Is this homemade mix alright?

by MiasMice Sun 04 Mar 2018, 4:50 am

A friend of mine that owns mice has suggested this homemade mix to me and I was wondering if it would be fine to use? I understand every mouse needs different nutrition etc. but just as a simple mix to start with. I'll put a question mark next to what I'm not sure is good for mice.

2 cups of Supreme Science Selective Rat food (which I've recently learned is okay!)
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of meadow hay cut into medium/small strands (?)
3/4 cup of uncooked pasta
1 cup of uncooked brown rice (?)
1 cup of sesame seeds (?)
1/4 cup of chia seeds (?)
1 cup of bran flakes

I've heard on this forum that you should not attempt a homemade mix but I would also like to advise to my friend if this mix is unsuitable

Edit: Also, how much should you give to a mouse everyday of their mix? The smallest I have is a 1/4 of a cup measuring cup

by CallaLily Sun 04 Mar 2018, 11:40 am

Nothing there is harmful. They don’t really eat hay much (except the seed heads) but they do like to chew and nest with it. I personally like more variety in my seed mix, but that’s just me. Do you know the final result of crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber? That’ll give a better idea on the complete mix. Measuring by weight is more accurate than cups or scoops.

I know this link is for hamsters, but it really helped me a lot when I was first learning how to calculate a homemade mix. http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/102287-hamster-nutrition-iii-calculating-the-guaranteed-analysis-of-a-mixed-diet/page-1
Just remember to go by the general recommendations for pet mice (which you can find in a sticky in this section) and not what they recommend for hamsters. I hope this helps. My only other suggestion is to read everything you can find on mouse diets. There are so many different homemade diets out there, I find this is the best way to get a better feel for what makes a good mouse diet than just blindly following someone else’s recipe. Good luck. Smile

by MiasMice Sun 04 Mar 2018, 12:59 pm

That link was very helpful! I used their handy little homemade mix calculator and it came up with 11% crude protein, 5.33% crude fat and 6.860% crude fibre. I don't think these are super accurate (but pretty close) as it's made for a hamster's diet but I know that I need more protein in the diet.

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Is this homemade mix alright?

Is this homemade mix alright?

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Re: Is this homemade mix alright?