Mouse food question...

She's probably not actually eating the styrofoam. Mice love chewing up
and shredding things like that. I'd probably take it away because it's
just going to make a mess -- give her some cardboard to chew on instead.

I've found mice to be as variable as people in their tastes. Some of
mine go crazy for peanut butter, some aren't that interested in it.
Some of them hate lab blocks, some (believe it or not) actually go for
the lab blocks first. Some will eat cheese, some don't like it (the
whole "mice love cheese" thing seems to be mostly a myth). One thing is
for sure -- no mouse is going to starve itself to death over pickiness.
They'll eat their food eventually if you don't give them anything else.
Anyway, mine eat more at night, and they don't eat huge amounts, so
maybe your mouse is actually eating and you don't realize it.

If you want to be sure your mouse is getting proper nutrition, you might
have to break down and get a homogenized food like lab blocks, so that
she can't just pick out her favorites. Mice will eat them eventually if
you don't give them anything else, though most don't like them much.

I feed my mice a rat mix prepared by the local pet store. It looks to
me like they just throw together several of their other bulk foods
including birdseed, parrot chow, hamster mix, lab blocks, and monkey
chow (my mice go nuts for the monkey chow, oddly enough), plus some
pasta wheels and dried fruit bits. My mice love it, or at least they
all find several things in it that they like since it's so varied. I
also feed them dry dog kibble.
 >> Stay informed about: Mouse food question... 

The mice/cheese thing started because cheese smells strongly and is
easy to stick on a mouse trap. Actually the high cholesterol in cheese
is bad for their tickers (in excess).

I seriously doubt that a healthy mouse would pass up all of those in
favor of styrofoam. Is it possible that she has some trouble smelling,
like an infection? You'd probably notice that, but even a picky mouse
should break down eventually and eat something (at least of the things
you mentioned).

For sure remove the styrofoam (it releases chemicals into the air when
broken apart), and give her something either natural (like cardboard or
paper) or unchewable (even a cup works for now). My girlfriend works at
Round Table, and I've found their personal pizza boxes make excellent
temporary homes for moms. I cut a small hole in the top, and the sides
prevent kits from crawling out.

My feed is usually a mix of lab block, bird and cat food (stolen from
my other animals), and various things from the PetCo clearance. Through
this process, I have discovered the second favorite food of almost
every mouse I've ever owned is pelleted fish or turtle food. But I have
yet to meet a mouse that would turn down a live insect (like a cricket
or mealworm from the pet store). If your mouse could say no to a
cricket, there is definitely a problem.
 >> Stay informed about: Mouse food question... 

Thanks for the advice. Today again I offered her a literal buffet
and she ignored everything except the water, then later I noticed
my cat's dry cat food and gave the mouse a few pellets and she ate
those. She had ignored carrot, lettuce, peanuts, hulled bird seed,
regular sunflower seeds, yogurt, cottage cheese, corn tortilla,
a rasberry, and a blueberry.

This is very odd, she doesn't appear sick. Every other mouse I've
dealt with appears to eat constantly - they are either eating,
pooping, or sleeping, sometimes pooping on the food they're eating.
And I've seen them eat each other after only a few hours without
food. As JohnnyMrNinja told me in the other reply to my post, that
they eat insects like crickets and mealworms, I'll try to catch one
or buy a few crickets at Petco.
 >> Stay informed about: Mouse food question... 

Pregnant mice can make a huge nest of chewed up things. Leave the styrofoam
in the cage as she will use it for bedding for her babies. Give her lots of
other things for bedding. Toilet paper, tissues, newsprint etc. Give her
something to hide in. They need their privacy. A box with a hole in the side
so she can get in but the babies can't crawl out. You can look in with a
torch. I give my Moms plenty of protein when they are pregnant and feeding.
A mouse will eat a whole egg per day when pregnant. (I hardboil them-saves
mess), leave the shell on but crack it a bit so she gets the idea there is
something yummy inside. I continue this until a couple of weeks after the
kits are weaned and then cut down the amount of protein that they get. They
will also drink soy milk (no lactose) for calcium and protein. You can also
use tinned fish (no oil please- no gall bladder to process the fat. This is
the reason they shouldn't have cheese either). She may have bad teeth. The
soft foods may help if this is the case. I have also used tinned cat and dog
food as well as dried food, when the hens weren't cooperating with the eggs.
I hope this helps.
"Satan" <satan RemoveThis @hell.com> wrote in message
news:UPGVe.528$7x4.238@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> Thanks for the advice. Today again I offered her a literal buffet
> and she ignored everything except the water, then later I noticed
> my cat's dry cat food and gave the mouse a few pellets and she ate
> those. She had ignored carrot, lettuce, peanuts, hulled bird seed,
> regular sunflower seeds, yogurt, cottage cheese, corn tortilla,
> a rasberry, and a blueberry.
>
> This is very odd, she doesn't appear sick. Every other mouse I've
> dealt with appears to eat constantly - they are either eating,
> pooping, or sleeping, sometimes pooping on the food they're eating.
> And I've seen them eat each other after only a few hours without
> food. As JohnnyMrNinja told me in the other reply to my post, that
> they eat insects like crickets and mealworms, I'll try to catch one
> or buy a few crickets at Petco.
>
 >> Stay informed about: Mouse food question...