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Is this a good food?

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Post by snukb Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:51 pm

Currently I'm feeding my mice lab blocks and I know they should be on a mix for mental stimulation. But every time I try to give them a mix, one of the mice breaks out in itchies around her ear. Maybe due to allergies or high fat content, I don't know (it isn't mites, they've been treated as a precaution).

I recently found out that the lab block mix I'm feeding is too high in protein anyway ... 20%. I never noticed that before. Ouch.

Anyway, I know this mix says it's for gerbils, but it looks good in terms of protein and fat content. And there's no sunflower seeds or peanuts that would need to be picked out. What do you all think?

http://www.petfooddirect.com/Product/4009/Supreme-Gerri-Premium-Gerbil-Food

If you don't want to follow the link, here's the analysis and ingredients:

Ingredients:
Ground Wheat, Dehydrated Alfalfa Pellets, Flaked Field Peas, Flaked Corn, Toasted Wheat, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Whole Corn, Oat Groats, Linseed Cake, Raisins, Pumpkinseeds, Oat Middlings, Dehydrated Carrot, Vitamins & Minerals.


Analysis:
Crude Protein (minimum)15.00%
Moisture (maximum)12.00%
Crude Fiber (maximum)9.00%
Crude Fiber (minimum)6.00%
Crude Fat (minimum)4.00%
Calcium (maximum)1.10%
Salt (maximum)0.65%
Calcium (minimum)0.60%
Phosphorus (minimum)0.40%
Salt (minimum)0.15%
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Post by thistlebrook Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:17 pm

I feed my rodents Harlan Teklad/Native Earth lab blocks which come in varying protein content. You can buy the 18% at http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/ or you can look at/buy other options from http://www.thecraftyrat.com/. Happy
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Post by Stina Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:33 pm

Petfooddirect and nationalpetpharmacy are the same company...lol NPP just has lower shipping prices with higher item prices, and the opposite for PFD. I shop from PFD myself, since I am close enough to pick up at their warehouse!

At any rate, I personally use the Native Earth (Harlan Teklad) blocks mixed with a higher protein corn, wheat, and soy free dog food. Very few mice actually need low protein. If you are breeding, the does and pups need absolute minimum of 18% protein.

As far as that gerbil food specifically...most mice won't eat alfalfa pellets (I use it as bedding actually), and it is the second ingredient in that diet. I wouldn't use it.

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Post by snukb Sat Mar 10, 2012 6:39 pm

Lol, My mice are pet shop mice, and I just don't have the time/money for that kind of commitment to breed. Everywhere I go states mice should have low protien, and that pet shop mice whose lines you don't know especially should.

Especially since one appears to be food sensitive I wanted to make sure she gets a good diet.

This is how I spend my time; reading the backs of everything in the supermarket. From mouse food to cat food to shampoo xD
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Post by Stina Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:33 pm

What's everything you read?...lol The pet stores I've worked in (Petco and Superpetz), and most "feeder breeders" use very high protein food (kaytee or Mazuri) both of which are at least 20% protein, and I'm fairly sure more like 23%....i.e. most pet store mice are born, raised, and bred on high protein food. On occasion you may find one sensitive to high protein......but its not common

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Post by m137b Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:31 pm

Stick to the lab block mix. Unless you are actively having a real issue, and you have already ruled out all other potential causes for that problem 20% protein is a normal and acceptable protein level in the diet regardless of the mouse's origin.

I only know of one group who prepetuates the myth that all petstore mice need protein restricted diets.
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Post by kawmice Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:47 am

I completely agree with Cindy and Stina. I also used to work at Petco and the rodent blocks were higher in protein and all did well on them. I have only come across about three mice or so since I started breeding in 2001 who actually had allergies. All of them happened to be allergic to something other then their lab blocks. If I have an allergic mouse I place them on a lab block only diet and they do well.

I used to use the Mazuri lab block until Stina let me know that Pet food direct had the native earth/ harlan. I have been using that for a few years now.
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Post by snukb Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:02 pm

Stina wrote:What's everything you read?...lol The pet stores I've worked in (Petco and Superpetz), and most "feeder breeders" use very high protein food (kaytee or Mazuri) both of which are at least 20% protein, and I'm fairly sure more like 23%....i.e. most pet store mice are born, raised, and bred on high protein food. On occasion you may find one sensitive to high protein......but its not common
After the things I've heard my coworkers say, I take everything a pet store tells me with a grain of salt unless I know and personally trust the person (such as my coworker who used to work at a zoo and currently works with animals at the children's museum). For example, we're allowed to give the mice/rats veggies but not the hermit crabs who are scavengers by nature *boggle* I've also seen critters on pine shavings at my local Petsmart, so I will never trust anything they do with their animals.

The Fun Mouse and Fancymice.info and even RMCA seem to recommend low to moderate protein.

m137b wrote:Stick to the lab block mix. Unless you are actively having a real issue, and you have already ruled out all other potential causes for that problem 20% protein is a normal and acceptable protein level in the diet regardless of the mouse's origin.

I only know of one group who prepetuates the myth that all petstore mice need protein restricted diets.
I'm just trying to do the best I can for my girls, and they seem to be doing okay on the blocks they're on now but I feel like it's such a boring diet. But anytime I try to add a mixed blend to their dish one of them gets the itchies. :\
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Post by Stina Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:34 am

I'm not saying you should trust what pet stores SAY (I've worked in pet stores myself...as well as having a degree in animal sciences and having gone to vet school for a year before deciding I couldn't take school any longer...even though I had all A's and B's...I've also been breeding mice since '05 or so)....I'm telling you how the animals are bred and raised. The simple fact is that they are bred and raised on high protein...so to say they are likely to be sensitive to high protein is silly. The manual of lab animal nutrition (or whatever its called..you can actually find the entire thing online) lists 18% protein as the MINIMUM for mice to breed successfully, and for growing youngsters. I think the minimum it lists for adult maintenance is like 15% or something. Harlan Teklad is probably the largest supplier of foods for labs in the country (and possibly worldwide) and their biggest seller for rodents, so far as I'm aware, is their 18% protein diet. It's also the only formula they sell as a consumer product (as Native Earth).

If they are doing well on the blocks and have trouble with the mixes you've tried....why mess with success? Remember that they are not human...you shouldn't instill your values upon them. They may "like" variety, but that doesn't mean they aren't content with what they are given.

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