Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In short.... they were telling women who wanted to get pregnant not to eat a lot of protein because studies found that mice that ate a lot of protein had a more difficult time getting pregnant. Just thought I'd pass that on.

MissHisssss

I've looked into protein and fat levels quite a bit to find the "best" levels. I think it's only fair to define what a lot is. Food deprivation will cause small litters and weak mice. A protein content too low (under 14%) is the same thing. They eat all they want, but there's nothing there. If the protein level is too high (over 25%) the mice will develop kidney disease, liver problems, and skin problems (to name a few). So...yes if you feed them too much protein, such as cat food, they will not breed well.

You should also look at the fat content. Too low (under 5%) and you get small litters and smaller and smaller offspring. Too high (over 12%) you get some health problem, but you basically make an obese mouse. You would think that a fat mouse would have great milk production, but they don't.

There's a bunch of different opinions of what to feed your colony. Play with different feeds until you find one you like. I would recommend that you stay in this range 14-25% protein and 5-10% fat. The perfect mix would be 18%p 8%f but that doesn't exsist unless you get it mixed your self. I use a higher mix for top production 25%p 10%f. I think it's at the very top edge of the scale, but I get good results.

Avoid dog food. Wrong mix of nutrients and red dye.

Avoid cat food. Too much protein and fat.

The best we have found is pig feed but we had to use a rice suppliment for the fat.

I now use "rodent mix" from FRM that's 25% 10%. If anyone is intrested I will try to find the product number.

Jeremy
-----
Wear Sunscreen

that no one ever seems to mention, is that the fat content determines how much most animals will eat.

For instance, if you raise (lets say double) the fat content of a diet, the animal may only eat 1/2 as much food. If this occurs, you need to double the protein/vitamins/etc. in order to get the same number of grams of protein/vitamins/etc. into the animal, since that animal is now satisfied eating 1/2 as much food.

The fat or protein content of a diet is far less important than the protein/fat ratio, and many other ratios as well.

High fat diets aren't necessarily bad, as long as other essential nutrients are raised as well, to keep the proportions the same, and this is assuming that the animal in question eats less volume of food. Since mice/rats are usually fed as much as they will eat, this should be true for them.

I can eat stir fry vegetables forever, and I never seem to get full. Give me a piece of "fatty" meat, and I feel full very quickly, on a much smaller portion.

Rodney

n/p
-----
Wear Sunscreen