While you may be tempted to give your mouse friend a piece of chocolate or a sip of your chocolate milk, this could turn out to be a bad idea.
Mice are able to drink dairy, but chocolate is a food that has compounds in it that could kill them.
Can pet mice eat chocolate?
No, you should not feed your pet mouse any amount of chocolate. You should not give them a chocolate bar, dark chocolate, or some of your hot chocolate. Do not even try to give them white chocolate. Although you should not feed them chocolate, if you place a piece of chocolate in front of a mouse or rat, they will definitely try to eat it. The mice like the sugary taste and the smooth feeling from the melted chocolate when it is in their mouth. But, just because they want to eat a piece of chocolate doesn’t mean they should.
If you know that feeding a mouse a piece of chocolate is bad, but you do it anyway, that could be constituted as animal endangerment. Even if you have fed your mouse chocolate pieces in the past, now that you know not to do such a thing, you need to stop immediately.
What happens if you give mice chocolate?
Depending on how much chocolate you give a mouse, they could develop severe diarrhea and indigestion, dehydration, or die. The amount of chocolate that kills a mouse is very tiny. So, more often than not, any person who feeds a mouse a piece of chocolate has inevitably doomed their mouse to its death.
When theobromine is absorbed into a mouse’s or dog’s body, it affects the nervous system and respiratory system. At first, it will cause vomiting, and if the vomiting isn’t treated quickly enough, it can lead to the animal becoming dehydrated.
If the animal does not get their stomach pumped in time, the theobromine will be digested. Once the theobromine enters into the animal’s bloodstream, the death of the animal is inevitable and really begins.
Theobromine will raise up the animal’s blood pressure, cause seizures from the brain, and cause muscles to tremble and twitch involuntarily. Since the chemical raises up the mouse’s blood pressure, if it is left untreated, the veins in its body can burst. This will develop into internal bleeding, which will ultimately lead to its death.
What makes chocolate bad for mice?
If you are the owner of a dog, you probably know what is coming. Inside every piece of chocolate and in the cacao beans that make the chocolate, there is a chemical called theobromine. It is the existence of theobromine in chocolate that makes it so deadly for dogs and mice. Theobromine is deadly for these animals because their bodies cannot process this chemical, and the chemical is unable to be excreted from their body.
However, theobromine is easily processed by the human body and has several positive effects when it is absorbed into our digestive system. The positive effect on our systems is why humans all over the world enjoy eating chocolate so much.
What about white chocolate?
White chocolate is made from cacao butter and not the cacao bean, so there was much less theobromine within it. However, there is still enough theobromine to cause pain and vomiting in most animals. It’s not a good idea to feed your mouse white chocolate. Even if your mouse wants to eat white chocolate, you should not give it to them. The reason why a mouse would want to eat white chocolate is because of its high sugar content.
Even if theobromine was not in white chocolate, you should not give it to your mouse anyway. White chocolate has a lot of fat, and mice cannot eat too much fat. They have to live on a diet of fiber pellets and vegetables. Too much fat in their diet can cause them to become obese, and they will also develop diarrhea and lethargy.
What are some sugary snacks I can feed my mouse?
If you want to give your mouse friend a sugary snack, they’re many fruits that will make them happy and satiate. When you feed your mouse is serving of fruits, make sure it is not more than a tablespoon. Mice are quite small, so they don’t need much food. The most popular fruits that mice like to eat are apples, plums, bananas, grapes, pears, peaches, berries, and melons. But you should not feed your mouse too many fruits, and you shouldn’t do it too often. Fruits are definitely once in a while snacks. If you feed a mouse too much fruit over a long period of time, they can become diabetic.
What other foods should I not feed to a mouse?
Mice have always been scavengers, and they adapted to eating a great many types of things. However, no animal is indestructible. There are several different types of foods that mice cannot eat. Along with the foods below, chocolate should not be fed to mice.
Onions and garlic
You should definitely keep these foods away from your mouths and never feed it to them. These ingredients are toxic and can severely damage the lining of a mouse’s stomach.
Raw meat
Although mice can eat some amount of meat, they should definitely not eat raw meat, or they will get e-coli poisoning.
Citrus foods like lemons and oranges
The citrus components in citrus fruits can cause intense diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration if a mouse ingests them.
Conclusion
- You should never feed your mouse a piece of chocolate.
- Mice are attracted to chocolate because of its high sugar and fat content
- Chocolate contains theobromine, which mice cannot process in their bodies.
- Theobromine has the ability to kill a mouse through various horrific ways
- Not only can theobromine cars vomiting and diarrhea, but it can also cause high blood pressure and internal bleeding, seizures, and muscle tremors
- What chocolate is made out of cacao butter, it still has theobromine
- One great snack and chocolate substitute for mice are fruits.
