Blue Seal Rider in the mix?

[Demonic Hope]

One of my mice has been ill with an URI and is off his feed. I've been offering some pretty odd things to get him to eat and so far his only interest has been my horse's sweet fed mix. Probably because its sweet.

I was reading the ingredients and it honestly looks pretty decent to me. I was thinking of adding a little to my mix if you guys agree. I've been looking for something to bring down my protein a bit. Its at 16% right now if my calculations are right and my fat is about 8%.

Its Blue Seal's Rider textured feed. Here is the ingredients and analysis.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein, Min. ......................................... 12.0 %
Crude Fat, Min. ................................................. 3.5 %
Crude Fiber, Max. ............................................. 8.0 %
Calcium, Min. .............. 0.60 % Max. ......... 1.10 %
Phosphorus, Min. ............................................ 0.60 %
Copper, Min. .................................................. 35 ppm
Manganese, Min. ......................................... 115 ppm
Selenium, Min. ............................................ 0.50 ppm
Zinc, Min. ..................................................... 130 ppm
Vitamin A, Min. .......................................... 4,500 IU/lb
Vitamin E, Min. ............................................. 105 IU/lb


INGREDIENTS
Oats, Steam Flaked Corn, Steam Flaked Barley,
Cane Molasses, Wheat Middlings, Ground Corn,
Soybean Meal, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Soybean
Hulls, Vegetable Oil, Salt, Calcium Carbonate,
Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Zinc
Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Copper
Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese
Proteinate, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate,
Calcium Propionate, Ferrous Sulfate, Selenium
Yeast, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement,
Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement,
Choline Chloride, Riboflavin, d-Calcium
Pantothenate, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12
Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine
Hydrochloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source
of Vitamin C), DL-Methionine, Oat Mill By-Product.

[Shooting Star]

Any idea of the sugar content, since it does have molasses?

[rhianna]

I'd be a little bit concerned with how much corn is in it. Corn is pretty unhealthy for gerbils and you should usually try and avoid it at all costs. Also, as SS said, molasses is high on the ingredients list.

[Demonic Hope]

Hmm I'll try and find the sugar. Is molasses really bad for them? I know in moderation its considered healthy for mice

As for the corn there is really very little cracked corn in it. I actually just pick it out.

[rhianna]

It's fine in moderation but that high up on the ingredient list would be a bit too much in my opinion. It also does seem like there's a lot of corn actually in the pellets (I'm pretty sure that's how horse feed works? correct me if I'm wrong) so picking out the corn pieces wouldn't remove most of it.

Considering there don't seem to be many healthy benefits, I think it would probably be best to just leave it out of their mix.

[Demonic Hope]

Horses shouldn't have to much corn. Corn and spring time grass actually have a lot of carbohydrates. In moderation its fine. But if horses get to much of this sugar at once they can get what's called Laminitis which causes the coffin bone in the hoof to actually rotating from it. Nasty and painful and normally a death sentence in severe cases and if not treated timely and properly a career changer. Secretariat was actually put to sleep because of laminitis. So most decent quality horse feeds don't have to much corn or other carbohydrate and are mostly made of Alfalfa or beet pulp. Corn is mostly for energy and a filler.

And yeah I think as anything more then an occasional treat I'll skip it.

[Jazzable]

Why is corn unhealthy for gerbils anyway?

[Demonic Hope]

Mar 28, 2014 2:07:23 GMT -8 Jazzable said:

Why is corn unhealthy for gerbils anyway?

Corn is considered mostly a filler. Its not very nutritional but its cheap so a lot of pet foods use it. Its fine in moderation but not a super great thing. There are some research that indicates that corn also causes cancer in rodents but I personally don't believe it to much.