# Homemade Mix



## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

I know there's topics already on this, but I wanted to make another thread anyway. Lab blocks by themselves are fine though I wanted to try something new and see if it's any cheaper. I haven't worked out percentages yet since I'm still unsure of what the mix will compose of.

I was thinking to use regular oats, dried millet, sunflower seeds, Gerber baby puffs (or knock off brand), chia seeds (just because I have some leftover), dog and/or cat food, maybe a kind of bird mix and lab blocks. I usually buy forty pound bags for around forty dollars, they last fine and I'll just get a smaller quantitiy for the mix. I give them most of the things listed above, so why not incorporate it into their main diet? My mice aren't picky and any suggestions and edits are welcome.

What dog and cat food is popular amonst people who feed it? It probably doesn't matter too much so long as the protein and fat content are where they should be, but I'd like other's opinions.


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

So the main issue with that mix is that it could very easily lead to a low protein/high fat diet.

oats are very low protein, millet isn't great, sunflower seeds low protein high fat,

chia seeds greatly expand when in contact with liquid so i would be very careful unless giving them presoaked, which makes them not very suitable for a mix

gerber puffs on their nutritional profile have 0% protein, now obviously they have some but its so low that it cannot be put down as anything per serving and also most of them have quite a bit of sugar in

bird mix is usually low protein very high fat, the high protein ones are usually for things like cardinal birds and are incredibly high fat.

dog or cat food is decent to add but also tends to add a TON more fat for the protein. Tractor Supply Company has a brand called Doggy Bag that is comparable to the lab blocks roughly but won't boost protein. I add cat foods to my mix, but adding high protein cat or dog food usually increases the cost to a lot higher than pure lab blocks.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use in your mix and is it more costly than lab blocks? As for the Gerber puffs, they'd just be a sweet treat in the mix but I could substitute them for something more nutritionally useful. I didn't realize it would be high fat, if anything I thought there might be a little too much protein. Thanks for pointing that out.


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

Well the price of lab blocks very much varies, for me I can get some 16% protein blocks 40lb bag for $33 but that is too low protein so then have to supplement with quite high protein, which takes the cost up quite a bit. The other option is to order online at $27 for 25lb, so we're looking at a little over $1/lb for the blocks I have access to

My mix is 2 parts doggy bag (a tractor supply own brand dog food, ingredients very similar to the 16% protein blocks but its 18% protein instead), 1 part cat food as the main. Right now I was testing some out but will be getting multi cat from TSC too probably.

so doggy bag and multi cat are both $17 for 40lb making it less than $0.50/lb as a base staple. I find that they like the cat food so tend to eat that more but there is also less of it so as long as I don't really over feed it ends up around the 21% ish pritein that my mice do well on.

I tried just doggy bag on its own and got litters that were not growing as well due to not enough protein for my lines, it might be different for feeder/pet types and other lines.

I do add a mix though, rolled oats, seeds, mealworms once a week and will throw in either some 20% protein horse blocks or horse/dog treats to give them some variety. Very occasionally I will give canned cat or dog food to the big group bins and I have recently tried bene-bac in that since I had to give a round of antibiotics after bringing in new stock.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

I've been feeding 23% protein block for $27 for 25 lbs. I love what its done for my nursing does, but it's more expensive then for 50 lbs of 18% that I was paying before.

Recently, I've been providing lab block 24/7, but I give them a sprinkle of horse oats ($11 for a 50 lb bag) to stretch the block a little longer, playing it by eye depending on if the needs of the mice in that bin (so more oat heavy on retirees, pet types lines, etc). I was planing to mix in some other items with the oats to give on occasion as more of an enrichment item then because I need to.

This has approximate protein, fiber, and fat ratios when creating your diet.
http://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

Both of those options sound good, thanks guys. I'll check out TSC sometime later this week and look around for those 23% protein lab blocks, I wouldn't have thought anyone would make them with that much protein.


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