So, you are soon going to be the owner of pet mice and you want to make sure that your pet lives a long healthy life.
To help ensure that happens, you need to make sure that you are giving them the best food.
What Do Pet Mice Eat?
Mice, in general, are omnivorous. This means that they eat a combination of vegetables and meat. Their balanced diet should include protein, store-bought mice food, vegetables, treats, and freshwater. Following this diet will help keep your pet mice healthy along with helping in their development.
Best Foods to Feed Your Pet Mice
One thing to remember when feeding your pet mice is portion size does matter. How much food you should feed them will depend on their size. If it is a small mouse, they will eat about four grams while a larger mouse will eat about eight grams. This is about a teaspoon of food.
They should have about 100 calories every day also. Talk to your veterinarian about how much you should feed your pet mice. What they eat could be split into two meals so they have one in the morning and one in the evening. Also, if your female pet mice are nursing, pregnant, or still growing, you may have to increase how much food you are feeding them.
If you give your pet mice treats, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and they do not eat it all by nighttime, it should be picked up and discarded. This is to prevent your pet mice from eating foods that have been out too long and could be spoiled or on the verge of spoiling.
Each day give your pet mice a different type of fruit or vegetable. You can even give then a treat of dry unsweetened cereal like Cheerios or puffed cereal. Cereal, crackers, or seeds are a good treat if you are trying to hand tame your mouse.
1. Store-Bought Food
This type of food contains grains, like millet and barley that are rich in fiber and may contain protein foods like soy and beans. It does not matter whether it is a high price food or a cheap one, make sure that it is made especially for mice. They also sell blocks of mice food, which is better because, with these, mice cannot pick and choose what they want to eat like they can with the grain mix.
The blocks are rectangular-shaped and usually brown. They are excellent for helping to keep your pet mice teeth trimmed and it has most of the nutrients they need to stay healthy.
2. Carbohydrates And Proteins
Some types of human food are safe for your pet mice to eat. Give them a hard-boiled egg that is mixed with pieces of stale bread and mixed with molasses or you can give them some plain cooked pasta. This will give them a change from store-bought food.
3. Fruits And Crunchy Vegetables
Although pet mice will eat about any vegetable, they like the crunchy vegetables the best. Vegetables like carrots, celery, and broccoli contain the balance of minerals, carbohydrates, and vitamins that are essential for a healthy mouse.
Crunchy fruits and vegetables also serve another purpose. A mouse’s teeth never stop growing so when your mouse is chewing on these crunchy foods, it will help to keep their teeth from growing too long.
4. Fresh Water
Your pet mice must have fresh water each day. Put it in a pet mouse water bottle that you can get at any pet supply store. Make sure that you keep the bottle clean and not just empty it every day and fill it with fresh clean water.
You should use a water bottle so your pet mice cannot get any waste or food into it. If you do not want to change the water daily, make sure you do it at least four times a week. Always rinse it out to make sure that it is not slimy. When it starts to feel slimy, it is time to get a new bottle if you cannot get it clean any longer.
Vitamins And Minerals Pet Mice Need
All pet mice, to stay healthy, need to have a certain amount of vitamins and minerals daily.
- Potassium 2 grams
- Calcium 5 grams
- Phosphorus 3 grams
- Sodium 0.5 grams
- Protein 180 grams
- Iron 35 milligrams
- Manganese 10 milligrams
There are other vitamins and minerals they need but the amounts are more per kilogram of food. When you are buying store food, take time to look at the ingredient, and look at the minerals and vitamins.
What Not to Feed Your Pet Mice
As with foods that your pet mice should eat, there are also foods that they should not eat, especially some human food. Some are toxic and cause an allergic reaction or have an adverse reaction. The most common reactions to foods that are not good for your pet mice are diarrhea and skin irritation but there are some that could kill them.
The foods they should not have include:
- Acidic fruits like lemons and oranges
- Acidic vegetables like garlic and onions
- Peanuts
- Raw meat
Conclusion
- Their mice food should have a fat content of 4-5% and a protein content of at least 16%
- Do not feed them a grain/seed mix that is too high in sugar and fat
- Pet mice are prone to becoming malnourished and obese on grain/seed mixes.
- It is not advisable to buy seed/grain mixtures as they will eat their favorite bits and leave the rest. This means that they could be missing out on some important ingredients just because they did not like them.
- They need clean fresh water at all times
- When you make any changes to their diet, do it slowly to avoid upsetting their gastrointestinal system.
- If you want to give your pet mice seeds, give it to them as a treat.
