Since peanut butter is so effective for mouse traps, it’s no wonder that owners are prone to giving peanut butter to their pet mice. However, there’s a big difference between a pet mouse and a wild one.
While peanut butter is an effective bait for traps, it’s not something that you want to feed to your pet mouse. Peanut butter can be extremely dangerous for them because they don’t have the necessary physiological features to clear their airways if they get clogged.
Why Your Mice Shouldn’t Eat Peanut Butter
While peanut butter is a great way to attract mice to traps and they certainly love the treat, the same reason that it works so well on traps is the reason that you shouldn’t feed them to your pets.
Peanut butter is extremely sticky, and it can block your mouse’s nasal passages and airways and suffocate them. While it might seem like an unlikely occurrence, a mouse can’t vomit and doesn’t have any other way to clear their airways.
Better Treats for Your Mice
While your mouse might love peanut butter, there are plenty of other treats that you can give them. We recommend giving your mouse any of the following treats in moderation:
These things might not seem like treats to you, but to your mouse, they’re incredibly delicious. They are also healthy when given in moderation.
Mice and Cheese
While there’s this idea out there that mice love cheese, the truth is that many mice couldn’t care less about cheese. They’ll eat it, but they prefer other treats, like fruits.
Since mice aren’t particularly fond of cheese and it’s high in fat, it’s best to avoid giving it to them entirely. There are better foods and treats for your pet mouse.
The Ideal Mouse Diet
To keep a pet mouse healthy, you need to give them a healthy diet. Start by giving them plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. This should make up the majority of their diet. You can supplement it with small amounts of rat/mouse cubes or pellets to ensure that they get all the nutrients that they need.
It’s not an overly complicated diet, but it’s an important one to follow if you want your mouse to stay happy and healthy.
The 6 Other Foods That Your Mice Should Avoid
You might think that since a mouse is a rodent, you can feed them just about anything, but that’s not the case. If you want your mouse to live a long, happy life, there are a few foods that you need to avoid.
1. Lettuce
While lettuce won’t kill your pet mouse, it will cause diarrhea. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s going to make cleaning their cage much more difficult. Also, no one likes having diarrhea, not even mice.
2. Grapes/Raisins
Grapes or raisins are not ideal for mice, as they are choking hazards and full of sugar, but they’ll gobble them up if they’re within reach.
3. Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a fruit that your mouse can’t eat if you want to keep them alive. Rhubarb is extremely toxic for mice, and even small amounts can lead to big problems.
4. Walnuts
Walnuts are extremely toxic for mice. Even a few walnuts can kill an entire mice colony, so keep walnuts far away from your pet.
5. Bacon
Foods that are high in fat are terrible for your mice and will create health problems for them down the road. While humans should also not eat too many foods that are high in fat, the difference between you and your mouse is that it will affect their health much faster.
6. Candy/Chocolate
Candy has tons of sugar, and it’s a surefire way to create health problems for your mouse. While some people say that small amounts of dark chocolate are fine for mice, it’s best to avoid it, just in case.
Final Thoughts
Just because you have a pet mouse, that doesn’t mean they can eat whatever you put in front of them. While they certainly love peanut butter, it’s not a safe treat for them.
Fortunately, there are plenty of other options out there to give to your pet mouse, and they aren’t overly particular about what you feed them. Use this to your advantage, and feed them foods that will keep them happy and healthy for as long as possible.
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Featured Image Credit: PublicdomainPictures, Pixabay
