What do you feed your mice

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Originally Posted by JennM

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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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..

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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 :P

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. :)

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.

[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

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

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

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Originally Posted by decensored

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

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How would you know?

Cow feed pellets!!

Mazuri f9

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