Nowadays, many people start as rodents pets: hamsters, rats, chipmunks, mice, jerboas as pets. Of course, the owners want their pets to be healthy, lively and live long. To do this, feed them good quality food. Special food for rodents should be granular, with a set of certain mineral and other useful substances. Now you can buy those not only at the pet store, but also at any supermarket.
Vitamins
For example, consider the nutrition of guinea pigs. Compared to other animals that live at home, guinea pigs do not produce their own vitamin C. PTherefore, they need good quality feed containing fiber, to which this vitamin is added. It is introduced into the diet in the form of a liquid or in crushed form.
A solution of vitamin C is prepared as follows: it is necessary to dilute ascorbic acid in fresh water. A dose should be given to guinea pig twice a day, the required amount at a time is 100 mg. But there is one caveat: the oxidation and destruction of vitamin C occurs quite quickly. Therefore, the product must be used up to 3 months from the date of manufacture.
Guinea pigs can also get vitamin C from fresh green vegetables.
If rodents eat fully, then there is no need for additional vitamins. Using poor-quality nutrition and combining it with vitamins is not the best option.
Goodies
Domestic rodents are very fond of nuts and seeds. You can give them, but the portions should be small. From the daily diet, such treats should be a maximum of 10%. Be careful. They have little calcium and a lot of fat, and although pets like this food very much, it will not bring much benefit.
Every day you can give your pets vegetables.They must be fresh and pre-cleaned.
From time to time, you can add fruit to the diet, but not much. Acceptable food for rodents are vegetables of orange, yellow, green hue. These products can not be abused, feeding them pets: vegetables should be no more than 10% of the daily diet.
Your rodents should have something like this: 90% of the diet is food, and up to 10% is fruit and vegetables.
Only sometimes pets can be treated with nuts or seeds. To provide them with enough fiber, hay should be offered to rodents.
Water
Food without water can not be. Therefore, your domestic rodent should be provided with access to fresh water throughout the day. Change it for a fresh one every day. Besides, It is important to regularly rinse the bottle or bowl where it is located. If you use a drinking bowl, use a special brush to clean it. This is very important, because pathogenic bacteria multiply there.
Nuances
There are many chewing toys on the market that are designed for domestic rodents. Sometimes people buy wooden sticks for their pets so that the incisors do not grow so fast. It is worth discussing this issue with the veterinarian, he will tell you which toys are best to take for your rodent. It is important to understand that the wrong decision would be to feed sunflower seeds and nuts from the market.
If your pet is dear to you, and you are worried about his health and life, then it is better to buy specialized food designed specifically for domestic rodents.
About food for domestic rodents, see the next video.
