Seeds, cereals and nuts

The basic diet of most small rodents consists of mixes of several seeds and cereals. Some of them are presented here.
You distinguish between mealy seeds and high calorie oilseeds.
Always take care of the energy demand of your pets when composing a food. Species getting fat easily should get only few oilseeds, fat ones should get almost none.

Amaranth (Amaranthus spec.) is a plant belonging to the family of Amaranthaceae. That is why it is no cereal. The genus Amaranthus contains about 60 species. You can find Amaranthus caudatus in the shops for example.
The very small, round seeds can be yellow, golden, nearly white, red, brown or black and are among the small seeds beacous of their size.
Amaranth is a mealy seed.

Nutrient content

Barley (Hordeum vulgare), cultivated in several different sorts, belongs to the grasses. The grain contains amongst others vitamin B1, B2 and E plus calcium, iron und phosphor. You can offer the grains as a whole head or loose.
Barley belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrition content

Blackseed is the seed of a herb called Guizotia abyssinica. It belongs to the oilseeds and can be mixed especially into small seed mixes. But don´t add too much because it is high in fat.

Nutrition content

Despite its name Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is not cereal but the seed of knotweed, containing many vitamin B and E and also potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and phosphor.
It belongs to the mealy seeds and most mice like it very much.

Nutrient content |Carbohydrates| 71 %|

Canary grass (Phalaris canariensis) has a longish, glossy seed.
It belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrition content |Carbohydrate| 52,3 %|

The cardoon seed (Cynara cardunculus) contains much iron and calcium.
Cardoon seed belongs to the oilseeds so you should offer it carefully especially to pets tending to get fat.

Nutrition content

Dactylis (Dactylis glomerata) is a low fat wild seed you may collect from the meadows in summer. It grows from 10 und 120 cm high, flourishes from May to June and ripens from June to August.
It´s a fine ingredient for small seed mixes.
Please notice: If you buy your seeds, only offer grass seed sold for feeding pets! Other could contain toxins and pesticides!

Nutrition content

Dari is the white seed of the sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) which belongs to the family of Poaceae.
It belongs to the mealy seeds with its low fat and high carbohydrate content.
The small grain is perfect for small seed mixes.

Nutrient content

The field mustard (Brassica rapa) belongs to the family of brassicaceae. With 40% the seed is high in fat, so it´s an oilseed. But it is also high in phosphor, potassium and calcium. Because of its high calorie content you should add only a little of it to your pet food.

Nutrition content

Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) contains amongst others vitamin B1, B2, E and nicotin acid plus silica, iron, many unsaturated fatty acids and sulfurous amino acids. On the negative side is the content of fat and hydrogen cyanide glucocide.
It also contains fibre and mucilage which are positive for intestinal functions. So you can feed a certain amount of flaxseed to your pets.

Nutrition content

The common hazel (Corylus avellana) is a deciduous bush of about 5 m height. It is spread all over Europe and Asia Minor. Because the nuts are high in fat you should only offer them as a treat.

Nutrition content

The seed of hemp (Cannabis sativa) doesn´t cause any intoxication. But it´s a good complement for your food because the hemp protein consists mainly on the globulin Edestin which is very easy to digest. Also hempseed oil is very healthy because of its unsaturated fatty acids. The seed is also high in calcium und phosphor.
Hemp belongs to the oil seeds, so you shouldn´t offer too much of it. Take care if the species you keep can get fat easily!

Nutrition content

Hailing originally from Mexico, maize (Zea mays) is a cereal which is cultivated in about 50.000 sorts today.
Because it´s high in sugar it´s said to be a fattening food. So be careful when feeding it to sugar sensitive species and to those which are tending to get fat.

Nutrition content

Millet belongs to the small seeds. You can buy it in different sorts and forms for your mice. In the basic food mixtures you will use the loose millet. Additionally single sorts can also be offers as millet spray, a whole seedhead. That will keep your rodents busy a little longer.
You can offer all sorts to every species that likes to have small seeds in their diet.
Millet contains amongst others vitamin E, A and B and also niactin.
It belongs to the mealy seeds.

Different sorts and species of millet: Brown Millet (Urochloa ramosa)
Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana)
Fonio (Digitaria exilis)
Guinea Millet (Urochloa deflexa)
Japanese Millet (Echinochloa esculenta)
Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica)
Little Millet (Panicum sumatrense)
Broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor)
Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum)
Proso Millet (Panicum milliaceum)
(Panicum hirticaule)
(Panicum dichotomiflorum)
(Paspalum scrobiculatum)

Nutrition content of some sorts:

Foxtail Millet

Pearl Millet

Finger Millet |Carbohydrate |72 %|

Fonio |Carbohydrate |81 %|

Milo is the red seed of the sorghum millet (Sorghum bicolor) belonging to the sweet grasses.
It is high in carbohydrates and low in fat. That´s why it belongs to the mealy seeds.
The small seed fits perfect to small seed mixes.

Nutrition content

Oat (Avena spec.) is an annual grass having a panicle instead of a head.
Compared with other cereals oat has the highest content of minerals (e.g. magnesium, iron, zinc and calcium). Above that it contains vitamin B1 und H. It is the cereal with the highest content of protein, but with 5% of fat it belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrition content

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) are named nuts but they aren`t. They are legumes coming originally from South America. Amongst others they contain calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphor, but also a lot of fat. So you should feed only few to your pets.

Nutrient content

Poppy is the seed of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). But while opium is made out of the juice, the seed doesn´t contain any noteworthy amount of raw opium material.
But the content of calcium is about 2,475 %. That´s very much. It is also high in vitamin B.
It has a high fat content with 40 to 50%. So it´s an oilseed and you should offer only small amounts of it.
Mainly species liking very small seeds also like the tiny poppy seed. Other species like Mongolian jirds or natal rats usually despise it.

Nutrition content

Many rodents like pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita pepo) very much. So it makes a good treat, but don´t offer it too often because it contains 40% of fat and is high in calories.
The fat contained by the seed is very healthy because it manly consists of unsaturated fatty acid. Additionally it has the highest content of iron of all seeds and besides this they contain vitamin A, C und E.

Nutrition content

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is not a cereal.
The seed is high in essential amino acids, iron, zinc, calcium und phosphor.
Quinoa belongs to the mealy seeds because it is low in fat.

Nutrition content

The unpeeled rice (Genus Oryza) you know in its peeled form from the kitchen is a good additive for a seed mix. Rice contains at first phosphor but also iron and magnesium plus vitamin B1 and B2. It belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrition content

Rye (Secale cereal) belongs to the cereals and amongst others it is high in calcium and iron. Above that it contains zinc, manganese, vitamin B, E and H.
Rye belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrition content

Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a robust and undemanding cereal. That is why only few pesticides are used during the production. So the are only few residues in the ripe grain.
This cereal contains amongst others niacin und potassium.
Spelt belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrient content

Sesame (Sesamum indicum) belongs to the family of pedaliaceae and is supposed to be the oldest oil plant in the world. Because it's high in fat you should add only small amounts of it to your pet food, especially if you pets tend to get fat.
But sesame is also healthy, it contains about twice as much calcium as cheese. Additionally it's rich in iron, magnesium and vitamin E, B1, B2 and A.

Nutrition content

Soybeans (Glycine max) contain high-class protein, the fat content consists to 85% of unsaturated fatty acids and it's high in phosphor, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamin A, B1, B2, B3 and E.
Soybeans are pretty high in calories, so you shouldn't feed too much of it.

Nutrition content

You can add the loose seed of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus) to your basic mix but you can also offer a whole head to your mice. The latter you should only do if you own a species not tending to get fat.
The seed belongs to the oilseeds, so you should offer only a few of them to your pets. Even for species tending to get fat is it a healthy treat because its fat consists of about 90% unsaturated fatty acids.
Sunflower seed is high in vitamin E (ca. 30 mg in 100 g) and the other liposoluble vitamins A, D and K. Additionally there are the minerals and trace elements magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium and folic acid to mention.

Nutrition content

Wheat (Triticum spec.) is cultivated in different sorts all over the world. This cereal is especially high in vitamin B1, B2, B6, carotene, magnesium, potassium and silica. So it's good for your pets' nervous system.
Wheat belongs to the mealy seeds.

Nutrition content

Sources
http://de.wikipedia.org
birds-online.de
rennmaeuse.info
www.gesuender-abnehmen.com

Translation
Angelus Noctis
Proofreading
Jedediah