Silly question about feed

So I buy all sorts of squash for me and my bearded dragons, but then I am left with seeds and rinds.... And no compost heap. The thing I hate MOST is wasting something I could be using. Is there anything wrong with giving the seeds and rinds to my mouse colony and my pet rats?

Rodents LOVE pumpkin and squash seeds. They're one of their favorites. You can put them in the freezer and freeze them and add more and more until you have a nice batch, then roast thme in the oven, and mix them in with your rodent chow. :)


I get free pumpkins from the pumpkin patch here after halloween every year. 100 pumpkins gets me about 6 gallon bags full of seeds. :gj:

Thanks! :) What about the peels? Do I have to roast the seeds? I prefer to try a feed a nearly natural diet to all my critters. The mice get sprouted seeds and "milk ripe" seeds more than they get rodent mixes. They also get grains and veggies as well as SMALL amounts of raw meat and mealworms, superworms, or whatever buggies I have on hand. I get nice big litters with this diet. :D

My rodents eat mostly block. But they love all sorts of peelings, corn cobs, apple cores, stale bread, frozen peas, a few freeze dried meal worms, etc. Sweet potato/carrot peels seem to be some sort of a special treasure for them. None of mine will touch celery though.

.98/lb frozen peas and carrots is a big winner here. When the garden is producing they love the pods after you've shelled the peas out. Stale unshelled peanuts I found in the back of the cupboard also got a favorable reception from the rats. So do dried out raisins.

You don't have to roast them, it's just an easier way to keep them handy. since I mix mine into my home made dry mix, I have to dry them. It also prevents mold from growing on them if they're un eaten in the cage.