How Often to Feed Your Pet Mice, and How Much?
When you own a pet, feeding is one of the most important considerations you can make. The same can be said for pet mice – you have to know how often you should feed them in order to keep them healthy and well-groomed.
So, how often to feed your pet mice?
You should feed your pet mice once or twice a day, and you should try to keep their diet as varied as possible. You should always try to avoid overfeeding which can lead to obesity, and also make sure that you provide them with high-quality fresh food only.
In this article, we’ll go over a few things you need to know if you own pet mice. You’ll learn how often and how much you should feed them, what you should feed them, and other things there are to know when you have a pet mouse in your home.
When to Feed Your Mouse? Morning or Evening?
So we’ve mentioned that you should feed your mice once or twice a day, so now you might be asking the following question: when exactly should I feed my mouse, in the morning, or in the evening?
There is no universal answer to this question. There are many mouse owners who feed their mice both in the morning and in the evening, or they only feed them once a day with a larger meal.
Personally, I would recommend to you that you feed them in the morning and in the evening.
In the morning, feed them fresh food because their digestive system is ready to go. This includes various vegetables and fruits (bananas), but make sure the food is fresh and not left over from yesterday or even a few days ago.
This is for the first meal. The second meal should happen sometime in the evening. At this time, you should try to feed your mice with grains or mouse pellets, but make sure you buy high-quality pellets and not some cheap pellets with a lot of filler content.
I recommend that you feed them grains which are more easily digestible and also a bit more natural, but pellets are definitely fine, as long as you buy high-quality ones.
What to do with Leftover Food?
As I’ve mentioned, you should aim to have as little leftover food as possible. Every time you feed your mice, make sure you remove the leftovers from their habitat. Because the leftovers can start to rot when they are left as they are, which can result in bad odors and ultimately, diseases.
So after every feeding window, make sure you watch how much your mice eat and then clean up the leftovers.
And before you feed your mice, make sure there are no leftovers in the cage. This is very important for keeping your mice healthy and their habitat clean.
If there is leftover food, they might reject the food simply because the leftover food caused them to hate the food, and they might not eat your food at all.
So before you feed your mice, first clean the tank and remove the leftovers, and then feed them with fresh food.
How Much to Feed a Mouse?
Another question is how much you should feed your mice.
The answer here is “just right”. You should go for the food they can consume easily, but you should never overfeed them.
Overfeeding can lead to obesity and several serious diseases, which can ultimately result in the death of your mouse. So aim to keep the diet balanced but also don’t overfeed, so you can avoid the potential risks that come with obesity.
It’s best to test it out yourself and see how much your mouse will eat. Sometimes, mice will eat more, and sometimes less. Some mice will consume smaller amounts of food, while others will consume more in one meal.
Again, it’s important that you test to see how much your mice will eat first, and then start feeding them the amounts that you see fit.
Can a Mouse Get Fat from Too Much Food?
Mice, like human beings, can get fat from eating too much. And even mice can get obese, which can lead to serious health complications if you’re not careful.
Too many mice owners make the mistake of feeding the mouse as much as they can eat, and possibly even more. This is a mistake, because mice will generally eat quite a lot if they are allowed, which can lead to obesity quite quickly.
So make sure you feed them smaller amounts at first and regulate how much food they get, because they can get fat pretty fast.
Also, another important thing to keep in mind is to keep your mice moving as much as possible.
Mice are active animals, and they do most of their activity at night. And since they are in captivity, they just won’t have the same chance to do their moving. So make sure you buy an exercise wheel for your mouse where your mouse will get enough movement but also lose excess fat that comes from improper feeding.
How Often to Feed Fresh Food to Your Mouse?
You can feed fresh food to your mouse every day, as we discussed above. You should try to give them fresh food in the morning.
But if your mouse has a fast digestive system or some digestive problems, then it might be better to feed them fresh food every two days in order to avoid those problems.
Fresh food is good for mice because it will give them the right nutrients and vitamins to grow and survive comfortably, which sometimes do not get from their natural habitat. And you can help them get healthier and grow more with fresh food.
Conclusion
You should aim to feed your mice once or twice a day, although most mice owners will feed their mice twice a day.
You should try to feed them fresh food in the morning and grains or mouse pellets in the evening, and always avoid overfeeding. With some care and proper nutrition, your mice will grow into big mice in no time at all!