What do you feed your breeder mice?

sapphire_moon · 04-03-04, 06:22 PM

Ok I have went through the search and I couldn't find anything that said what people feed their breeder mice. All I find on the net is "Feed your mouse a good diet", Ok what is that diet?

I have the "lab blocks" but was wondering what else they could be fed on exclusively?

So what do you feed your mice?

mykee · 04-03-04, 06:36 PM

When I bred mice (thankfully I no longer need to) I fed them the same diet as I fed, and still feed my rats; Mazuri 6F.

sapphire_moon · 04-03-04, 06:39 PM

what if there is no way you can get mazuri. What is the next best thing?

marisa · 04-03-04, 06:47 PM

You can order Mazuri online.

Either way, I do not use it. I use a brand of no name dog food with almost identical ingredient and nutrional values as Mazuri. I also use leftovers (lots of them!) and a mouse diet from a bulk food store locally.

Marisa

sapphire_moon · 04-03-04, 06:49 PM

I know you can order mazuri online. But I don't have a credit card of ANY kind, and no one will allow me to borrow one.

Do you know of ol'roy bites and bones dog food? Do you think that would be ok for them? Do you use that as a staple diet? Could you feed it exclusively? Sorry for all the questions!

testdrivehemi · 04-03-04, 09:29 PM

All my rat colonies are raised on ol-roy puppy food from wal-marts,with wild bird seed (also from wal mart) and are doing fine,nice litters,and good weight..hey works for me.

Auskan · 04-03-04, 09:41 PM

I thought the puppy food was too high in protein and you were supposed to use regular dog food? Also, I would avoid giving too much bird seed to rats as it is high in fat.

CHRISANDBOIDS14 · 04-04-04, 01:42 AM

I feed my mice something that might shock some of you. But i got the idea from a member on the site who supplies a large breeder(also a member on the site) and has great sucess with it and his mice were always great and now my 80 are too. Anyways, its called Turkey grower 22%(i think) food ration. Its great stuff. can be their diet exclusively but i throw in other stuff. I get it at a local farm supply store. its called UniFeed. You can probably get something similar at a UFA(United Farmers Association) store. Or else a farm supply store.

Bighead · 04-04-04, 02:46 AM

I know it may be quite different for rats, but I work at a pet store and I see dogs with skin and other allergy problems at LEAST 3 times a week that have been fed ol' roy. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGERATION IN THE SLIGHTEST! That stuff is evil. Compare the ingredients and nutritional value to any premium (i don't mean k-mart premium) dog food and you won't be surprised why that's the case. The main ingredient is corn, which is bad for several reasons. Ol' Roy dog food has been recalled more than once because of the number of dog fatalities it has caused, due to aflatoxins (mold from corn) that cause fatal liver damage. Any dog food that has corn as a main ingredient is crap, hands down.
Sorry for going off there- I know this isn't a dog forum, and for all I know, corn mold may be the best thing in the world for mice, but I had to vent there.

annieb_mice · 04-04-04, 03:03 AM

Actually... I'm with you Bighead! I absolutely refuse to feed ANY of my animals store bought "dog food." My mice and rats are fed a natural food diet according to their nutritional needs. Even my dogs are fed a "natural food diet" with human grade ingredients! I've looked into how those cheap dog foods are made and am disgusted and horrified!! It's no wonder there's so much more canine diseases these days!
Anyways... sorry ... shutting up now... LOL
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

Stockwell · 04-04-04, 03:17 AM

I have always used only professional rodent chows.
I used Purina 5015 mouse diet, for many years, then switched to Mazuri 6F which is only 20 bucks for 50 lbs compared to 36 for the 5015
Today they were out of Mazuri, so they gave me a bag of 5010 rodent lab.. It will be a first trying that..and it's only temporary.
Block type lab feeds are really the best way to go especially if you have typical screened hopper rack systems.
I know some people use dog food because it's cheap, but that stuff will make your hands wet and greasy.
Purina Lab chows wont do that.(Mazuri is also made by Purina)

annieb_mice · 04-04-04, 03:32 AM

I tried rodent lab blocks for several months, but had a large number of my mice die and the moms who had two litters while on this diet had smaller litters and the babies didn't seem as healthy. After switching back to the diet I fed them before, they did MUCH better.
I haven't tried the Mazuri diet, but to be honest, I'm quite happy with the quality of my mice on their currant diet.
Cheap dog food will also make the rodents fur greasy. And the chemicals that are prevalent in many of the "cheap" type of dog foods are retained in the body and will actually build up over time. I can only imagine what kind of damage this would cause a snake that has been on fed rodents raised on cheap dog food. What kind of health problems would that snake have in ten years time?
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

Bighead · 04-04-04, 03:56 AM

Here's some more dog stuff because I'm bored...
If you're feeding your dog Purina or some other low end dog food and it scratches a lot or has hot spots (crappy food is usually the cause of these things), and switch over to a high end dog food like Blue (human grade) or other high end foods, it sometimes takes 8 weeks or more for the dog to recover. That shows you how long all the crap can stay in their system.
BTW, Annie- Your Rottweilers look great and I will be buying some mice and rats from you early this week if it works out.

I bought 1500 mealworms from you a couple weeks ago, if you're not sure who I am. I would recommend your business to anybody I know with complete confidence.

sapphire_moon · 04-04-04, 06:22 AM

I use ol roy dog food for my rats. No problems what so ever, and the rat babies get big at a fast enough rate that I can catch the size needed. The rats diet gets supplemented with fresh veggies, ham and baby food every once in a while.

I agree though that I wouldn't give our dog ol roy dog food unless it was the last dog food on earth. We feed both our dogs and cat Natural balance food. It is a more holistic food.

I thought the "growers" and such would be full of all kinds of steriods and things like that to make them...well grow. lol

And besides, I can't find anyone that will split a bag for me. I would have to buy a 50lb bag. Which I don't need for 3 mice!

Cruciform · 04-04-04, 12:59 PM

Stockwell: Where do you get your Mazuri at? Ren's in Oakville?