How much does a mouse eat in a day? - briefly
A typical mouse consumes about 3–5 grams of food per day, roughly 10–15 % of its body weight. Intake can vary with strain, age, and diet composition.
How much does a mouse eat in a day? - in detail
A typical laboratory mouse consumes roughly 3–5 grams of dry food per 24 hours, which corresponds to 10–15 percent of its body weight. This amount supplies the calories required for basal metabolism, thermoregulation, and activity. In the wild, small rodents may ingest slightly less dry matter but supplement it with seeds, insects, and moisture‑rich vegetation, resulting in a comparable caloric intake.
Key variables that modify daily consumption include:
- Age: Juveniles require higher protein percentages for growth, often eating 6–7 grams per day, while seniors reduce intake to 2–3 grams.
- Sex: Males generally eat 10–15 percent more than females of the same strain.
- Strain and size: Larger breeds (e.g., CD‑1) ingest up to 7 grams, whereas dwarf strains (e.g., BALB/c) may stay near 2 grams.
- Ambient temperature: Cold environments increase metabolic demand, raising food intake by 20–30 percent.
- Diet composition: High‑fat or high‑protein formulations alter the total mass required to meet energy needs; a 45 % kcal fat diet may reduce bulk consumption to 2–3 grams.
Water consumption typically ranges from 4 to 7 milliliters per day, scaling with ambient humidity and diet moisture content. Access to fresh water is essential for renal function and thermoregulation; deprivation quickly reduces food intake and leads to weight loss.
Metabolic calculations show that a mouse with a 25‑gram body mass expends approximately 3.5 kilocalories per day. Translating this energy requirement into feed amounts depends on the caloric density of the diet (e.g., 3.5 kcal/g for standard lab chow). Multiplying energy demand by diet density yields the observed 3–5 gram range.
In summary, daily food intake for a mouse is a function of body size, physiological state, environmental conditions, and diet formulation, typically falling between 2 and 7 grams of dry matter, with corresponding water intake of 4–7 milliliters.