Mouse addicted to treats

by flashmom1 Sat 17 Apr 2021, 11:00 am

Hello All,

I think my mouse, Flash McDash, is addicted to treats. I have been giving him a steady diet of Mazuri blocks since I got him in December, and have tried to augment his diet with other treats (dried pasta, strawberries, bits of bananna, bits of Kale and Celery). He lost interest in the pasta pretty quick, didn't touch the strawberry or blueberry, will only eat green leafy kale once in a while, was not interested in celery or carrot). I am trying to hand train him so finally found a mouse treat that he will eat, they are a blueberry yogurt covered pellet he likes from Kaytee. He absolutely loves them and has graduated to taking them from my hand, but..the down side is, now, he won't eat his blocks. He is such a smart little stinker that when I think I am going to fool him by hand feeding him a block, he takes it from me, retreats into his hide out and buries it so I think he's eating his regular food, and will give him a treat. I'm trying not to give him treats until he eats some of his regular food. He's SMART. But, how do I break him of the addiction to make sure he is getting the nutrition he needs from his regular staple food? If I simply don't give him treats will he revert back to eating his blocks?

Thanks in advance.

by chiroptera Sat 17 Apr 2021, 3:50 pm

What a smart little boy you have!

Have you considered trying alternate blocks for his main diet? I've noticed that Mazuri does not taste very good compared to other foods. Right now, I'm babysitting some spiny mice who were on Mazuri previously, which I'm switching over to Oxbow, and they've been picking out all the Oxbow pellets and completely ignoring the Mazuri.

He might be more prone to eat his main block if it's something more appealing to him - I recommend Science Selective Rat (Oxbow was left over from my roommate's ex's rats so I'll be going back to SSR when this bag is done lol).

It's also often recommended to use a seed mix alongside a block for mice, as feeding only a block doesn't allow for the foraging behavior that mice enjoy as a natural feeding behavior, as well as offering a bit more variety in the diet which I feel is extremely beneficial for an omnivore. To avoid them refusing to eat the block at all, generally you'd only refill the bowl when most of the pellets are eaten.

by flashmom1 Sat 17 Apr 2021, 4:53 pm

Thank you for the advice. I will look for the Oxbow. I haven't seen that one though. He originally liked Mazuri. I switched him to Kaytee, he hated that, so switched him back to Mazuri which he seemed happy with til I got these treats. In the pet store where my Stepson got him they sent us home with the Mazuri as it was what they fed them there. I'm not sure he'd know what to do with the other stuff. But I can certainly try it. I keep trying different things on him, sunflower seeds, bananna, grapes, won't eat anything but the blueberry treats. I will look around for Oxbow and for a seed mix and see what I can find.

by Dee67 Sun 18 Apr 2021, 6:19 pm

My little weirdo, Figgus Newton, likes weird treats, his favourite is turnip and avocado and pecans, so you could try those healthier treats. I only give Figgus his treats at the end of a play, as he's going back in his cage, and never so much that he won't still eat his seed mix and pellets (Oxbow).

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