Can hamster and gerbil foods be fed to mice?

by libbylovesmice Tue 28 Jun 2016, 2:57 pm

I currently have two gerbils and am thinking about getting mice. Can I just use my gerbil's food with them? It's called Carefresh Complete Menu. Here are the ingredients -

Whole corn, soybean meal, oat groats, whole wheat, wheat mill run, ground barley, split green peas, sun-cured alfalfa hay, grass hay (timothy, orchard, brome), whole safflower, dried carrot, yeast culture, dried cane molasses, salt, sodium bentonite, sodium phosphate, lignin sulfonate, flaxseed (source of omega-3 fatty acids), soybean oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), choline chloride, calcium carbonate, L-lysine, DL-methionine, yucca schidigera extract, vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, iron sulfate, zinc proteinate, niacin, selenium yeast, copper sulfate, biotin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, sodium selenite, vitamin B2 riboflavin, vitamin B1 thiamin mononitrate, magnesium sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin B6 pyridoxine HCl, folic acid, cobalt carbonate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, calcium iodate and ethylenediamine dihydroiodide (source of iodine)

Sorry if this is a stupid question. I'm new to this mice stuff! Laughing

Also, are they're any other good mouse foods? Thank you all!

by CinnamonPearl Tue 28 Jun 2016, 3:04 pm

The ingredients don't sound very good for mice. Corn and soy are the top two ingredients, and neither of those are very healthy for mice.

The important thing to think about when choosing mouse food is both variety and crude protein levels. You want to pick a food that has a good health variety and CP levels between 12-14%. Note that crude protein and protein are different. Most of us on here actually do feed our mice food intended for hamsters or parrots. Food advertised for mice and rats is some of the worst out there, so we avoid it. Some good brands are Sunseed Vita (what I feed my girls) and Vitakraft. Brown's Tropical Carnival hamster and gerbil is also recommended, but I personally can't stand it, as they often sell moldy bags. Whatever food you choose, you will have to pick out striped sunflower seeds, peanuts, and raisins. These are unhealthy and allergenic.

And don't worry about asking silly questions! You're here to learn, after all. Smile

by libbylovesmice Tue 28 Jun 2016, 3:14 pm

Thank you CinnamonPearl! I do have to find a peanut-free food, as I am extremely allergic. I'm totally cool with picking stuff out of food though! I used to do that with my gerbil's old food, until I realized it had peanuts in it and I had to discontinue use of it Smile

by CinnamonPearl Tue 28 Jun 2016, 3:30 pm

I'm pretty sure that Vitakraft doesn't include peanuts. I'm unfamiliar with it, but the members here who use it have said that it includes no ingredients that need to be picked out, which includes peanuts.

by CallaLily Tue 28 Jun 2016, 5:28 pm

I used to feed my girls Healthy Select Parakeet food. There are no peanuts or sunflower seeds. Another plus I liked was no added dyes or artificial flavor. It became harder to find for me though so I ended up switching to Brown's.

Be careful with the Vitakraft. I came across a bag of one of their parakeet mixes.....I think one labeled as "natural" but I don't remember for certain.....and that mix had a great deal of peanuts in it. But other mixes of theirs contain less or maybe none at all. You'll just have to double check labels.

EDIT to correct. I did some looking and the mix I'm remebering was Sunsations Natural Parakeet, not VitaKraft. Same company though. Sorry for the confusion.

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Can hamster and gerbil foods be fed to mice?

Can hamster and gerbil foods be fed to mice?

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Re: Can hamster and gerbil foods be fed to mice?