Picky eating

by Guest Fri 18 Dec 2020, 10:59 am

My mice are very selective on what they want to eat and it kinda concerns me because i worry they may not be getting enough nutrition and just going for all the fatty stuff, they leave there pellets (green, red, and grey in color) behind or put them elsewhere in their habitat but i dont see them ever eating them or evidence of it being eaten.

So what should i consider or do about about this?

by CuriousWhiskers Fri 18 Dec 2020, 11:51 am

I'm no expert on mice, but you could feed them a different food that just has pellets, and no seeds. If it's all the same then they can't be picky about it. It would have to be a well-balanced pellet, though. Out of curiosity, what food are you feeding now?

by Robin~ Fri 18 Dec 2020, 3:29 pm

A diet of nothing but pellets is completely unsuitable for mice. Mice are scavengers with naturally highly diverse diets; removing that is removing a critical source of enrichment. If your mouse has become picky, the best thing to do is either a) switch to a different, ideally higher-quality mix or b) wait until they finish the pellets before feeding more. Smile

by chiroptera Fri 18 Dec 2020, 5:45 pm

I know that rats are often fed only pellets, which I never really understood since they're also scavengers - but I definitely don't recommend feeding only pellets/lab blocks. Granted, they'll survive on a high-quality, suitable block just fine, but as Robin said, being able to scavenge is incredibly important for them, as well as giving a bit more variety to their diet (which I feel is honestly important to almost every animal).

With picky eaters, just wait until they eat their blocks to refill the bowl, or of course you can try another mix and see if they find that one more appealing.

by CuriousWhiskers Fri 18 Dec 2020, 7:10 pm

Robin~ wrote:A diet of nothing but pellets is completely unsuitable for mice. Mice are scavengers with naturally highly diverse diets; removing that is removing a critical source of enrichment.

chiroptera wrote:I know that rats are often fed only pellets, which I never really understood since they're also scavengers - but I definitely don't recommend feeding only pellets/lab blocks. Granted, they'll survive on a high-quality, suitable block just fine, but as Robin said, being able to scavenge is incredibly important for them, as well as giving a bit more variety to their diet (which I feel is honestly important to almost every animal).

Oh, sorry about that. I was basing it off rats, which are, as chiroptera said, usually recommended to be fed only pellets. I'm not sure why it's different with rats and mice.

by River Fri 18 Dec 2020, 10:32 pm

If they're being very picky, then they aren't getting all the nutrition in the seeds guaranteed analysis.

I scatter feed my seed mix and bowl feed my lab block. This helps. Seed mixes aren't really a whole lot more enriching if they're bowl-fed, so that's part of the fun anyway.

That said I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all diet for mice. Sometimes, you have to tailor it to fit the mouse. If your mice are picky no matter what mix you offer them, then maybe feeding more block and simply scatter feeding small amounts of treats or seed is the best option. They'd still have some foraging opportunities and wouldn't sacrifice their nutrition in the process. I have never needed to do this, though. There are many routes to go down first.

I would raise the idea of making your own mix, though? It takes a good amount of research but I do think it's an option for pickier mice. Try a few different brands first, though. My mice did well on Vitasmart Vitakraft parakeet, but my current boy doesn't seem picky about anything lol.

by Sponsored content

Picky eating

Picky eating

Re: Picky eating

Re: Picky eating

Re: Picky eating

Re: Picky eating

Re: Picky eating

Re: Picky eating