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Post by adara on Feb 4, 2004 15:39:57 GMT -4
Hurrah, today I was told by my gerbil breeder [well, 2 of my 6 are bred by them but I'm going to be getting a siamese and burmese from them soon as the last 2 are so lovely  ] that a pet shop near them has mice! I've been looking *everywhere* for mice, even rescues don't have any  So hurrah, I'm going to hopefully be picking them up in a couple of weeks along with my 2 new gerbils. I'm so pleased  I have a recipe for food for them which is: 1 part cooked wholegrain rice 2 parts crushed barley or oats 1/2 part millet or cockatiel seed 1/2 part molasses Optional: 1/2 part wheatgerm 1/4 part brewer's yeast cod liver oil --- I only know of Cognac here that keeps mice, does anyone else? If not then Cognac what do you think of that recipe? I hear half hamster mix and half bird seed is ok too. It seemed silly to me that no one sold proper mouse food, until I discovered how difficult it is to find mice |
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Post by cognac on Feb 4, 2004 22:13:45 GMT -4
I think that the recipe sounds good. I only used hammie/garb, food because me vet said it would be ok.
I think the recipe you have sounds pretty good.
Cognac
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Feb 4, 2004 23:32:15 GMT -4
My local pet store has mice, and rats, I am sorry to say. You know what I mean. You tet those ingredients from a pet store? That is better than commercial mice food? Why the molasses? |
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Post by adara on Feb 5, 2004 5:55:53 GMT -4
You can't actually get commercial mouse food here in the UK [as far as I know]. You can get "Rat and Mouse" food, which is really just rat food. People say that hamster mix is way too fatty for them. The ingredients can just come from a normal supermarket, and it works out cheaper The molasses is [and I quote] "packed full of vitamins, and sweet too, so it binds the food together, and mice like it" Yeah I don't agree with pet shops either. Full of sickly animals. Apparantly the mice in this one are healthy and well looked after.. and since I have exhausted all other resources trying to find some I will buy from a pet shop. |
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Post by calvinator1 on Feb 5, 2004 10:38:46 GMT -4
Good news. What type of mice are they?
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Post by adara on Feb 5, 2004 10:56:34 GMT -4
I think they're just fancy mice I say 'just' but they're the kind that I want so it's great I've never kept mice so I'm really excited |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Feb 5, 2004 21:43:33 GMT -4
You can't actually get commercial mouse food here in the UK [as far as I know]. You can get "Rat and Mouse" food, which is really just rat food. People say that hamster mix is way too fatty for them. The ingredients can just come from a normal supermarket, and it works out cheaper The molasses is [and I quote] "packed full of vitamins, and sweet too, so it binds the food together, and mice like it" Yeah I don't agree with pet shops either. Full of sickly animals. Apparantly the mice in this one are healthy and well looked after.. and since I have exhausted all other resources trying to find some I will buy from a pet shop. My point about the pet shops is that the mice and rats there were FOOD for snakes.  I didn't know that about molasess. Most "hamster and gerbil" mix here is really hamster mix, although today I did curiously find a couple of the old LM Vita Vittles Gold gerbil mix - the real stuff, not the phony gerbil mix they are using now (hamster mix, actually) after LM pulled their switcheroo last Summer. The old formula has no whole corn, among other differences. I once three months ago got the old forumula gerbil mix; I opened it and got dizzy: the mix was moving!!  Whoa. I looked closely and it was filled with weevils.  Yuch. Odd nasty looking things. I got that bag at the Petland Discounts just south of NYC's City Hall where today I fed the squirrels. It's always nice (especially in Winter) to bang the walnuts together and have them charge out of their trees for freebies. |
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Post by rasputin on Feb 5, 2004 22:03:51 GMT -4
Re weevils, etc. -- the gerbs apparently really dig the bugs -- but we keepers can't stand seeing the effects of the infestation.
Wouldn't make that trade -- had to throw a seething mass of melted food-yuck out after an infestation in a sealed can. Thankfully I sealed the can after loading it up, which eventually suffocated the wildly breeding insects. But what I threw out had no resemblance to food or bugs -- it was just thick goop.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Feb 5, 2004 23:18:13 GMT -4
My experience with mealworms ended the live food experiment. It was not only disgusting, it was impossible to keep track of the bugs and some always got away. I don't need anymore wildlife in here.  |
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Post by adara on Feb 6, 2004 5:36:00 GMT -4
Oh yes DF I think selling rats and mice for snake food is evil to both rodent and snake [rats can give VERY nasty bites!]. Especially the conditions I've heard about them living in. Fortunately it's illegal to sell rats live for snake food in the UK. Although some pet shops don't know very much about rats and keep them on pine mostly, which can be so damaging to their little lungs |
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Feb 6, 2004 21:25:55 GMT -4
Interesting point about rats biting snakes. Live feedings seems inhumane. Unfortunate situation. |
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] that a pet shop near them has mice!
Whoa. I looked closely and it was filled with weevils. 
Yuch. Odd nasty looking things.