# Need Foods Mice Can't Resist



## bellamousey

A couple weeks ago I received a couple of mice from a friend who could no longer keep them. Since then, I have been trying to find a good treat for them. I tried all of the ones my other mice just love and nothing works. Not sunflower seeds, not pumpkin seeds, not peanut butter (organic and no added sugar), not various fruits and vegetables, not freezedried mealworms or crickets or anything. They'll eat a little after a while but they don't go nuts like my other mice. They are only semi-tame and I like my mice to be free from all skittishness before I even think about rehoming them. Or at least I want to enrich their lives as I promised my friend they would be treated as pets and not breeding stock. I usually tame mice by bribing them with treats. I'm at a loss. They don't even really like the super-full-of-bad-stuff-and-sugar treats my friend brought me with them that I tried just to see. Any ideas? It doesn't make a difference whether I just put it in the cage or in my hand in the cage. They just plain don't seem to like treats very much.


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## moustress

Try a little piece of dried bread. Or dry unsweetened cereal.


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## bellamousey

Still no success :/


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## raisin

omg I discovered mine go nuts for popped popcorn! I was eating some and dropped one, so put it in the tank and they attacked it! I guess put in some popcorn so they learn what it is. after that, they might take it from your hand.

I tamed one particularly bad/skittish pet store male by wearing a cut up sock on my wrist for a day and then giving him that and only that to sleep in. while he was inside I would cradle it so he would be at ease with my scent/touch. This took a week or so, and now he is pretty good. Something like that may work for your mice if treats fail. I noticed that my males seem to ignore treats completely while most females will take them.


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## bellamousey

Buttered popcorn or what? I'd be really hesitant to give them anything other than plain. There's all sorts of nasties in the butter from microwave popcorn that I don't want going into my mice. I suppose I could always put my own butter on if need be. My mice eat better than I do :lol:


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## Cereal Killer

My mice really love wet cat food, the pressed cubes inside the sauce. But they dislike ham and regular meat. Also they like salad. I think grains and nuts are just not as good of a protein source, and the smell of the meat of larger animals deters them. But the meat quality in cat food is so low and the aroma additives so high that they do no longer care.


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