Rat, mouse, hamster and gerbil nutrition — rodent chow composition and treat limits (VIN Veterinary Partner)
Verbatim first-hand facts from VIN Veterinary Partner, 'Nutrition for Small Mammals' (veterinarian-authored client-education article). All bullets are exact substrings of the cited source file and C1-substring verified. 'This group' in the source text = rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils. Recommendations are for non-breeding, non-production pets.
Nutritional facts
- Rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils have similar dietary requirements.
- The basic diet for this group should consist of a good quality rodent chow or lab block.
- Rodent chows should have a minimum of 16% protein and 4 to 5% fat content.
- Good quality rodent chows are considered to be fairly complete diets for this group.
- Other foods can be fed in addition to the commercial pellets but should not constitute more than 20% of the total diet.
- Fruit and vegetables as described for the rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas can be offered at a rate of about 1 teaspoon/day.
- A reasonable amount of nuts and or seeds would be a total of 1 teaspoon/day for rats and about ½ teaspoon for the other species.
- Pelleted food should be purchased in amounts that will be used within three months to prevent spoilage.
Related: exotic_nutrition_hamster, exotic_nutrition_gerbil, exotic_nutrition_guinea_pig_vitamin_c.