There’s a lot of controversy going around the rodent community about the best food for rats/mice/hamsters/any other rodent, and there has been for who knows how long. It’s a never ending conversation about nutrition, safe foods, unsafe foods, safe brands, unsafe brands, and most of all (at least from what I’ve seen), how the US has almost no good foods for rodents. There’s always something missing, or there’s too much of something, or there are ingredients that are unsafe for the particular pet that the food is being advertised for. It’s very frustrating, which is why I make my own rodent food. The only rodents I currently own are rats and mice, so naturally, I only make rat and mouse food.
Another reason I make my own rodent food is because my mice like variety, and will get bored and over groom if their food is just a pellet (ie: Mazuri blocks, which is the only food I’ve found that’s available in the US that is actually good for mice.), even if it’s scattered and not in a bowl. On the other hand, my solitary mouse, Storm, can’t eat most commercial foods anyways because the top ingredient in a lot of them is rice, and she is allergic to that. So, therefore, I make my own food.
Anyways, I wanted to show y’all how I make it!
I based it off one of Emiology’s videos on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BFvPTw6axyM
I did adjust it slightly for mice, which you will see in a minute.
So this is what my rat food looks like
10 scoops Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food
2 scoops Zignature Trout and Salmon dry dog food
2 scoops Cascadian Farms Just O’s cereal
2 scoops Barilla Penne and/or Mini Wheels pasta
2 heaping scoops Rosewood Naturals Nature’s Salad
Half scoop Scarlet Naturals Finch seeds
Half scoop Woodstock Shelled and Unsalted Pumpkin Seeds
And here’s what my mouse food looks like
10 scoops Mazuri Rat & Mouse Diet blocks
3 scoops Zignature Trout and Salmon dry dog food
2 scoops Cascadian Farms Just O’s cereal
2 scoops Quaker Oats Rolled Oats
2 heaping scoops Rosewood Naturals Nature’s Salad
Half scoop Scarlet Naturals Finch seeds
Half scoop Woodstock Shelled and Unsalted Pumpkin Seeds
As you can see, the protein percentage is different from rats to mice, as mice get three scoops of dog food, and rats only get two. This is because mice need more protein than rats.
As Emiology said in her video, please don’t follow this ingredient for ingredient, as your rats or mice could be different from mine. I only list exactly what I put in it to give you an idea of what to use. Also, I said “2 heaping scoops” for herbs because there is hay in the salad mix, and mice and rats cannot digest that, so I substitute by adding just a bit more.
These recipes are just what I’ve found works well for me and my rodents. I’ve changed ingredients many times, swapped base mixes, etc, and I will probably have to do that again and again, especially if I decide to get more mice as my current girls go, and this is why I suggest not using this recipe exactly.
Anyways, I hope this inspires you to make your own rat or mouse food if your current food isn’t to your liking, and if it did, good luck!
