First mouse tips?

by shroomsprite Sat 14 Mar 2020, 8:07 pm

Decided to put this in the nutrition section as it is somewhat fitting!
I’m planning on perhaps getting a singular male mouse as my first (and housing in a bin cage) and wanted to directly ask some questions as there’s loads of discrepancy online from person to person.
My only rodent experience is with a male Syrian hamster named Wembley who's fed on Higgins sunburst, though I know this is too sugary for mice metabolism. I also have Hagen gourmet hamster and gerbil for backup for him though this has dried fruit too but a CP of 13% so I thought I’d mention it. I occasionally feed him veggies but he has sensitive digestion.
My main questions were with food, how often do you feed? With my hamster I feed him every second day since they pouch and to avoid selective feeding, but with mice do you just feed once the bowl is empty? Once a day? Or every second? I’ve heard one tablespoon is fine for one mouse. Also do you feed seed mix everyday? Some people have said they feed mainly lab block and only seeds for a treat and not a regular everyday food, so which is better? I know i have Browns Tropical Carnival accessible, and I will look for Sunseed and parakeet Vitakraft Vitasmart as I’ve heard they’re good, which is the best in your opinion? Also I’ve heard people pick out sunflower seeds, peanuts and corn since they’re cancer causing ? So would you feed seed mix every time you feed on it’s own besides the days you offer meat, treats etc or do you need to mix your seed mix with something for everytime you feed?
Another question about bringing him home, I’m going to keep him in my bedroom away from my hamster for a week to make sure he’s healthy, though I sleep with a fan for white noise that’s a bit loud, would that bother him?
Also what’s the likelihood of a male getting cancer and what can you do to prevent this besides limiting corn? Thanks so much, sorry for so many questions, I just thought it’d help to get a direct answer instead of from different sites. Smile

by shroomsprite Sat 14 Mar 2020, 8:10 pm

Link to Hagen: https://www.manjapets.com/hagen-gourmet-hamster-and-gerbil-mix-food-1kg
Link to Sunburst: http://www.higginspremium.com/sunburst-hamster-gerbil
Like I said I don’t think they’d work for mice but thought I’d mention them.

by Robin~ Sun 15 Mar 2020, 8:45 am

Hello!

It seems like you’ve come across a wide variety of misconceptions! Unfortunately there’s a lot of incorrect information out there about mice, so it’s easy to slip up.

To start, mice can absolutely have fruits! Their metabolisms are actually really high, so they can handle fruit as well as any hamster could.

Peanuts, corn, and sunflower seeds do not cause cancer (I’d think we’d have more concern fo eating them as humans if that were the case!), but peanuts and sunflower seeds are common allergens in poorly-bred mice, so you’ll want to keep them out of the main diet if you don’t buy from an ethical breeder. Corn is perfectly fine in a diet, but too much can indicate a low-quality food.

Also, picking any food out of the mix is very bad for your pets. This causes the GA and micronutrient labels to become inaccurate and you can risk making your mouse malnourished. You should pick out a food that’s high quality in the first place and doesn’t contain potential allergens so the GA remains accurate.

Again, there’s tons upon tons of misinformation out there, so please don’t feel bad! It’s all a part of being an owner of a less common pet.

As for your other questions...

I wouldn’t use either of the hamster mixes you listed as they contain those common allergens, but if you get your boy from a breeder I think that would be ok provided you discussed this with them first.

I refill every time the bowl is empty. Unlike hamsters, mice don’t really hoard food, so if the bowl is empty it’s empty. Mice should always have access to food due to their high metabolism. For, me, I generally refill 1-2 times a day, but I also have four mice not one so it could definitely be different for you.

As for what foods to choose, there’s a very limited amount of info out there I’m afraid. I had my mice on just bird seed until my mouse got pneumonia from malnutrition and my vet recommended Oxbow, so that’s what I’m using now. It’s Oxbow Adult Rat food—the young rat/mouse is based in timothy and has a lot of corn which isn’t good and can risk malnutrition—it’s based on brown rice and my girls love it.
I feed a pinch of bird seed every few days but only really because I still have it. I have a blend of different seeds that I sprinkle in too and I feel a lot better with that—no dyes, weird bird pellets, or citrus at all. It’s made of a bunch of seeds/grains like flax, millet, chia, barley, oats, pumpkin seed, etc..
So, no set in stone answer, but I trust my vet since he works with a few rateries in my area.

As for the fan, most animals get used to that kind of stuff after a while, but perhaps finding some white noise off YouTube from a trusted channel would be better since you can use headphones.

If you have any further questions don’t hesitate to ask!

by BrendoniUrie Wed 18 Mar 2020, 11:50 am

Hey Robin, so I also feed my mice the Oxbow Rat Food, but I also add in a seed mix, as I have heard that there were reports of mice who didn't do so well when they exclusively had Oxbow. I'm not sure exactly what that entails and how common it might be, but I know I saw a warning against that on a thread on here somewhere. I think it might be worth researching a bit, just in case.

by Robin~ Wed 18 Mar 2020, 3:53 pm

BrendoniUrie wrote:Hey Robin, so I also feed my mice the Oxbow Rat Food, but I also add in a seed mix, as I have heard that there were reports of mice who didn't do so well when they exclusively had Oxbow. I'm not sure exactly what that entails and how common it might be, but I know I saw a warning against that on a thread on here somewhere. I think it might be worth researching a bit, just in case.

I believe the cases were with the young rat/mouse food, which is based on corn/timothy. My vet, several ratteries/mouseries, and several online sources I’ve found all recommend the adult rat version as a great source of nutrition as it’s based on brown rice and has fewer fillers. Smile

by chiroptera Thu 19 Mar 2020, 4:45 am

@shroomsprite

I personally don't like to feed exclusively a pellet food, as foraging is a big part of a mouse's diet and they tend to do very well on a seed mix. Granted, this IS a topic of debate; some people argue that with only providing a lab block, you can cut out selective feeding. So there's not really one "right" answer here!

I don't like Oxbow Regal Rat because the protein is a bit high for mice - for lab blocks, I use Science Selective Rat. I used to buy it on Amazon because I couldn't find it in the US in stores, BUT recently my local Petco started stocking it, which is exciting haha. I definitely wouldn't suggest the Oxbow Garden Select, as my mice and my roommate's rats always seem to hate it - I believe that's the one that's based in Timothy hay, which might explain it.

I mix the Science Selective with Vitakraft parakeet food, along with flax seed, rice, barley, and sometimes oats, nuts, and pumpkin seeds.

You can absolutely provide dry (or fresh!) fruit for mice, and as said, none of those foods are cancer-causing, but are common allergens.

I know this isn't a simple answer, but unfortunately, there's a lot of nuance here. If you're getting your mice from an ethical breeder, it's a good idea to ask what they recommend! (If you get them from pet stores... you can probably skip asking them. Wink

)

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