proteins are also great to add--boiled poultry and reptile feeder insects (live or freeze-dried) make for great options.

I hope this helps!

by milanovich Thu 04 Jun 2020, 11:15 am

Hi Robin -- and thanks --
I don't think this guy is old enough to have foraged enough to be used to it ---- -- body was only 1-1/4" long (tail longer) when I found him. I thought this might be a good way to find out what he likes.

Will stop with apple and avacado --
I do break up Forti-Diet Mouse, rat, and hamster food -- pretty good ingredients and because he's so small, I break it up with pliers. The Vita Prima Sun Salad looks fairly enticing with a lot of good stuff in it --alfalfa meal, peas, flaked soybeans, carrots, split red lentil seeds, parsley, sweet potato.
I can't wait for him to be freed up in his cage. The "bowls" are milk jug caps -- very small.

ALSO, I don't know how to reply without the quote.

Thanks so much for your help.

Clair

Robin~ wrote:Hello!

There's really not even much of a need for bowls to begin with--scattering is a great form of enrichment, especially for a wild mouse who would be used to foraging.

As for the food, I'm not an expert on wild mouse foods, but I would strongly suggest adding in a pellet/seed mix that's fortified for mice/rats. Parakeets and hamsters have very different nutritional requirements compared to mice, so you'll need some sort of properly fortified base. I personally use Oxbow Adult Rat pellets. Using the Oxbow Young Rat/Mouse food is discouraged as the ingredients are worse (mainly timothy and corn) and it has been correlated with some premature deaths. Science Selective Rat food is also a good option.

As for fresh foods, avocado and cheese are unsafe to feed. Avocado is known to be unsafe for other, more well-studied animals like dogs and mice are lactose intolerant (despite all the myths about mice loving cheese). Apple and carrot are nice to feed on occasion but should be limited as they are high in sugar; I wouldn't feed them more than twice a week.
Something like a salad mix with no added dressings acts as a nice, varied base, then you can add other veggies like peas, broccoli, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, dandelion leaves, etc for added nutrients (leaves tend to not be super high in vitamins). Animal proteins are also great to add--boiled poultry and reptile feeder insects (live or freeze-dried) make for great options.

I hope this helps!

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food location in large single mouse wire cage

food location in large single mouse wire cage

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Re: food location in large single mouse wire cage

Re: food location in large single mouse wire cage