# Is this normal?



## ccoryjohnn (Jul 2, 2010)

My male mouse, Pongo has been urinating and defecating in the food bowl :? . And then once he has defecated in the bowl... he eats it. He shares the cage (and food bowl) with his girlfriend, Purdy.
I know when I owned hamsters, they would do this also but I had read that this was okay and normal, that the food is sometimes not fully digested and they still can get nutrients from this. So I'm assuming that this is also normal for mice :roll: 
So can anyone give me more information on this? I'm sure it's completely normal though I could be wrong so I thought I'd throw it out there and ask.
Thanks guys!   
Cory


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Hehe, yep they are dirty gits 

I don't give mine food bowls for that very reason, I just put the food directly on the floor.

Sarah xxx


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

Mmmmmm, tasty!!


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## The secret garden (May 13, 2010)

lol!

Same here, no food bowls.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Coprophagia (eating poop) is an important nutritional practice in a lot of animals who eat primarily plant products, as plants take longer to digest and if you digest them two times, you get more nutrients out of it. This is especially true in fully-herbivorous species like rabbits.


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

Here too....they only tip it all out anyway so what's the point?


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

My mice live without bowls as well.


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## Loganberry (Oct 24, 2008)

My mice do have bowls - and napkins, and they know how to use the family silver utensils too. It's true.


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## The secret garden (May 13, 2010)

:lol: :lol: Oh heather, someone needs to get out more.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

I tried using bowls, and then quickly gave up when they were being used as bathrooms and chew toys. :lol:


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## windyhill (Jan 19, 2010)

I rarely use bowls. A few mice use them and dont abuse them, but most see thrm as toys,lol


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## Lizzle (Apr 7, 2010)

This happens all the time - like Jack says, it's entirely normal, and it happens to my mice all the time (probably partially my fault for letting them use a large food bowl!). One thing I really don't like, though, is when they pee in their food so much that the food itself starts to, well, expand and smell like pee. Then I clean out the food bowl entirely, and it seems like a waste of food. Aw well. Hooray for poo eating! :lol:


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## miss.understood (Apr 20, 2010)

My mice don't have food bowls, i sprinkle their food around the tank as they seem to enjoy foraging for their food - keeps them amused for ages and is fun to watch them being so active.

As far as dirty boy mice go....my two stud mice have this 'lovely' habit of having a poop and them smearing it on the side of the tank :lol: i suppose it keeps their bedding clean!! :lol:


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## ccoryjohnn (Jul 2, 2010)

*miss.understood*
Hahahah, that's actually *reaallly* gross! I think I'd much rather clean bedding then have to scrub off smeared mice poop off the tank! Hahah, that is a nasty habit.


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## zany_toon (Apr 3, 2010)

Loganberry said:


> My mice do have bowls - and napkins, and they know how to use the family silver utensils too. It's true.


:lol: Most of my girls have bowls but only a handful of my boys do. My big group of boys are far too messy to use the bowl (also helps keep fights down too!) And I really want a piccie of a mouse with napkins and cutlery being served by a waiter now :lol: :lol:


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## Lizzle (Apr 7, 2010)

*miss.understood* - I've just started doing that too, where I sprinkle the 'lab blocks' or whatever they are called around my bin cages. They sure seem to enjoy foraging more, plus they can use the big food bowl for sleeping whenever they wish!

My manly little males do the same - not only do they smear their poos, but they also think it's a great idea to pee all over the sides of their tank. I can't really even figure out how they get some of the pee so high up there, though.. :lol:


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## Mymouse (Jul 2, 2010)

windyhill said:


> I rarely use bowls. A few mice *use them and dont abuse them*, but most see thrm as toys,lol


haha funny sentence :lol:

I feel as when I have few mice they use the bowls but when I have many together they abuse them lol


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## CatWoman (Jun 19, 2010)

zany_toon said:


> And I really want a piccie of a mouse with napkins and cutlery being served by a waiter now :lol: :lol:


Around here, it's more like this..


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## zany_toon (Apr 3, 2010)

CatWoman said:


> zany_toon said:
> 
> 
> > And I really want a piccie of a mouse with napkins and cutlery being served by a waiter now :lol: :lol:
> ...


:lol: That is officially my favourite picture of all time :lol:


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## ccoryjohnn (Jul 2, 2010)

I've still been using a bowl but I usually clean it out once a day when I change their food.


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