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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2010 3:22:45 GMT -5
So I thought this would get answered sooner here than the breeding section. The mice are going through the food I get like crazy. I can get some hog feed and such from the feed store here, but I'd have to mix other stuff in and find the feed store and...yeah. lol Anyways, I am also interested in changing their diet so that they are healthier for Koda to eat versus being stuffed full of processed rodent food. If anyone owns reptiles I know you have hear the term gut-loading. I want to do this for Koda.
So 2 questions. The first is, What can I feed my mice that is easy, healthy, cheap? Are any of the following items okay...?
Oatmeal (plain, dry), rice (cooked of course), bits of veggies (collard and mustard greens, peppers, etc)...dangit. I had some other ideas but I lost them. So I guess oatmeal mixed with hog feed and regular mouse food perhaps and the occasional meat and veggies?
Second question is what do you think about gut loading? I would take a mouse out a day or so before feeding them to Koda, and I would feed the mouse veggies and scrambled eggs and such so it would be loaded with healthy stuff for Koda. (Another reason to add bis of these things into the diet, so that the diet change will not shock their system or anything too much). Thoughts?
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Post by goingpostal on Nov 5, 2010 11:39:45 GMT -5
Mine mostly get Mazuri rat diet, but I have a mix of different grains, a bunch off that Suebees or whatever homemade rat food and I give each cage a bit of that weekly, then they also get any extra scraps, cooked pasta, any of the greens my iguana eats can go to them, meat occansionally. They love oatmeal and most greens but too much will cause loose poo. Small amounts of that stuff is fine but the grains should be the majority.
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Post by kainslie on Nov 5, 2010 11:42:28 GMT -5
I hope you get lots of answers I asked this a few weeks ago without much luck =[
I'm interested in seeing what people will say =]
maybe google natraul mice food?
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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2010 14:34:07 GMT -5
Mine mostly get Mazuri rat diet, but I have a mix of different grains, a bunch off that Suebees or whatever homemade rat food and I give each cage a bit of that weekly, then they also get any extra scraps, cooked pasta, any of the greens my iguana eats can go to them, meat occansionally. They love oatmeal and most greens but too much will cause loose poo. Small amounts of that stuff is fine but the grains should be the majority. Hey I have an ig too!  Which is why I asked about the greens! haha As a side note, herpcenter.com is a GREAT forum for iguanas.  Back on subject...too much oatmeal will cause runny poops? Could I provide oatmeal every day, along with other foods, and let them portion it out themselves? I like the idea of scraps, and I considered that. But is there anything they should not have? Like cooked chicken, what bread, cheese, veggies, etc. What natural grains could I get that would be inexpensive but okay to feed them? I will still provide regular mouse food too, but less of it and more of other stuff. |
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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2010 14:34:23 GMT -5
I hope you get lots of answers I asked this a few weeks ago without much luck =[ I'm interested in seeing what people will say =] maybe google natraul mice food? Me too! And yes, I will google... |
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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2010 14:44:52 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2010 15:16:41 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2010 16:57:57 GMT -5
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Post by goingpostal on Nov 5, 2010 21:04:55 GMT -5
Depending on how many you are feeding a natural diet may be very expensive, and wasteful, mice are nasty so you would have to really ration your food or they will just dirty it, they're also likely to pick out the good stuff and leave other foods behind. I wouldn't overdo it on the oatmeal, mix in other grains equally. They love millet, but again, they would eat nothing but it given the chance. Cheese isn't good for them and most don't like it anyways, I believe stay away from citrus fruits. I scramble up eggs on occasion because it's the only way the ferrets will eat it and give them some, they get a lot of peppers and carrots for veggies. Just keep track of your production, what works for some mice doesn't work for all, some mice get hot spots or hairloss on too much protein.
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 6, 2010 0:06:39 GMT -5
Millet seed you should be able to find in most health food stores.
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Post by katt on Nov 6, 2010 0:58:57 GMT -5
Okay so what do you guys thing about this? For the relative amount, it was actually MUCH cheaper than pet store food...
split peas
barley
oat meal
cheerios (mainly a treat/variety)
wild bird seed mix (includes a variety of millets, sunflower seeds, corn, bran, oats, alfalfa, and some other things that were on the "good for mice list" on a few sites that I looked at, can't recall the ingredients atm - various grains and seeds)
raisins (again, treat/variety)
dried cranberries (treat/variety)
the occasional dog-biscuit for added protein (another thing I saw mentioned on several mouse websites/forums, will probably give weekly or less, unless someone thinks I should include it more often?)
regular store mouse food mixed in on occasion
Then for balance and variety I will rotate through the following (which I am always stocked up on for myself, so it is not an extra expense):
cooked rice
cooked egg
cooked meats
whole grain bread
various greens, veggies, and fruits
table scraps
cooked soya beans (if I can find them) on RARE occasion (expensive lol)
kitten milk replacer (I have several cubes frozen from when I was nursing the fuzzy runt mouse, I put some in the cage on occasion when the moms are nursing, they seem to really like it and I read on a mouse forum somewhere that they crave milk when they are nursing..weird but I guess it makes sense since it is high in fat and protein and they need energy)
What about beans? cooked and/or dried? I can add those to the diet easily...
Another question...would the above diet perhaps work for a hamster? Or is the large amount of seeds, oats, and grains bad for them?
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Post by horse656 on Nov 6, 2010 11:59:13 GMT -5
my friend feed her hamster just bird seed and he lived until he was like 4 or 5.
every hamster/mouse is different though. i found buying the food for my mice ridiculously expensive, so i stopped along with the disaster that happened,
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Post by mustelidmusk on Nov 6, 2010 12:44:01 GMT -5
I had a an outdoor "pet" mouse that ate wild bird food (mostly millet, sunflower) I had a coconut feeder in a short stick. He would sit in the coconut and PIG DOWN. He was the fattest mouse on the planet. You could pet him while he was eating i the coconut  . Aside from that, I was thinking about flax seed. Then I found this link, which I found to be very interesting.... www.kefirlady.com/marilynsnicemice.htm-jennifer |
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Post by katt on Nov 6, 2010 14:06:07 GMT -5
Hmmm interesting. Thanks for the info! I found a hamster forum and I asked them about the diet. I always thought my Hamlet was a dwarf, but after looking around he is a syrian I think! haha Anyways, the mice seem way more excited about this new diet than their old one. Not that I can blame them - who likes eating bland, same-size, shape, color, flavor chunks each day? lmao
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 6, 2010 15:45:30 GMT -5
I can just imagine what their reactions would be if they knew WHY you were asking, |
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