Nutrient Requirements of the Mouse Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals NCBI Bookshelf
Precise requirements for pregnancy and lactation have not been established. Based on these results, the estimated dietary zinc requirement for growing and adult mice is 10 mg/kg diet and for pregnant and lactating dams is 30 mg/kg diet. Knapka and co-workers (1977) suggested that optimal crude protein and crude fat concentrations should be lower than 18 percent and 10 to 11 percent, respectively. Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency The mouse is quite resistant to the development of rickets—a disease caused by vitamin D deficiency.
Bell et al. (1980) found that female B6D2F1 mice had higher concentrations of calcium and phosphorus in their bones when fed 6.0 g Ca/kg diet with 3.0 g P/kg diet than when fed 6.0 to 24.0 g Ca/kg diet with 12.0 g P/kg. Further work demonstrated that female B6D2F1 mice grew better when fed 15 percent casein with 6.0 g Ca/kg and 3.0 g P/kg diet (basal diet) than when fed 15 percent or 30 percent protein with 6.0 g Ca/kg and 12.0 g P/kg diet (Yuen and Draper, 1983). Moreover, bone calcium concentrations were higher when mice were fed the basal diet than when they were fed the diets containing elevated concentrations of phosphorus. When it comes to smaller rodents, their dietary habits differ slightly due to their size and metabolic needs.
In many countries and regions, rodent meat is a major component of peoples’ diet – and not just of the poor. Here’s a quick list summary of all the foods we’ve mentioned in this article that mice will eat. So, you can expect them to take whatever food they can get their paws on and store it near their nesting sites. They will then turn to this stored food when they are unable to find other food.
Based on these works, it seems reasonable to suggest that the minimal requirement of selenium and iodine for the mouse might be at least as much as for the rat. Data for molybdenum requirements of the mouse are even more sparse than those for selenium or iodine, and it is suggested that those values established for the rat are good estimates for the mouse (see Table 3-3). Based on work with the rat, it seems reasonable to sug gest that the mouse might have similar requirements for the trace elements. Until further work is completed with the mouse, the requirements established for the rat will suffice as estimates for the mouse. For a more in-depth discussion of the trace element requirements, see Chapter 2.
Lin et al. (1979) maintained mice at an environmental temperature of 30° C for the first 2 weeks postweaning and 26° C for the following 2 weeks. Webster (1983) reported that when room temperature was increased from 24° to 28° C, heat production in mice decreased 21 percent, thus decreasing observed maintenance energy requirement. Thus, environmental temperature, diet composition, and genetic background must be considered when predicting maintenance energy requirements.
When all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate is used as the dietary source, the equivalent amount would be 32 mg/kg diet. Magnesium has been shown to be a dietary essential for mice, but the optimal intake for this species has not been well established. Alcock and Shils (1974) reported that mice fed diets containing 20 mg Mg/kg diet developed signs of deficiency, but these signs did not develop when the diet contained 400 mg Mg/kg diet.
But given a mouse’s diverse food preferences and lack of discrimination about what they would or wouldn’t eat, such trying times is an extremely rare occurrence. For instance, mice are notorious for gnawing on just about anything, and they do it without being particularly worried about whether it actually is food or not. This includes electric wires, wooden boards like wainscotting, your treasured furniture, and plaster too, among other materials.
The values in Table 3-3 may have to be adjusted to allow a margin of safety between the actual and estimated requirements. As they consume plant material, they help distribute seeds, assisting in plant propagation. This is particularly important for tree regeneration and the establishment of new plant populations.
Burton and Wells (1977) observed that rats fed 0.5 percent dietary phthalysulfathiazole required myo-inositol to prevent fatty liver during lactation; 500 mg myo-inositol/kg diet was sufficient. Anderson and Holub (1976) found that either tallow or the highly unsaturated canola oil caused liver fat accumulation in myo-inositol-deficient rats fed succinyl sulfathiazole, whereas corn oil or soybean oil did not; 0.5 percent myo-inositol was protective. Unlike rats (Bondy et al., 1990), the peripheral nerves of mice fed diets containing galactose (20 percent) were not depleted of myo-inositol (Calcutt et al., 1990).
Signs of Vitamin A Toxicity The studies of vitamin A toxicity in mice focused on the teratological aspects of the toxicity. Kochhar et al. (1988) have found that a single dose of 349 µmol/kg BW on day 10.5 of gestation produced cleft palates and limb deformities in ICR mice. Giroud and Martinet (1962) reported that three doses of 6.5 µmol vitamin A/kg BW on days 8, 9, and 10 of gestation caused death or resorption of 63 percent of the fetuses and malformations in others. Ideally, retinyl esters should be added to animal diets in stabilized gelatin beadlets, which will protect the vitamin A from oxidation. An alternative procedure is to slowly dissolve the retinyl esters in the dietary lipid, which contains an antioxidant, before the lipid is mixed into the diet. If the second procedure is used, the diet should be freshly prepared at least every other week.
This is because there is a greater chance of there being food scraps such as candy and pet food available for the mice to feast on. Besides this, mice also like to eat bird food, cereals, pet food, and other such crumbs and tidbits. This is why homeowners that have children or pets are usually Check this for Animal domestication and diet more troubled with mice infestations in their home. When it comes to a mouse’s list of preferred food, chocolate holds a position right at the top. So, if you’re not open to sharing your chocolates, then it is just another reason for you to address any possible mice infestations in your home.
Rats were eaten in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) and called “household deer” 5. According to the authors, one speciality people ate during these times was new‐born rats stuffed with honey, “conveniently snatching them with chopsticks”. Proteins hold a lot of importance in the animal world, and mice seemed to understand their importance too. The AIN-76 diet was formulated to contain 0.025 mg cholecalciferol/kg (0.65 µmol or 1,000 IU/kg) (American Institute of Nutrition, 1977).
As we have said in previous lines, the common mouse lives near the nuclei of human activity in almost every region of the world. It feeds on seeds, fleshy roots, green stems and many different types of leaves. Break-back rat traps, similar to the traditional mouse trap, can be set in places where rats are active, these can be baited with a wide range of foodstuffs for example bread, cereal or chocolate.
Traditionally, rapid growth leading to maximum body size at maturity has been the basis for measuring dietary adequacy on the assumption that a diet promoting maximum growth would be adequate for reproduction, lactation, and maintenance. Data have been published that test the validity of this assumption for the mouse. Knapka et al. (1977) found that diets producing maximum postweaning growth did not support maximum rates of reproduction. Since the mouse achieves one-third of its total growth during the suckling period, lactation imposes a heavier nutritional burden on the dam; this may influence some nutrient requirements more than others. Dubos et al. (1968) reported that a casein-starch diet that contained 0.05 percent magnesium was adequate for growth of mice, but sudden death occurred in some lactating females when they consumed that diet.
