Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I, against my better judgement, bought some mice from Petco to start a small breeding colony. I purchased 1.8 and have them in a large rubbermaid. I am not new to this but not an expert either. I added a little vanilla to the water to cut down on the smell and am feeding a small animal feed for everything from rabbits to mice according to the bag.

After a week about half the mice look just about dead, with their eyes nearly shut if not totally shut and barely moving.

I replaced their water as I know sometimes they won't drink with the vanilla in it. I also added some dog food to maybe see if that was the issue.

I lost two for sure, they we suffering too much so I dispatched them.

Any thoughts?

They were housed on carefresh.

If the small animal feed is the Kaytee brand, it is mostly alfalfa pellets; which is fine for rabbits, but mice and rats WONT eat it. If you are going to feed alfalfa, it needs to be loose leaf alfalfa; neither pelleted, nor baled hay. Also, I find, fresh alfalfa is prefered over dry.

You might try offering some cooked oatmeal, and fresh or cooked fruits and vegetables. As a last resort, maybe try mixing up some thin pablem (baby food cereal) and feed it with a dropper. Maybe even add some electrolytes.

I hope this helps, until someone with more experience comes along.

SnakeyLakey

Get a good rodent pellet and put in a bowl with warm water. "Wet Food" is a miracle drug for rodents. It is used World wide in research rodent breeding facilities.

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Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend

The only thing I ever had luck with for mice was the mouse blocks. I always thought mice would eat about anything, but the little suckers are really quite finicky
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1.2 Ghost Corns, Beetlejuice, Casper and Spooky
1.1 Charcoal het pewter, Smokey and Flame
1.1 Hypo het lavender, Rosy and Rocko
1.0 Anery, Goku
0.1 Amel, Sunny
2.0 Tabby Cats, Daddycat and his son Brat
0.1 Australian Shepherd, Angel

Gypsy