Feeding Your Mice

In the wild a mouse's diet consists of whatever it can find, and as a result wild mice (particularly urban house mice) are weedy and sickly. In captivity, thanks to their owners, they have access to a nutritionally complete and healthy diet. Mice are omnivores, which means they need both plant and meat ingredients in their diet to remin healthy.

You can feed mice just by scattering the food on the floor. You can use a bowl if you'd like to, but you'll probably find that the mice scatter all of the food on the floor anyway and then use the bowl as a toilet. This makes unnecessary cleaning for you. Mice are not greedy eaters, so you should feed enough that they still have food left when feeding time rolls round again. It is better to discard food than let the mice go hungry as mice can lose condition very quickly. Due to their small body size and comparatively large surface area mice need to eat regularly to produce enough body heat and energy to do their daily activities, and will quickly become lethargic and ill if they go hungry.

Store Bought Complete Food

If you have only a few mice, you might want to buy your complete mouse food from the pet shop. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a mix made especially for mice, but rat food will meet their nutritional demands well enough. Look for a good rat mix that has less than 15% protein and a minimal amount of seeds - too much protein can cause itchy skin, hair loss and kidney damage. Look for mixes without too much if any corn in them as laboratories have found that there is link between corn and mammary cancer in some mammals, including mice. Avoid mixes that contain the big dark green pellets too. These are alfalfa pellets, they taste foul and the mice won't eat them. If you have a picky eater that eats their favourite bits and leaves the rest, you can buy complete food in the form of kibble; examples are Pet's at Home Rat Nuggets and Supa Rat Excel. All of the ingredients are ground up and baked into uniform biscuits, which means that picky animals get a complete diet.

Below is a list of common ingredients in rat food and what they provide:

Wheat - provides several of the B vitamins, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc
Wheatfeed - (wheat production by-products ie wheatgerm, husks etc)
Bakery by-product - (recycling of inedible bakery waste such as bread, dough, pasta)
Oats - provides several of the B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and small amounts of vitamin E, folic acid and potassium, helps with glucose and insulin modulation.
Barley - copper, phosphorus and zinc, soluble fibres that lower high blood cholesterol
Flax Seed - omega 3 oils (essential fatty acids)
Sunflower ext - polyunsaturated fat to help lower cholesterol
Rape Seed ext - rape seed product for protein
Low Glucorape - rape seed product for protein
Palm Kernel ext - polyunsaturated fat to help lower cholesterol
Molasses - magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6, sugar
Soya Bean/Soybean - Manganese, Vitamin C, Folate, Dietary Fibre, Protein, Thiamin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium.
Calcium Carbonate - provides calcium
Salt - electrolyte in the body and is required in the manufacture of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which protects the body from any infections that may be present in food.
Lysine - growth and bone development, assists in calcium absorption, maintaining the correct nitrogen balance and maintaining lean body mass. Furthermore it is needed to produce antibodies, hormones, enzymes, collagen formation as well as repair of tissue. Fish Meal - (Made from fish and fish preparation by-products considered unfit for human consumption) provides protein and oils
Meat Meal - (Made from meat and meat preparation by-products considered unfit for human consumption) provides protein and fats.

Below is a list of popular rat food brands and their ingredients and analysis:

SUPREME REGGIE RAT
Guaranteed Analysis
Protein - 12.5% Fat - 3.0% Fiber - 6.0% Fibre - 8.0% Calcium - 0.3% Phosphorus - 0.3%
First 12 Ingredients
Ground wheat, toasted wheat, corn, flaked corn, whole oats, dehydrated alfalfa pellets, flaked field peas, flaked beans, dehulled soybean meal, straw pellets, oat middlings, soybean oil.

BURGESS SUPA RAT EXCEL
Nutritional Information
Protein 16.5% Oil & Fats 7% Ash 4% Fibre 3.5% Vitamin A 11,000iu/kg Vitamin D3 1,500iu/kg Vitamin E * 120mg/kg Vitamin C 60mg/kg Copper ** 24mg/kg
Ingredients
Cereals, Vegetables, Derivatives of vegetable origin, Meat and animal derivatives, Oils and fats, Minerals, Fructo-oligosaccharides (Profeed® min 0.3%), Methionine.

OXBOW REGAL RAT FOOD
Guaranteed Analysis
Protein 14% Fat 4% Fibre 7.5% Calcium 1.2%
Ingredients:
Whole Brown Rice, Oat Groats, Wheat Bran, Wheat, Soybean Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Soybean Hulls, Monocalcium Phosphate, Flaxseed Meal, Linseed, Brewer's Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Wheat Germ Meal, Salt, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement (Tocopherol), Vitamin C Supplement (Ascorbic Acid), Colloidal Silica, Riboflavin, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Magnesium Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Manganese Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Mineral Oil, Calcium Iodate, Potassium Chloride, and Natural Flavorings.

SUNTHING SPECIAL CRITTER CUBES
Guaranteed Analysis
Protein 22% Fat 6% Fibre 6% Moisture 16%
Ingredients:
Ground Yellow Corn, Soybean Meal, Ground Wheat, Fish Meal, Wheat Middlings, Animal Fat Preserved with BHA, Cane Molasses, Ground Oats, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Wheat Germ Meal, Meat Meal, Ground Beet Pulp, Alfalfa Meal, Dried Whey, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Cyanocobalamin (source of Vitamin B12), DL-Methionine, Calcium Pantothenate, Choline Chloride, Folic Acid, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K), Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamin, Nicotinic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Cholecalciferol (source of Vitamin D3), DL-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (source of Vitamin E), Calcium Propionate (a preservative), Calcium Iodate, Ferrous Carbonate, Manganous Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide.

JR FARM RAT FOOD
Analysis:
protein 15,1%, oil 6,0%, fibre 7,0%, ash 5,5%.
Ingredients:
rodent pellets, grain extrusions, vitamin pellets, meat extrusions, wheat, corn, oat, corn flakes, pea flakes, broad bean flakes.

PETS AT HOME RAT MUESLI
Typical Analysis:
Moisture 12%, Protein 14%, Oils and Fats 4%, Fibre 5%, Ash 4%
Ingredients:
Extruded Biscuits, Sugar Beet Pellets, Egg, Fructo-Oligosaccharides, Toasted Barley Flakes, Toasted Oat Flakes, Whole Oats and Wheat, Toasted Bean Flakes, Whole Maize and Toasted Maize Flakes, Carob Pods .

NIH #31M Laboratory Rodent Diet
Analysis:
Crude protein minimum 18.0%, Crude fat minimum 5.3%, Crude fiber maximum 4.5%, Ash maximum 8.0%
Ingredients:
Ground whole wheat 35.17%, Ground whole yellow corn 20.00%, Ground whole oats 10%, Wheat middlings 10%, Fish meal (60% protein) 9.00%, Soybean meal (47.5% protein) 5%, Soy bean oil (no additives) 2.5%, Alfalfa meal (17% protein) 2%, Corn gluten meal (60% protein) 2%, Dicalcium phosphate 1.5%, Brewer’s dried yeast 1%, Ground limestone 0.5%, Salt 0.5%, NIH #31 vitamin premix 0.25%, NIH #31 mineral premix 0.25%, Choline chloride 0.13%, L-lysine 0.10 %, L-methionine 0.10%.

Personally, from that list I would recommend Reggie Rat or Pets at Home Rat Muesli (UK) and Oxbow Regal Rat Food (USA). When I had only two or three pet mice at a time I always fed Reggie Rat or Pets at Home Rat Muesli, both foods kept my mice healthy and in good condition.

Making Your Own Mix

If you'd like informaton on mixing your own food or feeding a large amount of mice, please see this page: Feeding Your Stud

Additional Foods

In addition to their staple diet, mice will enjoy a variety of treats. Hay is good for them, not only will they eat it, they will make nests from it and it'll keep their coat shiny as their bodies rub along the stalks. Hay can carry mites, so it's best to freeze or microwave it before you put it in the cage. Millet sprays can be hung in the cage and provide an opportunity for climbing as well as eating. Dog biscuits are good for keeping their teeth ground down, and the charcoal dog biscuits will help keep their stomachs in good order. EMP (egg based canary rearing food), stale bread and milk mash, and Lactol (soluble puppy milk powder) are readily received and are excellent for helping growing animals grow to their maximum potential and providing pregnant/nursing does with plenty of extra nutrition. As a rarer treat, mice will enjoy things like cooked chicken (on the bone or off), fish, and dried or live mealworms. If feeding live mealworms, keep an eye out for any the mice haven't eaten, as they will borrow under the bedding and morph into big beetles. Linseed is good to feed for about a week before a show as it makes the mice' coats very shiny, but extended feeding will usually result in a greasy appearance. Mice will enjoy a variety of fresh or dry herbs, such as dandelion leaves and flowers.

The diet of nursing and growing mice can be supplemented with Lactol, eggfood, oat porridge, insects (mostly dried but occasionally live), dry cat food and bread and lactol or goats' milk mash.

Foods to Avoid

Mice don't need fresh green food and more than a very small amount will upset their stomachs, although cucumber can be provided for moisture when they do not have access to a water bottle - ie when travelling or at a show. Avoid any foods high in fat, salt or sugar like crisps, chocolate, cake and fruit, or any foods that are sticky or tacky.

Feeding to go on Holiday

It is possible to leave your mice on their own for a long weekend or short holiday. Make sure they have enough water for the time you're away plus a couple of extra days, and give them enough food for the same amount of time. You can give them a handful of dog biscuits and hay too, which they'll get through fairly slowly. If you're going away in the hot summer months, it is advisable to leave a fan on in the room with them and have someone pop round occasionally just to make sure they're not suffering from heatstroke.