While attempting to answer this question, we are going to look at it from two perspectives. The first one will be answering if this food is suitable to those who have rats and mice as pets while the second one will be focusing of whether wild rats and mice can eat the food you are giving or storing for your rabbits.
As pets
If you have rats or mice as pets, you are not supposed to give them food designed for rabbits. PETA advises anyone with these rodents to avoid any kind of feeds designed for herbivores including guinea pigs, hamsters, or rabbits. This is because they will not nutritionally meet these rodents protein requirements.
Note that they need amino acids, minerals, and vitamins, and other nutrients from the food you give them since they are unable to produce them on their own.
We are not denying the fact that rats can share some foods with bunnies including apples, plums, pineapples, cherries, and so on. There are others which they eat, and they cannot share them with your bunnies such as popsicles, rice, cheese, meats, egg, cereals, and so on.
What about wild or field ones
It is a fact that rabbits attract rats and mice and some of the reasons why they do so is due to the availability of shelter and food. These rodents will eat most the things you give your bunnies, including their poop.
Therefore, in this case, the answer is yes, they will eat your bunny’s food including the ones remaining in their hutches or sheds or the ones you are storing if you do not store them well. This will include the various pellets including the alfalfa and hay pellets.
If this is a problem, you need to get rid of these rodents. However, you need to be mindful on the methods you use. Some methods may be harmful to your bunnies such as poisoning them if not done carefully. Some methods that may help include:
- Keeping your bunny’s food well – Always store it in places that cannot be accessed by these rodents and avoid dropping any while feeding your bunnies. If they cannot get what to feed on around the hutches, they are unlikely to continue staying there.
- Consider rat proof rabbit hutches – Ensure there are no openings, use rat guards, go for hutches with a slide-out tray or a solid base to stop fecal pellets or foods from dropping down among other ways.
- Keep proper hutch hygiene – Remove any pellet droppings, food remains, and get rid of any soiled ones since rats can still eat them.
There are still many other methods including baiting them, sealing their holes, having cats or dogs, and so on. Ensure the method used is safe to your pets.
Conclusion
It is always a good idea to ensure mice and rats do not access your hutches or where you store your rabbit feeds. Besides eating it, they can potentially spread parasites or frighten your bunnies.