Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm rather new to these forums and didn't quite know what to do with this. The alfalfa discussion ended some time ago so am I supposed to start a new dealy bob on it or go back to the old one?

Anyway...I just wanted to tell ya all that since I have a horse and a barn full of alfalfa I thought I'd give a handful of the stuff to each of my mouse colonies. At first they were suspicious of it, and then they had a ball with it. It was so cute. I stood there for an hour watching them. I'm worried about using it as a bedding though. I know it's rough on a horses kidneys, and they pee a lot because of the high content of calcium in it... so does anyone know if it would have the same effect on mice kidneys?

Thanks,
I LOVE these forums!!!!!
MissHisssss

Hello,
To be honest I'm not sure if it would be hard on the mouses kidneys. Lots of Petstores have them specifically for rodents. They should be fine, anyways alfalfa cubes are very healthy.

Steven

PS:This duckling is not snakefood. ( I rescued him from roadkill, he lived with me for a few days, and I released him with an other duck family.)

of things that are bad for animals! You know, like you can keep an iguana small by keeping it in a 20 gallon tank, or you can actually give your scaly little friend vitamins by spraying a liquid form on their body, NOT!

I raise a lizard that prefers cool climates and stresses in temps over 84 F but most pet stores sell them with a hot rock and 100 W basking light!

I'm not saying that alfalfa is bad for rodents, just that pet stores don't give a darn! If they can make a buck they will sell anything!

Just my personal point of view.

Marcia

I agree with you Marcie. I was just about to say the same thing.

I will be putting some in with my colonies once in a while and do my own test. If they start reacting negatively to it... I will discontinue it. As is... I really enjoy seeing what fun they are getting out of it. I even put a little on top of their cage for them to pull through. They seem to get so bored and it gives them something to do for a little while. What a dismal existence they must experience living in such a small place. If I can give them a little entertainment... shoot, they might reward me with more babies. Ok... so I like my litte critters and want to try and make them as comfortable as I can while they are working for me.

Thanks
I LOVE these forums
MissHisssss

I always start a new topic if its more than a week or so..

I wouldn't worry about mice or rats eating large amounts of alfalfa. They are not grazers like horses or cows. My rats love to tunnel in it too. I would probably still keep my rats on alfalfa hay, except that 1 bale takes up 1/5 of my floor space even when stood on end. I keep them on alfalfa pellets instead. My only other concern was seeds in the waste which I use as mulch. Alfalfa does come in different grades, make sure your's doesn't have too much dust or fines.

DeMak

Fines? I don't know what that is.

I always try to get good quality 2nd cut alfalfa for my horse... but they slip in some junk once in a while. Lots of weeds. Lots of dust. Now that I've tried it on my mice and they like it so much... I'll be giving some to them once in a while. I'll avoid the weedy dusty stuff and try to make it a combination of stems and leaves... maybe a tad of the weeds for the seeds. Our alfalfa is about $4.50 to $5.50 a bale in the summer. You can get it cheaper than that if you look hard enough. I got a grass/alfalfa blend for $3.00 last year. We won't talk about winter prices.

I LOVE these forums!!!!!
MissHisssss.

I made the post a while back using alfalfa hay with my mice.
I've been using it for some time now, and my mice love it! Cuts down on the urine smell, too!
The mice love digging little tunnels in the hay, creating their own sub-substrate burrows/chambers. Maybe it gives them an extra sense of privacy, maybe it gives them something to occupy their time, I don't know. All I know is they're a lot happier in the hay than in shavings, and a lot more productive.
BTW- One of my females got EXTREMELY big- ended up having 25 pinkies. With 10 hungry baby cornsnakes I could use all the pinkies I can get right now!
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com