Which food?

by Seanthebestboy Wed 08 Jan 2020, 10:16 pm

Hey guys! As some of you know, I recently got my first male. He had some serious issues when I got him (excessive grooming, pinworms, giardia, hole in his side) that he’s recovered from wonderfully! However, I’m now curious about what is a good food. I am currently feeding him this

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/manna-pro-rat-and-mouse-dry-food

But am also looking at these

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/kaytee-fiesta-food-for-mice-and-rats

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/higgins-sunburst-gourmet-rat-and-mouse-food

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/browns-tropical-carnival-natural-mouse-and-rat-daily-diet-food

Should I keep him on his current food? He was also severely underweight at 14 grams/.5 ounce when I got him. As of two weeks ago, he went up to 24 grams/.8 ounces, so a week and a half between visits. He hasn’t appeared to change in weight, not does he feel it. He typically ignores the sunflower seeds, which I now realize there’s too many in that diet. Which of these would be a better food? Any other foods you’d recommend?

by Robin~ Thu 09 Jan 2020, 11:08 am

Hello!

I’d strongly suggest having a pellet as a base. Unfortified seed mixes have the potential to cause vitamin deficiencies.

My vet recommends Mazuri Rat and Mouse, but some mice may react to the amount of protein in it. Oxbow Adult Rat (not Young Rat/Mouse) is also a good pellet and lower in protein.

You can add in variety in a smaller portion (probably closer to 20-40% of the diet) with a seed mix. I don’t think I’d outright recommend any of the foods you suggested (Kaytee is known to have an overall poor quality and the others are high in potential allergens like sunflower seeds and peanuts, and you said he’s not too fond of sunflower seeds anyways). Hamster foods actually may be a better bet in this case—since they’re both rodents with similar dietary needs and the majority of the mix is formulated for mice anyways this shouldn’t pose much of a problem. Higgins Sunburst makes a great hamster mix, and Sunscription Vita Prima Dwarf Hamster food is also pretty good. Bird seed can also be used, but I’d keep that to less than 15% of the diet because it’s often times unfortified.

by Seanthebestboy Thu 09 Jan 2020, 1:41 pm

See I was thinking about hamster food but wasn’t sure if it was safe for them. I eventually want to make my own food for him, just can’t at the moment.

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