Dog Food?

I've heard alot about people feeding their rats dog food. What brand of food do you recommend? Is this their primary food? Any help on feeding would be appreciated.

dog food will work,just don't buy any with food dyes.recently i started using kent feed rodent food and it seems to work well,and it's cheaper than dog food,only $9.99 for 50 lbs.

if you go to kentfeed.com it has a dealer locator,i'm sure there's one near you,also tractor supply store can order it.

23% protein and formulated for rodents plus cheaper than dog food,best deal i could find.have fun !

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Originally Posted by twh

dog food will work,just don't buy any with food dyes.recently i started using kent feed rodent food and it seems to work well,and it's cheaper than dog food,only $9.99 for 50 lbs.

if you go to kentfeed.com it has a dealer locator,i'm sure there's one near you,also tractor supply store can order it.

23% protein and formulated for rodents plus cheaper than dog food,best deal i could find.have fun !

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23% protein to too high even for breeder rats (this can lead to higher rates of cancer and skin issues). Not to mention if you read the ingredients in Kent it is crap. A primary ingredient is Alfalfa which rats cannot digest.

To the OP Senior dog foods seem to have the closest ingredient and protein/fat (target 18%) mix for rats...but I wouldn't feed it exclusively as they were designed for dogs so key ingredients are missing. But the dog food will work for a base food provide you are supplimenting with table scraps or other goodies.

sean...it also comes in 19% protein mix.after looking at the label there's no mention of alfalfa,how do you determine that the primary ingredient is alfalfa?

BTW i starting using kent on a reccomendation from a large rodent breeder who has used kent for several years with great success.do you consider kent food crap from personal experience or what others have told you?

not trying to start a pissing match but it seems hard to believe that kent products are crap when so many people use it with great success.please educate me on why you consider kent products crap.have fun !




QUOTE=lord jackel]23% protein to too high even for breeder rats (this can lead to higher rates of cancer and skin issues). Not to mention if you read the ingredients in Kent it is crap. A primary ingredient is Alfalfa which rats cannot digest.

To the OP Senior dog foods seem to have the closest ingredient and protein/fat (target 18%) mix for rats...but I wouldn't feed it exclusively as they were designed for dogs so key ingredients are missing. But the dog food will work for a base food provide you are supplimenting with table scraps or other goodies.[/QUOTE]

I use Wellness senior, but it is not the only thing I feed them. I followed Becky's rodent diet and my rats are doing great. I would hesitate to only feed one type of food honestly.

As for Kent being crap, I have no clue, but what I can say is millions of people feed things like Old Roy or Dog Chow to their pets- yes your pet may be ok, but I would rather feed a high quality diet than something just because it is cheap.

Thank you all. I've got enough to go on. I appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by twh

sean...it also comes in 19% protein mix.after looking at the label there's no mention of alfalfa,how do you determine that the primary ingredient is alfalfa?

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My apologies I saw the "K" and the brain started farting(you wrote Kent and my brain saw Kaytee). I don't have any specific experience with Kent but Kaytee is what I was referring to as being junk. It has a primary ingredient of Alfalfa, corn meal and several animal fats (crap)

My apologies for my error :oops:

However, if they make a 19% version that would be better for your rats long term.

i don't want you to think i use kent solely because of price,that's a secondary concern.what i look for is quality,the fact that kent is appox. half the price of mazuri is iceing on the cake.

sometimes we (i'm including myself here) think that a product that cost more is much better and since we love our pets so much we automically assume higher price means higher quality,sometimes true,sometimes not.

i'm not advocating kent food just sharing my personal experience.have fun !

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Originally Posted by catawhat75

I use Wellness senior, but it is not the only thing I feed them. I followed Becky's rodent diet and my rats are doing great. I would hesitate to only feed one type of food honestly.

As for Kent being crap, I have no clue, but what I can say is millions of people feed things like Old Roy or Dog Chow to their pets- yes your pet may be ok, but I would rather feed a high quality diet than something just because it is cheap.

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You are right, high price is not always an indicator. However extremely low price always makes me question integrity or quality. I think that people should research before buying regardless of price, especially when it comes to our animals health.

As for Kent, I had never heard of it hence why I cannot comment on it. I do use Mazuri myself and am very happy with it. But if there is something comparable that is less expensive, I will certainly look into it. I am all about saving money if it does not compromise quality.

What is the actual URL for the kent feeds? When I typed in kentfeed.com it redirected me to someplace called petsupplies.net