# Feeders > Breeding Mice >  What do you feed your mice

## drugaria

1) lab block
2) dog food ( bag)
3) other
4) food leftovers

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## jglass38

Mazuri 6F and leftovers.

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## Patrick Long

6f and other stuff

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## snakemanjayd

what is 6f?

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## Patrick Long

type of lab block from Mazuri

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## Shadera

Harlan Teklad 8604.

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## Bruce Whitehead

So other than supplementals... ASFs, mice, rats, can all subsist on a staple such as Mazuri or Harland (?)... just asking as I have all 3 and have decided to stop mixing my own, and want to start using a premixed feed for my breeders.

Bruce

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## RoyalGuardian

I feed my Mice  mouse food i get from petco its called Sunseed Vita- plus for mice. I have noticed this makes their poo a funny shade of yellow so I'm going to switch them to Lab blocks. Can I get that at pet co too?

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## anendeloflorien

I feed my mice and my rats Mazuri rodent diet and the breeding female rats get 6F. I get it from Blue Seal feeds for about $25 for the rodent and I think $40 for the 6F can't remember though it lasts a while lol.

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## dadspets

My mice get the same as my rats. I use hog feed from Southern States. I know many rodent breeders that use this food too. I myself have used this food for over 3 years now. Price runs 12.50 per 50 lb bag.

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## Bettacreek

Just got a small mouse colony today, but bred rats/mice before. 
Harlan Teklad 8604
Brown's Hamster Seed Mix
Leftovers

I'm going to be switching the Harlan because the petstore just discontinued it. I'm currently checking into different poultry feeds for the correct nutrient levels and ingredients to feed to the rodents. The hamster mix I use for several reasons. One, it gives them a little bit of stimulation, two, it can keep them healthier, with the necessary oils and such in the seeds that the blocks don't always provide. The leftovers are fed to add more variety (and stimulation), and because I'm a stickler for not wasting food.

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## replvr

Teklad 2018

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## gothkenny

Basically anything I can get my hands on. Fresh veggies/fruits, bagged mice food, dog food, dog treats, random leftovers. Lol!

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## WingedWolfPsion

Question about hog feed:  Have the effects of excessive copper in snakes been studied?  (For that matter, how do the rats fare with that much copper in their diet?)   I was tempted by hog feed as well, as it seems nutritionally to be VERY similar to rat lab block...but that copper really put me off).  There's enough copper in hog feed to kill a sheep who gets into it and eats it.

What might that do to our reptiles?

Copper is so heavily supplemented in hogs because they have a HUGE tolerance to it, and it's believed to help them put on weight faster.  They're given megadoses of it, it's almost impossible to find a hog feed that doesn't contain loads of copper.  Excessive copper can cause digestive problems and liver and kidney disease.

So, do ball pythons have a high tolerance for copper...or a low tolerance?  Not knowing the answer to that question, I would never feed them rodents raised on hog feed.  Those rodents certainly will contain large amounts of copper.

Information on the dangers of excessive copper in sheep: http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/sheep/articles/coppertox.html

A very unknown risk for our animals.  It's a shame, because hog feed IS very cheap, and comes in convenient blocks.

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_littleindiangirl_ (01-02-2009),Naja002 (08-14-2010),Rainfall Reptiles (07-16-2010)

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## RichardA

Other:

Blue bag cat food from wally-world.

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## truthsdeceit

My Mice:
Lab blocks, either Mazuri or the brand petco carries depending on where I manage to shop when I run out.
The pregnant and nursing ones also get some good quality dog food because the petco brand lab blocks are a little low on protein.

My Rats:
Have the lab blocks available at all times but also get a bowl of seed mix once weekly, and get treats in the form of dog food and yogis.... I'm a little attached to my rats.  :Very Happy:

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## cassandra

> Mazuri 6F and leftovers.


Most of my leftovers go to the rats, but ditto on the 6F.

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## Jenn

Rats and mice both get lab block, sunflower seeds, and bird seed mixture.

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## legionxxii

Mine get what is left over in my big bag of rabbit food when we had one. They eat everything but the little pellets picky mice. Once that is gone I will prolly end up feeding them the $65 dollar bag of Wellness dog food since I get it free.

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## Argentra

My own variation of Becky's Rodent Mix, plus Mazuri block and Science Diet senior dog food. With this mix I haven't lost a single litter, except once due to crowding issues.  :Smile:

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## grammie

> Question about hog feed:    There's enough copper in hog feed to kill a sheep who gets into it and eats it.


what is that doing to US is my questions!! :Weirdface:   I currently feed Mazuri 6f, but when it's gone I am switching to FRM rodent feed. Half the price.

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## JamieLynn

My rats and mice all eat the same thing, i get dog food but they also get some puffed rice/wheat cerial, and leftovers, and anything anyone gives me to eat that I think is gross.
(all I get comes from Walmart, the only store in town that has animal suplies-aside from the more expensive ranch suply store)

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## Weapon-x

> what is that doing to US is my questions!!  I currently feed Mazuri 6f, but when it's gone I am switching to FRM rodent feed. Half the price.



What is FRM?

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## JKExotics

I can't find f6 for the life of my in my area currently feeding Mazuri Rat and Mouse diet, but I noticed this contains more crude protein (about 23%) is that bad?

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## Wh00h0069

I don't breed mice, but do rats. I feed the rats Purinas Lab Diet 5001.

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## matt71915

i breed asf rats and feed them a special asf formula from kent
16.00 for a 50lb bag

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## amaurer2

I buy a rat or two at a time to feed my BP.  I don't have them long enough to feed them anything special.  Whatever's around.

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## Hyper Joe

Harlan 2018 .. I get bigger litters and bigger babies(kittens) compared to the waxy looking rat pellets with high fat.

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## MarkS

Lately I've been feeding a mix of lab block (Harlan) and Dog food.  I keep meaning to give them table scraps too but I keep forgetting.

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## Jay_Bunny

I feed my rodents a 50/50 diet. 50% of their diet is made up of fresh fruits, veggies, grains, cooked egg, and cooked meats. The other half is made up of Mazuri brand lab blocks.

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## chromeitout

I use Sand Valley Rodent lab block.  $21/40lbs..  I'd love to find a lower cost option that they'd still do good on, as I use about 50lbs. a week.

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## cornmorphs

my mice get rabbit food, as its the cheapest thing here.. the rats get the same rabbit food, but also half a slice of bread per rat aswell, and any eadable leftovers from dinner etc. they often end up with a lot of veggies

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## MarkS

> my mice get rabbit food, as its the cheapest thing here.. the rats get the same rabbit food, but also half a slice of bread per rat aswell, and any eadable leftovers from dinner etc. they often end up with a lot of veggies


The problem with that is that rabbit food usually contains a great deal of alfalfa which rats can not digest very well.

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## WingedWolfPsion

I would have also thought rabbit food would be much too low in protein, as rabbits are strict herbivores, and rats and mice are omnivores.

By the way, I found the copper stats on lab block, and discovered it's already as high as it is in most pig feeds.  That puts pig feed back on the table as a good alternative.

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## PyramidPythons

Both my mice and my rats receive an assortment of goodies.  Their staple consists of Forti-Diet, mixed with a general "rodent" blend of loops, seeds and dried fruit.  On top of this I give them all fresh pieces of fruits and vegetables (just be careful not to give Legume heavy items or things that could cause gas troubles).  I find that bananas, peaches and apples are great fruit sources.  Carrots, cabbage, lettuce...even cucumbers are great vegetable sources.  I also feed them a decent amount of protein, such as peanut butter, pieces of cooked chicken or pork chops.  As stated earlier, mice and rats are omnivorous, so a good balanced selection of foods really makes for healthier happier rodents.   :Wink:

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## cornball252

Sow cubes...

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## revxus

I'm learning more by reading this thread, had no idea I could feed dog food to these breeders! Now, that goes for both mice AND rats?

I have Purina Dog Chow for our dog, who also gets table scraps every so often.

But, I bought this bag of Rabbit, Gerbil and Other Small Animals with alfalfa hay but it seems like mice just ground it up and make a dust pile out of it, the rats won't even touch it so they've been stickin' to scraps?

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## Raptor

> I'm learning more by reading this thread, had no idea I could feed dog food to these breeders! Now, that goes for both mice AND rats?
> 
> I have Purina Dog Chow for our dog, who also gets table scraps every so often.
> 
> But, I bought this bag of Rabbit, Gerbil and Other Small Animals with alfalfa hay but it seems like mice just ground it up and make a dust pile out of it, the rats won't even touch it so they've been stickin' to scraps?


Mice/rats don't need roughage like alfalfa. You basically wasted your money. Rabbits have different food needs than gerbils/rats/mice/hamsters. I just buy my mice gerbil/hamster food. They do quite well on it. I get an average of 5 or six mouse pups per litter.

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## revxus

> Mice/rats don't need roughage like alfalfa. You basically wasted your money. Rabbits have different food needs than gerbils/rats/mice/hamsters. I just buy my mice gerbil/hamster food. They do quite well on it. I get an average of 5 or six mouse pups per litter.


I take that back, it's actually a Western Timothy Hay Essentials bag, 3lb bought at Walmart, and Petco employees said it was ok as long as it said "small animals" anyway, I think they're wrong just as much as I am. They're just grinding up the food and sleeping on it?

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## susi´s trainer

hi! i feed a mixture of small seeds (about 30 components, i have no idea what they are called in english  :Embarassed: ), fresh and dried herbs/blossoms/vegetables, living and dried insects, cat or ferret food,...

my basic mix for ASFs

...and for mice.

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## broadude

Rodent chow (Valley and Mazuri)
Cat food
Corn (cobs)
Apples
Oranges
Hotdogs (for fat content)
Left over chicken (again for fat content).

Rodent Chows and Catfood are mixed and served
Hotdogs or left over chicken once a week at cleaning time (especially to the nursing rats to reduce cannibalism), 

Finally, I usually throw in on sale apples, oranges and corn every other week or so it's not set in stone, but this is basically their menu.

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## revxus

> Rodent chow (Valley and Mazuri)
> Cat food
> Corn (cobs)
> Apples
> Oranges
> Hotdogs (for fat content)
> Left over chicken (again for fat content).
> 
> Rodent Chows and Catfood are mixed and served
> ...


All beef, pork or Kosher hotdogs? *lol* But really, beef or pork? Or does it matte?

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## Fearless

I switched all my rodents over to hog food, like many have talked about, due to the expense of trying to obtain a decent rodent food.  For the mice I have switched to a hog food with an 18 % protein in hopes of getting a bit bigger litters. The 16 % has worked awesome for the soft furred and rats but think the mice need a little more to get the average litter size where I think it outta be!

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## broadude

> All beef, pork or Kosher hotdogs? *lol* But really, beef or pork? Or does it matte?


I don't read the labels...I assume it does not matter.  It's the fat content that I am trying to provide to the nursing mothers (so that they don't have to cannibalize the kits).  I continue to get big plump litters until the dams are too old...then the numbers produced by that particular dam decrease...

I could be waaay off but this works for me, so I see no reason to change it, and I'd be happy to show pics of my litters of rats and mice anytime. :Smile:

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## pitoon

high protein dog food...22.5%

Pitoon

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## NotaMallard

I feed a mix of 16% protein pig feed and 23% protein lab blocks.

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## twan

pedigree large breed for my feeders.

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## PurplePython

Regular Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet

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## JennM

> What is FRM?


Its a rodent pellet that can be found in the southeastern states(AL, FL, GA, SC).  We feed FRM to our asf's, mice, and rats.  

http://www.frmfeeds.com/80712/74012.html

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## allyfair

cheese! :Dancin' Banana:

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## hmj75

> Its a rodent pellet that can be found in the southeastern states(AL, FL, GA, SC).  We feed FRM to our asf's, mice, and rats.  
> 
> http://www.frmfeeds.com/80712/74012.html


I read here someone use that feed and the rats were greasy and production was down...How long have u used it and what's your input on it...They are around here in florida but not convinced with that 25 % protein...too high in my opinion..

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## don15681

I feed mine a main diet of lab block. Dog food or cat food with dye in it, I was told won't harm the rodent but is very bad for the snake. anyone else hear anything about dye being bad for your snakes? 

my daughter is going to college this fall for Bio and when we was visiting colleges, we were talking to one professor and got on the subject of my daughter and I breeding snakes and rodents. He was telling us that one of his students did a research paper on breeding mice needing more zinc in their diets. and her findings was that with more zinc their litters were larger and healthier. one bad thing about taking too much zinc is it depletes the copper in your system. So if your going to use pig feed (high in copper) you might want to do a little research on adding zinc.

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## Shenzi Sixaxis

LM Animal Farms Classic Mouse and Rat Food as primary (lab block from Pet Supermarket)
Nature's Recipe Toy Breed dog food (high quality stuff)
And any left overs from dinner that are okay

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## ice#1

i use a vary varied diet for my mice after reading threw this i must say mine got the best selection of good food around 
first they get the stable mouse and rat pellets vitamin and mineral enriched then they get x ammount of rabbit food from wild harvest (tons of stuff in this)then they also get from same company there nut and berry mix for treat. then also they get from small world mouse and rat food (almost as much stuff in this as in the wild harvest rabbit food) total cost for a month about 15 bucks depending on size of bags bought got 1 bag of the rabbit food 2 months ago and still got have a bag left and thats with feeding over 100 mice

oh yeah for nursing females i give them a couple meal-worms works wanders to keep them from eating the babies and is high in protein and guaranteed aint going to get any parasites from under cooked hot dogs  


don't feed no table scrapes to any of my pets

oh and i get on average liters of 12 to 13 babies just had 1 yesterday and 1 today that had 16 babies each and it wasn't there first breeding

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## ice#1

just noticed when i switched from mix of lab blocks and whole kernel mixed grains and berries. to just lab block my mice aint breeding nearly like they were. (i got what i think was a killer deal on lab block unsure whos it is as they were going to fill the hooper with it at pet shop so sure it's probably not the best there is) but only 20 bucks for a huge bag 55 pounds i think.

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## OhhWatALoser

i feed everything kent rodent block, 14 bucks a 50lb bag

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## blankchip

mazuri all the way. here are some things to keep in mind when deciding. let me know what you think.

i have heard people on here ask how to get the smell down. well here is what i did. i used to complain untill i actually thought about it. when we humans eat like _crap_  we pass gas a it is bad. we also look like _crap_ and feel that way. if we eat good and dont eat junk then we are better off in that area. we even feel better and our bodies are in better shape. 

therefore we should feed our rodents the diet they need. if you feed them junk that there bodies dont need then it gets passed through the body and they pea and poop it out and it smells worse than it should. the right good food helps a lot with the smell. remember that people say that rats do just fine in the wild. they do and they stink in the wild also. well maybe not, because they arent force feed junk food all day. imo

you will go through more food with crap food because the rats have to eat more of it to get the nutrition they need out of it.

another thing is the production of the babies. i have had an increase in output ever since i have used mazuri. even if it is only 1,2, or even 3 more babies per litter. add that up, 10 moms 10 litters plus a few more babies each litter that is about 20-30 babies more or even more. that in its self pays for the bag of mazuri.

lets talk about the survival rate of the babies. i can remember the last time i had a still born. if the mom is healthy she will have a healthy litter. and the babies will grow up better and healthier. if the moma rat is unhealthy do you think that her feeding the babies is any better.

so the bag of the cheap stuff(dog food) has all the same numbers on it as the mazuri. like protien, fat ect. what is the source of the protien and the source of the fat. i will tell you that it is not what they need. they dont need there fat and protein from meat, that is not what they eat. also it will make them mean and eat there young. mine dont ever eat there babies. they dont breed for food. lol.

people wonder why there rats arent getting pregnant or having small litters, well here is my two cents. why do you think that the big breeders use it, probably to make more money.

feed your dog the dog food your hog the hog food and your cat your cat food. Or better yet you can eat the hog or dog food, it will be cheaper wouldnt it.lol

If you agree or disagree then say so and say why. thank you

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## Rhasputin

Oats, Barley, Black oil sunflower seeds, Infinia (or other holistic) dog food, sweet feed, millet, and whatever else I feel like throwing in there from time to time  :Razz: 

Other things might include brown rice, split peas, or un-cooked pasts.

They get fresh fruit maybe once a week, and veggie scraps from cooking whenever I use something they can have. Cooked pasta, they love to snack on. Meal worms, crickets, earth worms, chicken, beef, breads and crackers. All kinds of things.   :Smile: 

I saw someone mention they're feeding rabbit food to their mice? That's not a very good diet. Rabbits are *not* rodents, and have a completely different dietary need than mice, rats, or other rodents.

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## STRider1300

[QUOTE=blankchip;1434893]mazuri all the way. here are some things to keep in mind when deciding. let me know what you think.

i have heard people on here ask how to get the smell down. well here is what i did. i used to complain untill i actually thought about it. when we humans eat like _crap_  we pass gas a it is bad. we also look like _crap_ and feel that way. if we eat good and dont eat junk then we are better off in that area. we even feel better and our bodies are in better shape. 

therefore we should feed our rodents the diet they need. if you feed them junk that there bodies dont need then it gets passed through the body and they pea and poop it out and it smells worse than it should. the right good food helps a lot with the smell. remember that people say that rats do just fine in the wild. they do and they stink in the wild also. well maybe not, because they arent force feed junk food all day. imo

I agree Blankchip, Mazuri 6F $23 for a 50# bag including tax. I also use the vanilla in the water(RO water that is). Not much smell until almost a week. Have 6 rats and 2 mice in the living room as pets/breeders. My daughters love playing with the critters.

Big B

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## R&DP

Mazuri Mouse Breeder 9f and 53WU Irradiated Pico Lab Rodent Diet.

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## decensored

Personally I refuse to buy feeder animals that are fed dogfood.

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## JohnNJ

> Personally I refuse to buy feeder animals that are fed dogfood.


How would you know?

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## Xbloodrain67X

Cow feed pellets!!

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## mhayter81

Mazuri f9

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## GoingPostal

Mazuri 6f, plus veggies, mix of oatmeal and other stuff once a week or so.

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