What Do Mice Eat? A Guide To The Care And Maintenance Of Your Pet Mouse
Now that you got that little critter home are you wondering, after all this, what do mice eat? Well that’s a good question and how to feed him is another good question.
Mice do not eat cheese.
Despite what you’ve been taught by years of Tom and Jerry, our little friends do not eat cheese. Not in the wild anyway.
So what do mice eat?
Mice are vegetarians.
Mice are vegetarians. Vegans when it comes down to it--or what we call herbivores. Most mice, like the white variety most people buy at stores, eat nuts and vegetables. In the wild, they will eat nuts and seeds that fall from trees. They help to spread the seeds of the tree in this way, depositing the future trees in different locations where they leave their droppings. It’s a remarkable symbiotic relationship.
If the mice are lucky enough to live by a human farm, as many mice are, they will also supplement their diet by raiding the seeds and vegetables of their local farmer. Their small size makes them a particularly difficult pest to avert.
Pet Food
Of course, if you are looking to take care of a mouse, then the best thing you can do is provide store bought mouse food, rather than try to strictly recreate their wild diet. The store bought mouse food will provide your little gnawing companion with not only the nutrition they need but the extra seeds and vitamins that help them to have an optimal diet.
Picky Mouse?
Mice are not generally picky eaters. If you’ve ever had an unwanted mouse living in your house, the question would seem to be less what do mice eat, then what don’t they eat. They will seem to be gnawing their way through every type of food. In fact, from the racket they make inside of your walls you might think they are eating their way through your house itself.
If you put food out for your mouse and he is not eating, it is probably less because of the mouse’s complicated culinary tastes than the method of delivery. What you have to remember about mice is that they are usually the prey to other larger animals. So you have to think like a prey animal. They are constantly on the look out for another larger animal that is about to make them lunch. And, of course, they are nocturnal to make it harder for animals to track them down and swallow them up.
Put food in a bowl in the corner of the cage.
In order to make you mouse comfortable, you want to give them a nice cozy cage and place their food in the safest corner. The mouse will take it and bury it where they like. Make sure the bowl is nice and firm but not too big for the mouse.
What do mice drink?
Mice drink water, but like with the food you can buy a supplement to help them get extra vitamin C. These extra vitamins will help to keep them healthy.
If your mouse doesn’t seem to be drinking, it may be that he doesn’t quite understand how to get water out of the dispenser. If you have a mounded dispenser on the side of the mouse cage, try a bowl of water instead. Many mice will find this method easier and more natural. If this gets spilled, then you will want to increase the vegetables your mouse gets, especially the greens so that they will not become dehydrated.
Location, Location, Location
Also, be sure you don’t put your mouse cage in direct sunlight as this may raise the temperature in your mouse cage to dangerous levels. Mice are very sensitive to such changes.
Avocadoes kill Mice
There are also some things never to feed to mice—among them avocadoes and coffee beans. Both are toxic for mice.
Having a mouse can be lots of fun. Despite the popular misconceptions about mice, you will find them to be more affectionate than your average house cat and because of their size, perpetually cute. Just feed them as recommended above and enjoy their companionship!