rat food

what do you use, and why?

I feed mine blocks and a variety of fresh fruit and veggies. My guys are more like pets though, so I treat them well. They really like cantaloupe and they also get a few pieces of dog food once in a while.

im gonna feed the rats i get mouse/rat food from petsmart.

Main diet is Mazuri with some dog food, they also from time to times get table scraps and bones chicken, turkey, pig etc.

Mazuri and dog food. Not premium dog food either. Premium dog food has more protein, so there is no sense in feeding the "good stuff." Every dog food from Walmart is pretty much only corn and grains, not protein-read the ingredients list (by-product is bones/feathers/feet/hair, not meat). I wouldn't feed my dogs that stuff, but the rats, sure.

I feed dog food just as an additive. They prefer the dog food over the Mazuri, but I probably would to. It's like your favorite fast food compared to a salad, which would you pick?

I feed mazuri, carrots, pumpkin seeds and various table scrapes and they are doing great. I don't know how long I will feel this way but I actually enjoy breeding the rats and asf's.

Lab Block and Dog Food too...Especially, when the store doesn't have the block in stock which seems to be quite often...:rage::rage:

Mazuri, dog chow and carrots.

Dog food- Iams Healthy Naturals Weight Control (has no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors).

Seems to work well, and it's the best choice that I can find easily and locally. :gj:

I feed my rats Mazuri,
fruit: apples, cherries, grapes, banana, strawberries, other berries, melons, plums.vegetables: broccoli, potatoes, peas, carrot, cooked sweet potato, kale, parsley, bok choy, squash. red leaf lettuces
•whole wheat pasta and bread
•COOKED beans (including soya)
•yogurt (especially with live cultures)
•brown rice
•unsweetened breakfast cereals(mine love cheerios and kix)

I never fed my rats dog food but will try. When feeding dog food i should look for food thats low in protein? What else?

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Originally Posted by SERPENT_MASTERS

I feed my rats Mazuri,
fruit: apples, cherries, grapes, banana, strawberries, other berries, melons, plums.vegetables: broccoli, potatoes, peas, carrot, cooked sweet potato, kale, parsley, bok choy, squash. red leaf lettuces
•whole wheat pasta and bread
•COOKED beans (including soya)
•yogurt (especially with live cultures)
•brown rice
•unsweetened breakfast cereals(mine love cheerios and kix)

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im no big time rat breeder:D ( thank god for that) but just my 2 cents . I've noticed that rats who eat meat have considerably smellier poop than vegetarian rats.

^ It's good to see a nice varied diet.
I feed my ASFs and mice Mazuri 6F, along with a grain mix of unsweetened bran flakes/oats/flaked peas/soy nuts/flaked maize/sunflower seeds/flax seeds.

Just wondering, but why feed your rats dog food if you are feeding them a balanced healthy diet of Mazuri (or any lab blocks specifically designed for rodents for that matter)?

I feed my breeders Mazuri 6F rodent breeder only.:gj:
I average 12 a litter with hoodeds, 20 breeding females,:banana:
I average 17 a litter with my asf's, 120 breeding females,:rolleye2:
why use anything else.:colbert:

My mice, rats, and soft furs get Mazuri. It's formulated to be a complete diet, so I don't add anything else which can muck up percentages. Technically, they don't need anything else.

I do give the occasional treat of a milkbone puppy biscuit, parrot pellets, or a spray of millet.

I feed Mazuri 6f mostly and 9f if I can't afford a 50lb bag at the time.

I see no reason to feed dog food besides being cheap, it's made for dogs with dogs diet in mind, not rats :P
Can they live on it, sure, but I want the best rats that throw the biggest litters and live a long time throwing those large litters.
I average 13 rats per litter and my ratties usually throw 3-4 litters and they are retired.
I keep all my pregnant momma rats in their own 20qt. tubs before they drop their babies so they aren't impregnated the same day they drop their litter.
It takes more rats this way but when your making show quality rats and food, you do what it takes to make the best.

Taste of the Wild dog food. Why? Becuase it is what my dogs eat. =_+

Has anyone tried "Harlan Teklad Rodent Diet #8604"? From what I have read, it's supposed to be the best! If you have, where do you get it and how much?

Thanks,

Dave

Mazuri 6F only.

My rats eat rat food. My dog eats dog food. My turtles eat turtle food (also Mazuri). My fish eat fish food. And my snakes eat the rats.

I will keep saying it until it sinks in or I get the carpal tunnel from typing...

Doggy Bag dog food from Tractor Supply Co.

That is ALL I feed my rats. They are free fed in a rack system and they are all doing great. There is no reason to spend a lot of money feeding rats fancy food. These animals evolved to live, breed, and thrive in less than ideal conditions with less than ideal food to eat. If you are feeding anything else you are wasting money in my opinion.

I get it for about $0.27 per pound.

If you only have a handful of rats you can feed them whatever you like. When you are going through a few hundred pounds of food every week you need to explore every possible option to make things more economical.

Right now I'm feeding the rats I just got the left over rat/mouse lab blocks I have made by LM Animal Farms. I am also feeding them some Nature's Recipe dog food for toy breeds, as my mom bought an extra bag and said I could have it. Walmart carries some hog food that's nice and cheap, but the protein and fat is so low I'm afraid the mothers would have to eat more than what it's worth to buy it.

After I feed what extra food I have, I will be feeding some cheap dog food (with no food colorings) with a critter or wild bird mix. Okay-table scraps will also be thrown in, and I may start a mealworm colony for the hell of it, so my rats may also get those as well.

Well my rats get 6f and some dog food along with some mixed bag of grains i get at wal-mart. asfs i only feed mazuri 6f and whole corn because the protien contents of even the lowest % of dog food greeses up the asfs hair. as far as my rat colonies go i have about 25 trios of asf rats and about the same in norway rats but a few less males.

I get kent rodent diet lab blocks from local farm and fleet for 11.00 for 50lbs. That ends up at about $0.22 a lb. I feed asf's and my rats with that as it is about as cost efficient as hog feed or dog food.

I feed dog food and throw in fruit or veggies for a treat, and I'll admit, I do it because it is cheap. But, my rats have had no issues with health or with breeding. I agree with Tom, rats and mice thrive in the wild, and they're not eating Mazuri.

I feed Producers Pride Hog Feed from Tractor Supply to my Rats and Soft Furs. 15% Protein, 3% Fat, 4% Fiber. Its close to the same nutrition as Mazuri. Its $10-$12 for a 50lb bag. I just leave it on the substrate and they eat it up. Im in the middle of making a rack for the rats so i may switch to dog food if its cheaper.

I have been feeding Lab Diet 5001 Rodent as the base, but will be trying the hog feed on my feeders in a couple weeks. The nutrition is very comparable, and my farm supply store sells it for $8.63 per 50# bag.

mazuri all the way. here are some things to keep in mind when deciding. let me know what you think.

i have heard people on here ask how to get the smell down. well here is what i did. i used to complain untill i actually thought about it. when we humans eat like crap we pass gas a it is bad. we also look like crap and feel that way. if we eat good and dont eat junk then we are better off in that area. we even feel better and our bodies are in better shape.

therefore we should feed our rodents the diet they need. if you feed them junk that there bodies dont need then it gets passed through the body and they pea and poop it out and it smells worse than it should. the right good food helps a lot with the smell. remember that people say that rats do just fine in the wild. they do and they stink in the wild also. well maybe not, because they arent force feed junk food all day. imo

you will go through more food with crap food because the rats have to eat more of it to get the nutrition they need out of it.

another thing is the production of the babies. i have had an increase in output ever since i have used mazuri. even if it is only 1,2, or even 3 more babies per litter. add that up, 10 moms 10 litters plus a few more babies each litter that is about 20-30 babies more or even more. that in its self pays for the bag of mazuri.

lets talk about the survival rate of the babies. i can remember the last time i had a still born. if the mom is healthy she will have a healthy litter. and the babies will grow up better and healthier. if the moma rat is unhealthy do you think that her feeding the babies is any better.

so the bag of the cheap stuff(dog food) has all the same numbers on it as the mazuri. like protien, fat ect. what is the source of the protien and the source of the fat. i will tell you that it is not what they need. they dont need there fat and protein from meat, that is not what they eat.

people wonder why there rats arent getting pregnant or having small litters, well here is my two cents. why do you think that the big breeder use it, probably to make more money.

feed your dog the dog food your hog the hog food and your cat your cat food. Or better yet you can eat the hog or dog food, it will be cheaper wouldnt it.lol

If you agree or disagree then say so and say why. thank you

Pretty biased opinions your forcing on everybody there. If you check out the ingredients on Mazuri, Hog Food, or Dog Food, majority of it is similar grain/nut mix giving the nutrients. The % of nutrition is determined by the ingredients and the % is listed on the bag in product weight. No matter if its dog food, hog food, or mazuri, if its rated at 15% protein, it contains 15% protein for whatever serving you give whether its 1oz, 8oz, or 1lb as a serving.

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Originally Posted by blankchip

another thing is the production of the babies. i have had an increase in output ever since i have used mazuri. even if it is only 1,2, or even 3 more babies per litter. add that up, 10 moms 10 litters plus a few more babies each litter that is about 20-30 babies more or even more. that in its self pays for the bag of mazuri.

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Since you're basing this on your personal experience, I will throw out my own numbers. I get an average of 10 pups per mom using dog food, so adding 1, 2 or even 3 really doesn't justify spending more for a bag of Mazuri.

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Originally Posted by blankchip

lets talk about the survival rate of the babies. i can remember the last time i had a still born. if the mom is healthy she will have a healthy litter. and the babies will grow up better and healthier. if the moma rat is unhealthy do you think that her feeding the babies is any better.

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All of my momma rats are healthy, and my pups are doing great. You can't generalize that all rats that eat dog food will be unhealthy without providing solid facts. If I found a particular brand of dog food that met the protein, fat, dye requirements that my rats needed, why not feed it to them?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blankchip

so the bag of the cheap stuff(dog food) has all the same numbers on it as the mazuri. like protien, fat ect. what is the source of the protien and the source of the fat. i will tell you that it is not what they need. they dont need there fat and protein from meat, that is not what they eat.

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I believe that rats would fall under the category of scavengers/opportunists in the wild. I doubt they would pass up the opportunity to eat meat. Again, I disagree with your logic here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blankchip

people wonder why there rats arent getting pregnant or having small litters, well here is my two cents. why do you think that the big breeder use it, probably to make more money..

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My rats are getting pregnant and as stated above, I get good numbers. Mazuri is formulated to give rats the nutrition they need, that I will agree with. But, being as though I am not a big breeder, and the dog food I feed my rats gives me good results, it makes no sense to switch over to Mazuri.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blankchip

feed your dog the dog food your hog the hog food and your cat your cat food. Or better yet you can eat the hog or dog food, it will be cheaper wouldnt it.lol

If you agree or disagree then say so and say why. thank you

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I disagree for the most part. Besides, If the economy gets any worse, you just may see some people doing just that :rolleyes:

16% hog feed.

10 dollars and change for a 50 lb bag. :gj: