# What is the best brand of food?



## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

What is the best brand of food blocks? Their main diet is food blocks, but I also give them a little bit of seed mix with oatmeal mixed in just for a variety. Right now I'm using Kaytee, but I was told that's not a very good brand.  So I would like to get them on a good brand.

Thanks!!


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Food blocks are very high in nutrients, but unfortunately, are also high in sugar and contain a lot of corn and corn products. I tried them years ago, and my mousies had really nice shiny coats, but the blocks are expensive and decided to buy straight grain and seeds and make my own mix, corn free, sugar free, and, imho, much healthier. I also stopped using sunflower seeds and peanuts as they seem to cause a bunch of problems in my mousies.

I was suprised to see that one of our local Humane Society locations selling a very good mix of food for rodents that is corn and wheat free. Very expensive, but I think that, if you only have a few meeces, it would not be too spendy.

Mixing my own works for me: 4 cups oats, 2 cups each wheat, barley, millet, 1/2 cup safflower seeds. It costs about 25 cents a pound. I stock large bags of straight grains and seeds and mix fresh every night. I supplement with high quality dry pet food and other oddments from the kitchen.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Harlan Teklad/Native Earth (same thing) sells a very good block. I mix it with other things...but it is a great block  
http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/search/native-earth ...this place sells it for a very reasonable price with low shipping...they also sell their brand of aspen and sani chips which are very high quality if you use bedding.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Stina, that does look like a better kind of rodent pellet, at least in the sense of not being full of sugar. It does have corn, though. Even if you don't believe corn causes cancer, there are other good reasons not to use it in it's raw form, as it causes digestive stress that, while not looking like out and out illness, can have a cumulative effect, in many animals.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

It's processed...as such, its not raw  Harlan also does testing for the harmful molds that corn can harbor (and Native Earth is just the "retail" line of Harlan Teklad). The high amount of corn and soy is part of why I mix it with other foods (I also feel it ideal to have some sort of "animal" protein in their diet). I feel it is the highest quality block available though.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Could may be.


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

harlan is supposed to be the best block. They also have some medicated block for ill animals, etc...it's interesting what all they have. That being said I order Mazuri from my feed store here in town and I pay maybe .75 a pound. It has really increased health in my mice, but that being said I don't see a huge difference in my pregnant and nursing does. I was using 8-in-one products before, which everyone told me was horrible. I thought everyone did well on it though.... :|


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## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

Thanks for all the help. I was thinking of feeding them Native Earth blocks as a main diet and add "Brown's Tropical Carnival Hamster and Gerbil mix" for a variety. I was also thinking of adding some oatmeal to their food. Does anyone know how much I should add? I was planning on giving each mouse one teaspoon of the seed mix.

Does that sound like a good diet?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

One food block a day is a lot of food for a mousie; maybe you could do a food block every other day and a teaspoon of mix every day. I feed my meeces a tablespoon of my mix every day and a piece of puppy kibble every other day (very small chunks).

The Hamster and Gerbil mix is probably high in fatty seeds, otherwise it's probably OK. Does the mix have little pellets in it?


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## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

moustress said:


> One food block a day is a lot of food for a mousie; maybe you could do a food block every other day and a teaspoon of mix every day. I feed my meeces a tablespoon of my mix every day and a piece of puppy kibble every other day (very small chunks).
> 
> The Hamster and Gerbil mix is probably high in fatty seeds, otherwise it's probably OK. Does the mix have little pellets in it?


I forgot to mention that I was planning on taking out the sunflower seeds and peanuts. Someone from another forum suggested I use hamster/gerbil food because it has a low protein percent. Unlike most mouse food.
This is the food:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... n=Pet+Type

Also I forgot to mention that I also feed them dog biscuits. I just kept them in there so whenever they want them they can chew on it.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Do you breed at all?...if so, don't lower the protein too much. Pregnant/nursing does and youngsters need _at least_ 18% protein


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## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

Stina said:


> Do you breed at all?...if so, don't lower the protein too much. Pregnant/nursing does and youngsters need _at least_ 18% protein


No I don't breed them.


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## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

Ok, so after talking with people on another forum I decided to just go with food block, because I have brindle mice and I had forgotten about their problem with weigh. So my only question now is, do you think Mazuri or Native Earth is a better quality food block?
Mazuri:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2754059
Guaranteed analysis:
Crude protein (min.) 23%
Crude fat (min.) 6.5%
Crude fiber (max.) 4%
Ash (max.) 8%
Vitamin E (min.) 25 IU/lb.
Ingredients: dehulled soybean meal, ground corn, ground wheat, wheat middlings, soybean oil, cane molasses, fish meal, ground oats, porcine meat meal, dehydrated alfalfa meal, dried beet pulp, wheat germ, brewers dried yeast, calcium carbonate, salt, dried whey, dicalcium phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium propionate (a preservative), ground soybean hulls, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (vitamin K), animal fat preserved with BHA, choline chloride, corn gluten meal, dried yucca shidigera extract, DL-methionine, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), vitamin A acetate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (natural source vitamin E), thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, nicotinic acid, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate.

Native Earth:
http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/Prod ... -Harlan%29
Analysis:
Crude Fiber (maximum)5.00%
Calcium1.01%
Phosphorus0.61%
Crude Protein (minimum)18.90%
Crude Fat (minimum)5.00%
Ingredients: Ground wheat, ground corn, wheat middlings, soybean meal, corn gluten meal, soybean oil, calcium carbonate, dried brewers yeast, dicalcium phosphate, iodized salt, L-lysine, DL-methionine, choline chloride, niacin, vitamin A acetate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride,thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, calcium pantothenate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium oxide, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate, chromium potassium sulfate.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Native Earth. Less soy, less fat, less protein, no added sugar (molasses is basically sugar)


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## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

Stina said:


> Native Earth. Less soy, less fat, less protein, no added sugar (molasses is basically sugar)


That's what I was thinking, it just sounded better all around. I just wanted to make sure. The breeder I got them from was telling me how great Mazuri was. Which it is good, but I would rather spend less money on then better stuff. Just makes more sense to me.  I would still buy the better stuff even if it cost more, it just makes more sense that I would want to spend less on the good stuff.  Thanks for the help.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I'd also go with Native Earth if you're breeding brindles. At least the brindles I see around here are always getting super-chubby on blocks, much like the fawns and reds tend to do.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

the american brindles with the obesity gene that I've had have stayed at a decent weight so long as they were only on harlan teklad blocks...as soon as anything else was added to their diet they gained weight.


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## Number1Sticky (Oct 25, 2010)

Laigaie said:


> I'd also go with Native Earth if you're breeding brindles. At least the brindles I see around here are always getting super-chubby on blocks, much like the fawns and reds tend to do.


I'm not breeding, but thanks. Everyone so far has told me Native Earth. So I'm definitely going to go with that.


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## jadeguppy (Jun 4, 2011)

mousetress, where do you get your grains from?

Also, how does feeding a grain diet like your mix compare nutritionally with the harlan teklad?


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