Piggy Mouse

by peas Mon 09 Oct 2017, 12:09 am

Anyone ever have a food mouse before?

My new mouse, Spongey, is a little piggy. When i feed him, he just eats like 50-75% of his food for the day in his first sitting. He just sits there and munches and munches and munches and munches and munches. He's getting fat, quickly, but more interesting is just that he seems to really just hunker down and eat massive meals as soon as they are available.

Today, about 75% of his food was gone 10 minutes after i put it out for him. And again, he ain't starving, he's getting chubby. He also has giant drinks. Like he binge drinks or something, like a sponge (the name game first though). That i've seen before, i've had mice that seem to drink a lot in one go. Never had such a piggy mouse before.

by CallaLily Mon 09 Oct 2017, 5:21 am

How much food do you give each time? Just so I have an idea how much 50-75% of his food is.

None of my mice have ever seemed to over eat. Not even the fat ones.

by peas Mon 09 Oct 2017, 2:20 pm

About a tablespoon.

by CallaLily Mon 09 Oct 2017, 3:04 pm

Do you limit him to that daily? Mice normally eat multiple small meals through the day/night, so if you're limiting his food he may be gobbling it up faster when he gets it or hoarding it. I put a bigger scoop in for my mice and refill when it's almost gone, which is about every 1-2 days.

by Rodents rock! Mon 09 Oct 2017, 8:38 pm

Mice should have plenty of food available to them 24/7. I would never limit their food.

by peas Tue 10 Oct 2017, 5:48 pm

Limit? That's what he gets. Plus his dog kibble and treats.

He's getting fat, it's enough food. He's very active and is still getting fat.

by CallaLily Tue 10 Oct 2017, 7:36 pm

I'm just wondering if he isn't stuffing it all in so quickly and/or hoarding it because he only gets that once a day. Fat could just be genetics. With mice it usually is. Is he brindle or yellow? From everything I've read it's very rare for mice to overeat.

They have very high metabolisms so it's normal and healthier for them to be able to eat multiple small meals a day/night. That's why it's generally recommended to give them plenty and then refill when it's almost gone so they can't just pick and choose their favorites.

by Peachy Tue 10 Oct 2017, 7:46 pm

A fat mouse usually isn't something to be concerned about unless they're obese... and even then we don't suggest limiting food. some mice aren't "fat" but just larger. Especially males. What are you feeding/what are the percentages in the food you feed him (protein, fat, etc.)? This, along with quality, can also affect weight.

Also a note, an average amount of food eaten per day is two tablespoons, some will eat more and some will eat less. I think CallaLily might be onto something. Smile

by peas Wed 11 Oct 2017, 2:26 pm

2 tablespoons? Are we talking heaping? Or level?

That seems like a lot to me. I eyeball their food so maybe i am underestimating how much i am giving him.

He's grey.

Nutty, spent all night basically his whole life running and was good sized. I don't think he could of possibly been under fed. He also had lots of food left over during every clean, including stuff he liked.

This mouse, which is smaller by a fair amount, gets as much food as Nutty did.

The area where his wheel is, is full of poops. Tons, so i know he was up running most of the night. There is atleast 60 poops under his mesh wheel in 2 days. There is no way he's under fed.

Also what is this idea that you've never heard of a mouse over-eating? Some mice, like dogs and people, will eat too much if you let them. Saying every fat mouse is just genetics is kind of silly.

I don't mind that Spongey is a little plump. I was just curious if anyone had a mouse that gorged before.

by Peachy Wed 11 Oct 2017, 5:24 pm

Like I said, 2 tablespoons is supposed to be an approximate average. I fill the bowls and refill them when there's no food left, rather than limiting them to a certain amount each day. Is there a reason you don't do this?

My mice have always simply ate until they weren't hungry anymore. If one of them was eating all he gets at once it would make sense to think he's not getting enough and needs more.

by Rodents rock! Wed 11 Oct 2017, 9:41 pm

Mice should just simply not have a limit put on their food. They have high metabolisms and eat off and on day and night.

by Rodents rock! Wed 11 Oct 2017, 9:57 pm

Just looked this subject up online and here are a few things I found.

"Mice eat nearly constantly thanks to their demanding metabolisms."

"Pet mice do best when their owners keep food available for them at all times. Pet mice eat often. Mice do not overeat, they consume only what they need."

"You do not need to measure out portions of food for mice, they won't overeat just because there is spare food in their bowl."

by CallaLily Thu 12 Oct 2017, 5:42 am

peas wrote:
Also what is this idea that you've never heard of a mouse over-eating? Some mice, like dogs and people, will eat too much if you let them. Saying every fat mouse is just genetics is kind of silly.

I actually truly haven't read about a mouse over eating. And I didn't say never. I said "from everything I've read it's rare for a mouse to over eat."

And again, I said "could be genetic" and that "with mice it usually is." Wink

I was just curious if anyone had a mouse that gorged before.

No. I haven't. Not even my chubby ones.

by AnonymousMouseOwner Thu 12 Oct 2017, 4:14 pm

According to a scientific article I found online..

Science House wrote:Now a mouse weighs about 20 to 30 grams so it is about a factor of 3500 times less massive than an average human. Metabolic rate scales as mass to the three quarters so power density ( e.g. Watts/gram) scales as mass to the minus one quarter. Hence, a mouse is 3500^{(1/4)} or 7 to 8 times less metabolically efficient than a human. A colony of mice weighing as much as a human would have to eat 7 to 8 times as much food.

I find it very interesting to read these types of studies. Mice are the main animal used for tests and studies in labs, and we can learn a lot about our pet meece by researching scientific articles. Anyways, obviously they need to eat a LOT more different times during the day than we do. Imagine your 3 meals a day, but 7 times more than that is what a mouse needs, and that's a lot of food!