# Quantities and other q's - peas, garlic, kelp?



## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

I do roughly 40% oats, 40% barley, 10% seeds, 5% complete dog food and 5% broken dog biscuits. Mine did eat the pea flake but not a whole lot so I stopped buying it and it hasn't made any difference to the quality of the mice. When I got my rats I got given a bag of food which was the Shunamite diet. I fed the rats on it dutifully and when it ran out they got a modified version of my mouse mix. Their coats improved rapidly and within 2 weeks looked much healthier. That mix had garlic and kelp powders in as far as I know and it seemed to harm rather than good. I'd leave them out if I were you.


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

Both rats were from breeders who bred for show so it is not as if they were poor quality. I say this because I really did dislike the Shunamite diet though I know some swear by it. All I can go by is the effects I observed. I personally think that there are better ways of consuming certain vitamins and minerals than in artificial forms - for example rather than take a pill, eat the food that contains it. This is difficult with animals but when it comes down to it a good quality balanced diet should do the trick, whether you analyse it in minute detail or not. Many show breeders of mice feed what would be considered by pet owners a basic diet and produce superb animals.


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that the Shunamite diet includes pills as I don't think it does, I was just giving an example. It does seem to contain a lot of powdered extract type things though which are similar IMO. The diet I use made from straights etc certainly was better for the rats, and they weren't fat either (much to the surprise of some breeders ha ha).


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

The diet sounds dynamite and the only thing I'd mention is to get the premium dog food or puppy food that does not contain any corn or any corn products. Watch out for tomato (pomice) as many brands have that in it as well. I think I recall gralic and onion as being bad for cats and dogs, but I'm not sure about meeces.


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

Taken from AFRMA about onion for rats:
_Wild and domestic onions contain n-propyl disulfide which produces Heinze body anemia in cattle, sheep, horses, and dogs. Heinze bodies are precipitates of oxidatively denatured hemoglobin found in red blood cells from animals from many different causes. Red blood cells that contain Heinze bodies are unable to fold as they travel through the microcirculation of the spleen resulting in their removal or destruction. This results in a marked reduction of circulating red blood cells (erythrocytes) referred to as an anemia.

I have been unable to find any information that describes any toxic effects of garlic._

http://www.afrma.org/med_misc7.htm


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks for the info.


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