Local Rat Breeders

Found someone sorta local to me that has feeder rats. What should I be concerned with as far as how they are raised? Seems I read somewhere that some people feed their feeders dog food and that isn't a good thing. Am I wrong in thinking this? Will a steady diet of dog food fed rats hurt a snake?

A varied diet is best for rats. Dog food is cheap and easy to get ahold of, but ideally it should be mixed with vitamin supplements and veggies as well. It probably wouldn't negatively effect a snake, honestly, unless the diet was high-fat and the supplier is putting out obese rats. Enough overweight rats and a snake will put on weight like that too.

Even though we feed them to our animals, rats are animals too, and they have nutritional needs just like every other animal.

^^^that. What you feed your rats definitely reflects the overall health of both the feeders and your snakes. I personally feed a diet specifically made for rats, along with whole grains, fresh and frozen veggies.

I think my rats eat better than I do :) But it's worth it to know my snakeys are getting high quality feeders.

Unfortunately people can lie about what they feed their rats. Unless you're able to see their setup and food supply, you can't really know. Just look for clear eyes, no signs of respiratory distress, and full shiny coats. These are the best visual indicators of health. If you see sickly looking rats, turn around and run fast!

I don't know the person at all but here's a pic of his rats.. I guess I could ask him what he feeds them. http://images.craigslist.org/3r13F83...7fd1ad1e51.jpg

It also depends on the brand. TSC, Tractor Supply Company, used to sell a dog food that was just fine for rats. I don't know if they still do as we don't have them out here, but when I was researching food, there's was pretty good. It was the only one I found that I thought was acceptable and I do know people back east that have used it with good results.

Those rats don't look bad.

I cant remember who told me but another thing to look at are the tails and nails of the rats. If they're clean then it means the rats bins are cleaned regularly and they aren't running around in their own crap. Makes sense to me but idk how accurate it is.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I cant remember who told me but another thing to look at are the tails and nails of the rats. If they're clean then it means the rats bins are cleaned regularly and they aren't running around in their own crap. Makes sense to me but idk how accurate it is.

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If they're more than a few months old, their tails are probably not going to be clean. Mine aren't and I clean weekly. The coats are always nice and clean, but the tails are not pink.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I cant remember who told me but another thing to look at are the tails and nails of the rats. If they're clean then it means the rats bins are cleaned regularly and they aren't running around in their own crap. Makes sense to me but idk how accurate it is.

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If they're more than a few months old, their tails are probably not going to be clean. Mine aren't and I clean weekly. The coats are always nice and clean, but the tails are not pink.

I asked him what he fed his rats and he replied with "Lab blocks a regular rodent diet comes from ADM."

Hey I've been looking EVERYWHERE in Indiana for feeders that aren't as expensive as the stores. Can I have some info on them please?