What to Feed My Mice: I'm Really Confused!

by susb8383 Sat Mar 23, 2013 6:35 pm

Hi,

I'm a brand new mice owner as of today. I have three does that were taken from a hoarding situation.

I still have to get them food (I put small pieces of my Harlan 2018 to tide them over; I also have pet rats).

It seems like every post about home made mixes is different and my head is swimming.

Questions:

1. In addition to a mix of oats, etc., I see people mention store bought stuff such as
Brown's Tropical Carnival Hamster/Gerbil
Bird seed such as cockatiel mix or Sunseed Vita Budgie/Parakeet food
dog kibble
Harlan lab blocks

I'm confused about where this store bought stuff fits in. Do people put hamster food AND bird food AND dog kibble AND lab blocks into their mix along with things like rolled oats? Or is the oats, etc. mix used instead of the store bought food?

2. For dog food (if I need it based upon the answer to #1), I see some people mention they use puppy kibble, others use senior dog kibble (like Innova) or Wellness Lite. I have dogs as well; can I just use what I give them? It's Chicken Soup for Dog Lover's Soul. The first four ingredients are chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal. The CP is 24%.

3. Could someone give me a basic formula with volume percentages? I saw this great thread:
http://www.themouseconnection.org/t41-mouse-food-mix
but none of the mixes mentioned percentages, so for a newbie, it wasn't that helpful.

I live near a Whole Foods and a Pet Smart.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but that's it for now.

Incidentally, I used to have a cockatiel. Call it weird, but every once in a while I would pop some of his seeds into my mouth as I was filling his dish. Don't ask me why; probably for the same reason that kids eat Playdough. For the most part, they were normal seeds. But every once in a while I would bite down on something that would instantly make my mouth numb. I have no food allergies. It really made me wonder what's in cockatiel mix, so I'm leery.

Thanks, Susie

Edit: I'll add that these guys look a little plump to me. In the foster home, their food was Kaytee mice food.